This is Oy. She captured my heart the moment I met her and I wish I could bring her home with me. She is such a sweetheart and runs all the way across the field to find me when I come to play. She comes flying into my arms to give me a hug, and then jumps down and instantly starts posing for my camera. She speaks no English but we communicate well. When I told her goodbye for the final time, she looked me in the eyes and said “I lub you.” I may have secretly packed her into my bag when I left the village.
This is Mo. She is a tomboy and struts around full of sassiness and laughter. When forced to wear a dress, she hikes it up as she swaggers towards her bike which she loves to ride all around the village. She has a raspy voice and I love listening to her talk. I don’t know what she is saying but I can tell by her mannerisms that her words are hilarious.
This is Kor (pronounced Goh.) She is a quick learner when it comes to the English Ellen and I have been teaching her during our afternoon classes. One evening, she brought her schoolbook to the field and taught me many words in Isaan which is her native tongue. She sat patiently ith me asking me to repeat the words over and over again until she was satisfied with my dialect. I love her smile and her cute little dances.
I must admit at the beginning of the month I was disappointed to discover that my team would not be working in the middle of the red light district as anticipated. Living the quiet, village life seemed pretty ant-climatic after having expectations of living in the city and ministering to prostitutes. However, God knew exactly what He was doing by bringing us here. This is the poorest area in all of Thailand. Because of the lack of money, many girls are sold by their families into prostitution. If they escape being sold and do not not continue their education, they may feel as though they have no option other than to sell themselves. If these girls are not told that they have worth, and value, and a God who loves them, they may not know that they deserve any better.
We spent this past month exchanging hugs and laughter and showing the heart sign to communicate love. We spent the month watching them crowd around Pa Noy as he read to them from the Bible. We spent the month intercessing for them in constant prayer.
It may not seem like enough. But it was all we could do. And I believe that those prayers made a bigger difference than I will ever understand. I also believe that as we walked away from those beautiful girls, they finally understood how loved they truly are.
P.S. I refer to this village as Narnia because I still don’t know the name of it, only that it’s an hour outside Si Sa Ket, it seems a little magical at times, and I am certain that were I to try to return, I would have no idea how to get back here.
