Before leaving for this trip God laid a word heavy on my heart. It was the word Pursue. Pursue and be pursued. I didn’t know what all that meant at the time but along the way He has revealed time after time exactly what He meant. For most of the trip He has been teaching me to be pursued, but this mo
nth He wanted me to learn about the pursuit.
After taking Nook out and having a wonderful night we were ready to begin building our friendship. On Monday night we headed to the bar. My heart jumped for joy as we walked up and Nook ran to greet us. She was in the midst of a pool game with Bob, a man in his late 60’s. She gave me a huge hug and squealed with excitement. It was as if we had been friends for years. She invited us over to play pool with her and Bob. Becky and I were so excited. After talking we both felt we should stay until Bob left. As we played we prayed over Bob and Nook the entire game. Praying that God would reveal himself, that they would both see His love. After awhile Bob set out but Rudy quickly moved in. Rudy was a man it his late 50’s. After a few rounds of pool Bob, the first man, left. As he was leaving he shook our hands and thanked us for playing. One down and one to go. Becky and I were in high hopes. Bob had left to go home for the evening without a woman on his arm. We were convinced that Nook was safe for the night.
After a few rounds of pool Rudy and Nook went to sit at the bar for a moment. It hit us. We knew what was coming next. We were watching our sister, our friend, being bought for 400 baht.($12 USD) He was taking her home. Becky and I both continued praying. He clearly spoke. Do not intervene. She has made a choice. Continue to pursue and love. What do you mean? God can’t we stop this?”NO” There was no hesitation in what He said. Nook walked over and gave me a huge hug before leaving. As I embraced her tears began flowing down my face. It hurt so bad to see someone I have grown to love be bought. In that moment I had to trust that He was there. He was alive and real. He was pursuing her heart. I told her I loved her and would see her soon.
Becky and I prayed and cried and prayed and cried all the way home. Somehow I had peace. I knew He was in control. He loved her. He just wanted our obedience. Pursue. That is the word He continued to speak over Becky and I. So the next day we called Nook. We were going to meet her at 1:30 to head to Songkran. It was the Thai New Year and there was a huge water fight. 1:30 came and went and Nook was nowhere to be found. Disappointment set in but we quickly remembered the words He had given us. Pursue. When you pursue you don’t give up because it gets hard. You don’t give up because there seems to be no results. You continue to pursue.
That night Becky and I were itching to get to the bars. We wanted to know she was ok. We wanted to love on her. When we showed up Nook came out from the bathroom. Stumbling she made it over to us. Her hair a mess, pants barley tied on and eyes half open. My heart broke. She was in no state to be at work. We sat her down to and got her to drink some water. What now? I didn’t know why we were there anymore. With my human eyes it seemed that the pursuit was over. We weren’t getting through. After awhile Becky and I decided to head home. We laid in our room together and just began to worship. We wanted to hear Him. Where we wrong? Did He really want us to continue to pursue her? Yes. That is all I heard.
He began to reveal something to me. Something we all know but we often forget. The pursuit of Nook was only a glimpse of the way He pursues us. He seeks us out. Time after time we turn our backs. We run. We leave Him hanging. We don’t show up. We forget Him. We allow others to buy us out and for a cheap price. He paid the highest price for us. We are His but yet others get us first. Yet, in the midst of all this, HE NEVER GIVES UP! He doesn’t even question it. He pursues us day in and day out.
This pursuit that He has laid on our hearts is continuing. We haven’t seen anything but rejection but He has continued to call us to pursue. Night after night we stop by Full Moon Bar to see if she is there. Every night hoping that she will be there. Nothing has come of this yet but I am convinced that he has called us to pursue her. He is showing her His love. This is His story. His Daughter whom He loves. God is there. He cries with us. His heart breaks with ours, with hers. He has paid the price for her and He is patiently waiting for her to run to Him. God is pursuing Nook. He won’t stop until He has all of her. So as long as we are here in Thailand we will pursue with Him. It is heart breaking and challenging, but we know we serve a God who is real and desires for His daughter to know His love.
Pray that Nook’s heart will continue to be softened. Pray for encounters. Pray that Becky and I will be equipped with His armor and sensitive to His spirit. Pray against the stronghold Satan has over these men and women. Please pray for Thailand. The church will rise in the midst of darkness.
