Her name is Di and she is beautiful.
I met her in the coconut temple (As silly as that sounds, I didn’t make that up.) on a Sunday afternoon. We only got to talk for fifteen minutes, but those precious moments may be the most beautiful I have had on the race thus far.
I have this thing: whenever I set foot in a temple, I like to sing worship songs and declare scripture over that place. As I sat inside the temple praying, I looked over and saw a precious old women. In that moment, our eyes met and she gave me a sweet smile. As soon as I saw her, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to go sit with her.
Then my sweet team mate, Em, asked if I was ready to go to another part of the temple before we had to leave. As I was about to say yes and follow her, something stopped me. “I think I’m going to stay here, but you can go look around,” I replied.
As soon as Em left, Di and I were alone in the temple. I looked up and saw her smiling at me. I took that as my opportunity to introduce myself. Though there was a significant language barrier between us, we were still able to tell each other our names.
And, despite of minimal ability to communicate, I knew that the Lord was telling me to sit with her a little longer. So that is exactly what I did. I sat, held her hand and smiled at her. She took out a plastic bag and showed me some key chains that she makes. As she looked through the bag, she came across one that had a heart on it. Smiling, she placed the keychain in my palm, then squeezed my hand.
I told her “thank you,” placed my hand on her face and told her she was beautiful.
We continued to sit there in sweet silence, holding each other’s hands for a few more minutes. I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point, I looked up and to find that several people were gathered around us, including two of my teammates and some of the Vietnamese students we came with.
In that moment, I rejoiced with the Lord because He had provided me with an interpreter. I was now able to truly communicate with my sweet new friend!
Di began to tell me that she hasn’t had anything to eat in a long time. I wanted so badly to give her something, but I had nothing with me. Then my teammate, Jenny, handed over a pineapple she won in a game earlier.
Di told us that the reason she couldn’t eat was because of her stomach. In that moment, I heard the Lord say: “Pray for her.” I tried to ask one of our students to interpret, but there were too many people gathered around, so me and Em just started to pray for her.
As I finished praying, people from our group came to tell us it was time to leave. I looked at the student and asked her how to say “I love you” in Vietnamese. Looking at Di in the eyes, her hand placed in mine and my other palm on her face, I told her that I loved her in her native tongue.
At this point both of us had tears in our eyes. I was so sad to leave my new friend and I wanted so badly to give her something, but I had nothing. Then I remembered, I had bought a bracelet to give away that very morning.
I reached into my purse and grabbed the bracelet, placed it in her hand and said goodbye. She tried to give it back to me, but I assured her that I wanted to give it to her. I looked her in the eyes, told her she was beautiful, kissed her on the forehead and told her that I loved her one last time.
I know that she saw the Lord that day and we both left with a sweet reminder of that interaction: her with the bracelet and I with the keychain.
Tears filled my eyes as I left my sweet new friend, but I am so excited to know that Jesus is not done with Di yet. Even if I don’t get to see Di this side of heaven, I know there will be a day when she joins the Kingdom.
The Lord didn’t need me to reach her. But He loves me enough to let me be part of Di’s story, even if it is just through a fifteen minute interaction.
Sometimes, it doesn’t take years for somebody to impact you. Sometimes it only takes a few precious moments. I am so grateful for the ways Di changed my life and I know that I won’t forget my sweet friend.
I am so thankful for moments like this on the race and I can’t wait to see all of the encounters I will have in the next 8 months. I know that the Lord is not done with me yet, but I am still in need of $1200 by December 1st to continue on the race. That means I have five days to see the money come in.
If the Lord can do all that He did in fifteen minutes, I know that He can do incredible things in five days, but I need your help. If you feel called to give, you can do so by clicking on the tab to the left that says “Support Me.”
Thanks so much for investing in the Kingdom with me.
