Over the next two weeks, Stephani and I returned to the bar each time we went out. We got to know Daisy really well, and her friend, coworker, and roommate Rose (again, name changed for their sake, thought we’d roll with the flowers). We would arrive, order our Cokes, and play games. At the bars here, they have four games to play. They use the games as an in with the women at the bar-since most don’t speak fluent English or any other European language-it makes spending time with them less awkward. Jenga, Connect 4, a dice game, and the nail hitting game (two of which would be a lot more entertaining to watch after someone’s had a couple drinks). During our first few times out, I was just absolutely amazed at how convenient it was that it works like this. Customers can sit with their drinks and play games with the women that work at the bars. WE can buy Cokes and sit at a bar and talk to women because we are playing a child’s game. How awesome is our God that He would work through something so simple? Warning: these women know what they’re doing in Connect 4 and have beat me quite handedly every single time. In the nail hitting game, they have a large slice of tree (for lack of better words)
where people gather around and, obviously, hit nails in. The tricky part is that you use a pointy side of a mallet-making it easier to miss. I’m still working on conquering this game-but I’ve definitely seen improvement in the past month. And so we play. And we talk. We learn about their lives. We tell them about ours-about families and friends, where we’ve traveled and where we’re going. Our ministry contacts have reminded us that ‘to be Thai is to be Buddhist’ so bringing up direct Christianity is not always a wise decision. In light of that, we attempt to radiate Christ’s love through our actions and faithfulness and words-showing them that there is something different about us. A friendship is being built with Daisy and Rose. After the first week of knowing them, we invite Daisy to meet us for lunch that weekend…and that’s the start of something big.
(to be continued)
