When I left for the race, I had high hopes of blogging once a week in order to keep all of you back home updated.
But then, far too quickly, the race became ordinary life and once that happens, the feeling of I have absolutely nothing to write about fell over me like water rushing down sticky falls.
A few days ago, I had that same feeling. That feeling of I really, really need to write a blog.
Immediately, I disregarded it when no ideas came to mind. Instead, I’d nap. Or read. All I knew at that moment was that I didn’t want to leave the boundaries of my very own twin bed.
A few moments later, Andrea appeared inside my room. She popped her head under my bunk, extending an invitation.
One of the girls from the bars was downstairs. Andrea and Stefany (both from my first team, who hold a dear place in my heart) were taking her to lunch. Oh, and she wasn’t alone – there was a man with her.
As much as I wanted to stay in bed, I said yes. And boy, am I glad I did.
Andrea and I walked downstairs to find Stefany already chatting with Butterfly. The man, John, was from France, in town for business. He speaks English, French, and Thai – making it easy to converse. Butterfly, unfortunately, doesn’t speak much English.
With her lack of English, we found ourselves more often than not in conversation with John. We walked down a few streets and found a little restaurant to sit and eat.
John came to Thailand often for business. He sells stones and hand bags – purchasing them in Thailand, returning to France to sell them.
He was an older gentlemen, wearing rings and necklaces resembling the stones he buys and sells, and had a red lipstick stain on both cheeks.
Okay, I thought, He comes here often. He speaks the language. They must know each other prior to today.
When was the last time you were in Chiang Mai? one of us asked. Five years ago, said John.
Immediately, I wanted to ask how they met. But the Lord convicted me pretty quickly. You don’t need to ask that question, you already know, He told me. It was obvious they had met last night.
He was at the markets working until midnight and then made his way to the bar where Butterfly was working, we realized as he spoke.
It was easy to be mad at John, to close my heart off towards him, to make judgements. But the Johns need Jesus just as much as the girls do. They too are broken, looking for satisfaction in places they’ll never find it.
And Jesus used that lunch to show me how true that really was. To show me how much He loves them too.
During that lunch, Jesus kept saying over and over again, She is my daughter and He too is my son. Love them both well.
Not just her, but him too.
John was an extremely nice guy. And he never once questioned us for going to lunch with Butterfly, when we all knew that she wouldn’t be able to communicate with us. He even paid for our meals.
He asked us several questions over the course of lunch that left us puzzled. What is going through his head. What does he think about who we are and why we are here?
But those are questions we will never get answers to. Over the course of lunch, Butterfly sat with her hand over his leg, frequently leaning in for a kiss. She was searching for affection in the only ways she knew how.
We had been to the bar that she worked at several times prior and I had never seen Butterfly with a man. Butterfly, being a few years over 50, was often sitting by herself or with other girls from the bar. And each of those nights, I could see the emptiness in her eyes. The pain of not being chosen, the deep desire to be loved.
To see her now, sitting next to John, with the attention I knew she had been searching for – her eyes were still empty, disappointed.
Many of the conversations that we hoped to have over google translate about leaving the bars and what she really thought about her job, weren’t possible due to the circumstances.
So we continued getting to know them, him more than her (due to the language barrier) and eventually it was time to go.
Walking home, the five of us – it was impossible to deny the looks as we passed people on the streets. And not just looks directed at Butterfly and John, but at Andrea, Stefany and myself as well.
No doubt, they thought we were all there with him.
As we got back to our hostel, we said our goodbyes, knowing that our Thailand departure was quickly approaching and we would never see each other again.
Andrea, Stefany, and I walked into the hostel and just stood there. I can’t believe that just happened, we spoke. And then we talked about it. About how unique that experience was, about how few people would ever go to lunch with a prostitute and her John, and about how badly they both needed Jesus.
And then, we did the only thing we could. We sat in the stairwell and prayed for them. We prayed that someone would come along in each of their lives and continue to show them Jesus’ love. That they would both learn of the Father’s love and find their satisfaction in Him. That they would come to know they are deeply loved, deeply pursued, and deeply known.
And we thanked Him for giving the three of us the chance to share such an experience, together.
