This week, various news outlets reported an update on the Thai boys cave rescue. Like the rest of the world, I waited, prayed and hope, so I was curious what was happening since the rescue.

Updates showed the boys, post rescue, participating in a Buddhist ceremony in which they would become novice monks. One BBC header said, “Thai cave rescue: saying sorry to cave spirit Nang Norn.” Again, BBC reported, “They will stay in different monasteries until 4 August meditating, praying and cleaning their temple. The length of time they will spend doing this—nine days—is a nod to a Thai lucky number.” The boys were dressed in white robes, heads shaved.

Many of the news pieces also reported that one of the rescued boys did not participate in the ceremony because he was a Christian. Those words leaped off the page. One of the boys…a Christian.

So, naturally, I got curious about who this one Christian boy is and here is what I found out.

A news outlet in Australia called him a hero, noting that he is “proficient in five languages—English, Thai, Burmese, Mandarin and Wa, a language spoken near the Myanmar and China border. It was his knowledge of English that was crucial because it allowed him to talk to the British rescue divers on behalf of the group when it was discovered nine days after becoming stuck. Adun provided clarity to the rescuers on how long the team had been in the cave and what they needed.”

How does a 14-year-old boy become proficient in five languages? Especially a boy news outlets described as displaced or stateless in Thailand. He is from a state in Myanmar (Burma) that is not recognized internationally or by its own government. Fleeing their home, his family took him to a school sponsored by Compassion International. Between his school and their journey away from their home toward a more stable and somewhat safe country of Thailand, he learned all those languages including the all-important English, that made it possible for the rescuers to communicate with the buried boys.

George Bednar, one of our pastoral residents, spent years in Myanmar, the country Adun and his family fled. So I asked if he had heard about the Christian boy.

Knowing of the ethnic group from which the Christian boy came, George explained that these “people are warriors. Fighters. Headhunters. They are small in number, but incredibly strong. They have fought for their survival against the Burmese to the south and the Chinese to the north. They are historically very aggressive and very stubborn. The fact that this boy is a Christian is nothing short of a miracle.”

He shared with me a Facebook post from a friend as the world waited and prayed for the rescue attempt. Here’s part of the post: “I learned today that many of the Buddhists and animists believe that this happened because a spirit that lives in the cave is unhappy with the team. They think that the team must have disrespected the spirit somehow, perhaps by not making proper offerings of food or other items. Meanwhile, one of the missing kids belongs to a Christian family…[the church is] gathering around this family, and they are singing and worshipping and praying together as they wait, not only encouraging the family but providing a testimony for others around them.”

After the rescue, instead of going to the monastery, Adun participated in a service of thanksgiving. At the service, they allowed him to speak, and here is some of what he said, “By the 10th night, we were losing patience, hope, physical energy and courage. We could not do anything to help. The only thing that I could do was pray. I prayed ‘Lord, I’m only a boy; you are almighty God, you are holy, and you are powerful. Right now I can’t do anything; may you protect us. Come to help all 13 of us.‘ And then I finished my prayer, thanking God for everything that happened to myself and my friends … all 13 of us.

“Thank you to everybody who prayed for me and the whole team,” Adun said. “Thank you to everybody that helped us, and the last thank-you [goes] to the Lord: Thank you God. God bless you all.”

Wow. Jesus—our Savior, worker of miracles, God of wonder. Instead of apologizing to a mountain and making appeasement to earn good merit (and good merit, as George comments, is “necessary for the Buddhist to have good luck today and in the next life”), we are blessed to give thanks to the living God and to Jesus, who appeased God’s wrath on our behalf for today and in the next life forever. He is the Savior who dove down from heaven to bring all of us out of the pit of our guilt and shame and sin. He rescues us and brings us out of darkenss into his glorious light.

In the coming days, Adun hopes to gain citizenship in Thailand. But, isn’t it wonderful the citizenship we already share with this boy.