For most of his life, Sonny Khounmano was a “diehard Buddhist.” Born and raised in Laos, he moved his wife and three children to Huntsville to work at Boeing as an electrical engineer. Since there were no Buddhist temples nearby, he piled his wife and kids in the car a few times a month and drove for hours to a temple in Tennessee.
His kids weren’t Buddhist but it didn’t matter. Khounmano was the head of the house, and that was that.
On Easter, 11 years after he first accepted Christ, Khounmano performed his first baptism as an ordained pastor.
But it wasn’t a special moment just because it was his first baptism or because it was Easter or because it was All Nations Church’s debut or because of his Buddhist past.
For Khounmano, it was special because he was baptizing his own son, Kenny.
“That’s one of the happiest days of my life,” Khounmano said.
Khounmano’s road to salvation was a long one, paved with doubts, pride and the cultural ties he was too afraid to sever, he said. Buddhism was the thread that held his Laotian heritage together and he wouldn’t give it up without a good reason.
But as an engineer, he believed in logic and reasoning.
“If you can’t swim and you’re drowning, you have to wait for someone to help you,” he said.
For Khounmano, Jesus was the lifeboat.
“Jesus Christ is the risen God, unlike the Buddha,” he said.
Pastor Aaron Phangnivong and the Laotian-Thai ministry, now part of All Nations Church, was the first stepping stone in Khounmano’s journey to Christ. In 1999 he became a Christian, and on April 10, 2005, he was ordained as a deacon. By November 2009 he was licensed to preach.
Khounmano believes there are many others just like him — not just in Laos, but in his own backyard. He hopes he and All Nations Church can share his story with local Buddhists.
“I believe with God’s help we will reach those people,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind.”
Kenny, a 28-year-old information technology administrator, plays guitar in the worship band at All Nations. He said he noticed a change in the church about a year-and-a-half ago. It was subtle, but everyone — black, white, Asian, Hispanic, old, young — seemed to be mixing and learning about each other, he said.
Instead of judgment and fear of other cultures, Kenny saw curiosity and acceptance, especially when he worked with the youth.
“It didn’t matter what we were doing — black, white, band geek, athlete — everyone was talking to everyone.”
Though he accepted Christ at 16, Kenny said he floated between churches and never felt accepted, until he came to All Nations Church three years ago.
“You could just feel God’s Spirit,” he said. “It was probably the most energy I’ve felt in a long time.”
He hopes other people will find the same acceptance at All Nations that he did as a young Christian.
“It doesn’t matter what race, what color you are, you’re welcome,” he said.
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