There is a man who walks along the same strip of road every day. It looks like he’s doing some kind of march, like he’s a soldier guarding this specific corner. He even dresses like one, with a helmet on his head except he looks more like a wounded soldier with his raggedy clothes. We pass him every day as we are walking to go eat or go to the store. He’s always there. Nobody is with him, nobody talks to him…he just is.
Yesterday was Christmas and one thing that my team wanted to do was to pass out goodie bags to passing tourists and to the restaurant owners we have gotten to know as a way to celebrate the day with them. We had over 150 bags to hand out. We filled our baskets on our bikes with these bags and rode around to the market and shops that we frequent. The Lao people absolutely loved these bags. They would go and drag their friends over to get a baggie and kids would come running and jumping holding out their little hands for one. They would yell out, “Merry Christmas!” and one little guy sang Jingle Bells with us and danced around.
The tourists we encountered weren’t as enthusiastic about the gifts, but most appreciated our efforts to bring Christmas to Pakse after very hesitantly accepting the bags. We were quickly running out of goodie bags and decided to ride back to our hostel to give some out there when we came upon the corner that the soldier man marches on. I knew that I had to give him one and see if I could interact with him a bit. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, I’ve never seen him talk to anyone, let alone a white person.
When I went up to him I noticed he looked a lot younger than I was expecting. I handed him a bag and said “Merry Christmas!” He took the bag and looked up at me. He didn’t say anything, but I saw something in his eyes, it’s like he was surprised that he had been noticed at all. I don’t know his story or whether or not he has any family or a home, but I have this feeling that he doesn’t get noticed a lot. I am so blessed to know that I was able to show him a tiny bit of God’s love for him by looking into his eyes and letting him know that he is seen, that he’s not an invisible soldier marching this corner.
Christmas was a different experience this year, but choosing to do something more than just enjoy the day with my teammates really blessed me. I hadn’t been feeling highly motivated to go out because I was missing the traditions of Christmas at home, but this was a Christmas I will remember because of being able to pull from a vulnerable place and love on people. I hope that as we gave out our baggies that those we encountered felt loved, and that this simple act extends farther than we could ever imagine. My prayer is that our love is multiplied in this city and that is snowballs off of us out of control. Jesus has amazing plans for this city, and I feel so blessed to have been just a tiny puzzle piece apart of it.
