Description
The Church of Our Lady of Help of Christians is a Catholic Church in the Pa Wan village of Sakon Nakhon. It is located on Route 22 in the direction of Tha Rae, the largest Catholic community in Thailand.
The English name of the church is derived from its Thai name วัดคาทอลิกแม่พระที่พึ่งของคริสตชนป่าหว้าน, which appears on the wall next to the entrance of the church grounds. An alternative translated name would be: The Catholic Temple of Our Lady of Refuge for Pa Wan Christians.
On entering the Church grounds, turn to the left, and you'll see a is a scene of statues, showing children playing music, laughing, and demonstrating Muay Thai, which reminds the visitor of Jesus's wise admonition: "Unless you become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." This childhood tableau is in front of a Catholic elementary school that is connected to the church.
While not as large and grande as St. Michael's Cathedral in Tha Rae, this Catholic church in Pa Wan is a beautiful building built in a classical European manner, with statues of the saints in the corners of the 2nd level, and a dome over the inside pulpit area, above which is a statue of Christ attached to the wall. Parishioners sit on customary wooden pews, and next to the pulpit are statues of the Virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph with their child Jesus.
On the right side of the Church of Our Lady of Help of Christians, you'll see a statue honoring the life of Father Yai Srinuan Sriworakul (พ่อใหญ่ศรีนวล ศรีวรกุล), who was born in the nearby Tha Rae Catholic community in 1906. Father Yai defended the Catholic faith throughout Indochina during the 2nd World War, and was head of the Our Lady church in Pa Wan from 1954 until his death in 1982.
