This month my team and I have no set ministry. No start time. No end time. No assignments. No task to complete. No requirements. No idea what we are going to do.
It is called ATL (Ask the Lord). So that is exactly what we have been doing. We wake up every morning and spend time as a team in prayer. We listen. We desire to hear what he wants us to do. For the past two days all we heard was, “wait”. We know that if we want to truly make an impact here in Thailand for his kingdom, we need him to be a part of it. So we wait. We pray. We read our bibles. We wait.
Yesterday in the midst of waiting I decided I wanted to play cards with some of the men downstairs. They look like construction workers with their bright orange vests, but they are actually taxi/motorbike drivers. They sit outside our hostel waiting for someone to want to go somewhere. So I figured we could wait together.
There was one particular man who stood out to me. He had stopped me earlier in the day and asked for my name. I told him mine, he told me his. Then he announced that we were friends. So I went downstairs to find him, but he wasn’t there. I asked some of the other men, but they did not seem to understand. I decided to wait and try again tomorrow.
However, on the way back from dinner I saw him. He was standing by his bike outside our hostel. One of my squad leaders was playing pool with one of the employees and he was watching them. He pointed at her and I and in very broken english asked to play two against one. So we played pool. Many games of pool. Eventually, I translated (through hand motions) that I was tried and headed up stairs to go to bed.
When I got upstairs I remembered that I still had to pay for the room. I came back down to pay and there he was setting up for another game. He motioned to me that he wanted to play again. So we played. My other teammates came home from dinner and we continued to play. We switched who was playing against who. We laughed at all the bad shots. Gave each other grace when we sunk the 8 ball at the beginning of a game. Cheered for the good shots and shared lots of laughs.We bought ice cream and ate it together. We played more pool. Eventually he went home for the night.
My two teammates continued to play pool with some of the hostel employees. I sat to the side and watched. A strange man walked up. He was dressed in all white. He had tattoos down both arms. He wore dark shades to cover his eyes, even though at this point it was dark outside. He was watching the game. I noticed him. He noticed me. I smiled. He walked away.
Then he came back with something in his hand. He sat down next to me and handed me something wrapped in leaves. I was unsure what was happening. I asked one of the hostel employees what he was handing me. He replied, “Sticky rice and bananas.” Since he did not seem concerned, I assumed it was safe to eat. I asked one of the employees how to say thank you in Thai and thanked the man for his kindness. The man and I watched the game while I ate sticky rice and bananas wrapped in banana leaves. He played a few games with my teammates. Eventually, he also left.
Dew, one of the employees, pulled out a guitar. We sang songs while he played. Then our friend came back. He placed a bag with noodles wrapped in paper and additional ingredients on the table in front of us. He helped us mixed them all together. Dew translated that it was Pad Thai from the market down the street. We ate and then sang more songs.
I am not sure what this month will look like. We could find an established ministry and become super involved with them. We could end up moving to a different city. We could end up simply playing a lot of pool and building relationships with people that way. Whatever God has planned for this month, we want to be a part of it. So we will wait.
