Last week, I missed out on a rooftop dinner with my team in Thailand. Why? I was exhausted, and the rooftop restaurant, though gorgeous and fun, was a bit out of budget for me. God had already been speaking to me about staying in my budget for each month, so I knew what I had to do.
Back to the hostel I went. Early bedtime for the win!
The next morning, I was the first one awake in the hostel, and when I went into the lobby, the Venezuelan receptionist looked up through his glasses asked me if I’d like some coffee. “I don’t like the coffee to sit in the pot too long, so I wait for the first guest to come down,” he explained.
“You had me at coffee,” I joked, “Thank you!” Coffee always seems to break the ice. For nearly two hours he and I tipped our mugs back and talked about international politics, life, science, and religion.
You see, the receptionist is agnostic, but he explained to me that he is searching for the faith that “people like me” have. We discussed theories and evidence for evolution, singularity, and the Big Bang. We discussed morals and kindness, debating and why humans have a sense of good and bad. We discussed how there are many different religions and two possible outcomes: only one religion is the right religion, or all religions are wrong.
Then, I listened as he shared his experience in certain Christian churches where females can only wear skirts, where alcohol is prohibited, where men and women can’t dance together because it always leads to sin, and so on. He described the actions of Christians he knew that were unkind, unloving, and dishonoring. He was challenging me with examples of Christian behavior that did not align with scripture.
This sort of thing breaks my heart and leaves me wanting to apologize, but instead of apologizing this time, I told him about my Jesus
I shared how I am under the law of His love and grace. I read him scripture from Galatians 5 that said, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (NIV), and I explained that sometimes Christians can idolize doctrine, unintentionally making it more important than the love and grace of the Savior Himself.
I explained that my job is to love other people to the best of my ability because of the love my Heavenly Father has for me. “It’s like this,” I said, “When I act out of love, the things I do are kind, loving, and honoring. So for me, it isn’t about being good, it’s about being loving, but goodness comes out of that.”
This back and forth exchange continued, and eventually, it was time for his shift to end, so we said our goodbyes. Leaving the conversation, I was still a Christian and he was still a searching agnostic…and that is okay. Sometimes we are just meant to plant a seed, not to see the fruit of what has been planted.
“I pray you find the faith you’re searching for,” I said as he left, “I hope God blows your mind.” He gave a little chuckle and a nod in my direction before walking out.
For most of my conversation with the receptionist, a man with no shirt on sat across the table listening and eating a carrot. Suddenly, he broke the newfound silence in the lobby, “Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say that I see Christ in you. You were so patient and loving to him, and you just have a light in your eyes,” he stoked his beard before continuing, “You have a glow. Something is different.”
WOW.
The best compliment I have ever gotten came from a total stranger. What a wonderful thing it is for this daughter to look like her Heavenly Father.
This man’s name was Tyler, and he grew up in a Christian home, but it had been years since he had been to church. Later that morning, he joined our team Bible study. We all went to lunch together. Some of us shared our testimonies and pointed him towards God. We were able to remind him of the importance of intimacy with the Father and living in community with other believers, and when we said goodbyes, we knew we had done our best to encourage him and love him like Jesus.
It’s strange to think that if I hadn’t been the first one up in the hostel, I would have never met those two men. I guess sometimes God has you miss out on the rooftops so you can meet someone in their valley, so you can plant a seed of the Gospel in the shadows of their mountains knowing that the Son will always rise to nourish the seed you’ve planted.
That knowledge is better than any rooftop I can even imagine.
Until the Whole World Hears,
Mia
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I have traveled out of Thailand and I am currently in a country that I cannot disclose; I need to protect my ministry host, the community I am serving, and myself. I will only be able to post blog updates in this country if they are password protected. If you would like to know where I am and what I am doing, please make sure you subscribe to my blog. An e-mail with the password will be sent to all of my subscribers, but I will not be posting it on social media.
