I cried when we had to say goodbye to Leap.
I cried even harder when I glanced back after leaving the bar and saw Leap crouched in the road with her face buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking with sobs.
And I cried even harder when I thought about how I would most likely never see my beautiful Thai friend again.
How do I grieve something like this?
How do I say goodbye to a person who had such an impact on my life and moved my heart in such a way that changed how I view my Heavenly Father?
Leap showed me how to be a light in the dark places of the world.
She showed me how to love people unconditionally, even when it’s the hardest thing to do.
She showed me how to find joy and laughter in the places that have none.
In these things, I see the way that Jesus is using Leap to impact the people around her.
Her father sent her to Chiang Mai in order to find a job and make money for her family.
The only job she could find was in the bar.
Even though she’s working in a place of such darkness and sorrow and pain, she is a shining beacon of hope to the people she works with and encounters every day.
You see, she says that she has to work at the bar to make money – but she says that she still doesn’t make much money because she doesn’t “go home with men”.
Even in her financial desperation, Jesus has given her the strength and determination to stand strong in her faith and what she believes in.
Because of this decision, people can see that she’s different.
It’s so evident that the bar girls she knows respect her and look up to her.
Her choice of lifestyle – her decision to walk with Jesus – sets her apart.
And I just know that people see what she has and wonder to themselves, “I wonder if I can have that too…”
God sent us to her for a reason, and I think that reason was simply for encouragement.
Encouragement for her to keep “fighting the good fight”; encouragement for her to continue being a joyful beacon of Jesus to those around her, even when it’s discouraging and difficult.
Most of all though, I think we were sent to her to be encouraged ourselves.
It almost seems like a sick joke: meet this awesome person, connect with them on a level that can only be explained by God, then be torn away from them just when you’re beginning to grow close.
Is that really all that was though? A sick joke? No.
Maybe I’ll feel sad when I think about her because I miss her.
But never will I ever regret meeting her.
I realize now what her purpose was in my life: she showed me what my duty is as a follower of Christ.
She showed me that I am called to go into those dark places in order to be the physical representation of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
She showed me what it’s like to be Jesus.
