Laos was my seventh month of the Race, but my first month doing ATL. ATL stands for ‘ask the Lord’ and that means you don’t have a specific host, but you just wake up each day and ask the Lord to show you who to talk to and what to do. Laos is a closed country, so relationships have to be built before sharing the Gospel openly or you can be turned in to the government.
On the first day in Don Det, Laos, some of the girls and I went exploring on the island. While doing that, I spent most of the morning praying and asking the Holy Spirit to highlight someone to me. After walking around for a bit, I went back to my hostel room and did my quiet time and just sat in worship. Sometime during that, I felt the Holy Spirit say “fruit.” I was a little confused but had remembered a fruit stand/smoothie place I had seen on my walk. I told my team I would be back soon, and off I went. Upon arriving at the smoothie shop, I met “A”, a sweet, yet sassy, Lao woman (because Laos is a closed country, I will not disclose full names). A teammate and I sat and struck up a conversation with her. She told us a short version of her life story. Turns out, she was the manager of the smoothie shop, which was actually a full restaurant, as well as the manager of bungalows across the dirt road. I knew the Lord wanted me to pursue a relationship with her, so I told her I’d be back to talk with her the next day.
I went back to our hostel and talked to my team and told them about A, her restaurant, and bungalows. We prayed about it and collectively decided that we were staying in Don Det and needed a new place to stay, and A’s place was perfect. So we moved in the next day, and realized that our new friend was 1 of 3 main workers, and they needed help! So we started working in the restaurant. Although we weren’t trusted to make food for guests, we took orders and delivered food to the tables when it was ready. We also learned how to make smoothies, spring rolls, and the BEST PANCAKES IN THE WORLD (sorry mom, you make good pancakes, but they don’t beat A’s). In between guests, we would just talk to A about life, our stories, and build a relationship with her.
One night, A invited us to go to a temple party with her. My team and I went and chose to prayer walk around the temple. It was one of the most powerful nights in Laos.
About a week after we had been working at A’s restaurant, we saw this sticker on her fridge.
I was surprised to see it and immediately wondered if she was a believer. When I asked her about it, she didn’t know the name of Jesus, but someone had brought the sticker to her and she chose to hang it up. So basically, she was making a declaration without realizing it.
We talked to her about the Gospel, but she wasn’t interested yet. That didn’t stop us from living it out and loving her. When we left, we made her a card that had John 3:16 written out and she also let us hang it up. I fully believe that A will come to know Jesus, and it may just be from the sticker and card on the fridge.
We also met a local believer on the island!!! On the first day, we met a sweet mama and her son, and knew we also wanted to get to know them. They did our adventure day with us, “K” would go with us to school everyday while we taught English, and we hung out with them for a little bit every day. After being there for a week or so, I was kind of feeling down that I hadn’t met a local believer yet. One of the days, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to ask Mama if she was a believer in Jesus. AND SHE SAID YES! Although, she hasn’t been to church since leaving the capital city (there isn’t a Christian church on the island), she still had strong faith. We continued to get to know her and K, and it was also so hard to leave them.
After leaving the island, we went a little north to a city called Pakse, where we met several people in our hostel. We had dinner with them, game nights, and shared the Gospel. I believe seeds were planted in those few days and I pray they come to fruition.
I fell in love with Laos and the people. It was by far the HARDEST month for me to leave. I would go back in a heartbeat (definitely in the future), however, the Race goes on, and on to Month 8 I go. One month closer to HOME!!! I am have been in Thailand for a few days, working at Grace Camp. A camp on a big farm in Roi Et. Lots of manual labor so far, and I’m basically an expert painter/weed puller, but it’s not so bad when you have music and a fun team. I feel at home here, with hosts that are so welcoming and hospitable. I will write another blog with a full layout of Thailand soon. Until then, pray for us!
On Valentine’s Day, my team made and handed out these cards to women on the island!
X-Squad (35 adults + 35 big packs + 35 daypacks + 2-3 boat workers) on the boat from Nakasang to Don Det on our first day in Laos.
This mama would let me come get her baby every day for a little bit just to love on her 🙂
