Part of our ministry in Thailand was Ask the Lord (ATL for short.)
Every morning we would spend time in prayer, asking God to highlight specific people for us to talk to that day.
One day, after praying, Paige, Marissa and I hit the streets of Chiang Mai. I was pretty new to the whole “walk around without a specific plan and pray about who to talk to” thing. When my squad leader Marissa noticed that Paige and I had some hesitancy towards approaching people she encouraged us in a really simple way. “Pay attention to what sticks out to you and seek that out.” So when I saw a cross-stitching store across the road, I immediately thought of my mom and knew I needed to see it. The store was closed when I arrived. We started walking again, and within a minute, we saw THE CUTEST BABY being held by her father. Marissa went up to the group and asked if anyone spoke English. The man holding the baby pointed to his wife, and we turned to ask her if we could pray for her. She immediately replied, “oh, prayer? Talk to my brother!” and led us into the office of the auto body shop we were at. Her brother approached the sliding glass door and acknowledged us with hesitancy.
Marissa spoke again, first to introduce us and our intentions, then to ask if we could pray for him. His reply caught me off guard, “Oh, no, I don’t need prayer. I am a Christian.” Upon hearing this, my heart jumped with joy, and I knew I wanted to know more about this man’s life and story. Being a Christian in Thailand is rare; 94% of the population there associates with being Buddhist. We quickly asked more questions about how long he had been following Christ, where he went to church and how he heard the gospel. He’s been a Christian for about 15 years, he goes to Abundant Grace Church, and he heard the gospel while studying in Oregon. When he realized we weren’t going anywhere soon, he invited us into his office to have a seat.
We talked more about what it’s like being a Christian in a highly-populated Buddhist country. We talked about his family and how he wanted to share the Gospel with his family, especially his mother but didn’t know-how. We talked about how he was busy with running his auto body business and his hotel business next door. We were able to encourage Joe that day, that although life is so busy and so demanding, we should also put the importance of time with God, and with community at the top of our “to-do” list.
Although that day, I started off nervous about approaching people, God showed me how easy it could be. Since Thailand, I’ve met a lot of people. Most have been open to having a conversation about Jesus or their personal beliefs, and some have not been as open. But we will never know what God is trying to teach people through us if we don’t act in obedience.
I hope today’s story of Thailand encourages you to walk in obedience.
