Earlobes to his shoulders, plugs in the cartilage of both ears, “dolphin bites,” and a body COVERED in tattoos…this man was Ugly. Seriously. We entered the tattoo shop and were introduced to the man I just described. He told us to call him Ugly, because that’s what they call him.
My team and I are currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We entered a major city with no host, no ministry, and nowhere to stay. This might sound intimidating, but it was no mistake on our organization’s part—this was all intentional. This month my team is in a season of ATL (Asking the Lord). The intent behind ATL is not to make our team panic and scramble around figuring out where to live and what to do. The intent is to place our full dependence on the Lord and to lean into what He has for us. It allows us to be open to and ready for whatever and whoever the Lord has planned for us.
As a starting point, my team sat down at the beginning of the month and compiled a list of everyone’s dream ministries. The list included dreams of all kinds—become a regular at a coffee shop, visit women at bars working in the sex industry, make friends with artists at a tattoo shop, etc. My teammate, Ali, wanted a tattoo and I wanted friends, so we decided to initiate tattoo shop ministry. And so we return to the man they call Ugly.
Ali researched tattoo shops in the area, then we ventured to the one she deemed worthy. We walked to the shop several times within the first week of being in Chiang Mai—once to check it out, once to make an appointment, once to change the appointment, and then once to actually get tattooed. We were real regulars at this point, and our conversations reflected it. We were no longer just travelers talking to tattoo artists. We were, dare I say, pals.
Boy (the piercer) told us that the guys hang out and make music every night after they close up shop. After Ugly tattooed Ali, they invited us to hang out with them after hours. We were elated—we’re DEFINITELY friends now. Ali’s birthday was just around the corner, so we planned to hang out with them after dinner that night.
Earlier in the day on Ali’s birthday, we passed the tattoo shop in our songthaew and saw a lot of people through the windows and hanging around outside. “Al, the tattoo place is POPPIN’ tonight!” She turned to me with a wild look in her eyes and said “Morg. What if they have a surprise birthday party planned?!” As cool as I thought that would be, I thought there is no way. They don’t know us that well, nor could they possibly be that invested in our friendship.
Later in the evening, Ali, Jason, and I walked to the tattoo shop and (awkwardly) sat around while the guys closed up and got the music going. I saw Ugly in the back, peeking around the curtain. I half-waved at him, but he disappeared behind the curtain before I could get a response. I began to worry that they didn’t really want us there. A couple of minutes later, however, my fears were eased. Ugly came out from behind the curtain, brandishing a beautifully embroidered Thai wallet—a gift for Ali. I was shocked.
The three World Racers showed off our coolest dance moves while our cooler Thai friends sat and chatted. Meanwhile, Boy was fiddling with the sound equipment like a pro. Ali asked him if she could try on the headphones, because what birthday girl DOESN’T want to take that kind of photo op?! Boy said “just a moment!” and frantically addressed the sound equipment. As it turned out, Boy wasn’t just being stingy with his headphones—he was in the midst of preparing a special surprise. Suddenly, a super sweet remix of Happy Birthday blared over the speakers, and Ugly reappeared from behind the curtain. Ugly was carefully carrying a personal-sized cake with three trick candles precariously placed on top.
While I had certainly considered these men to be our friends, I was shocked that a man we had barely known for a week went so far out of his way to do something undeniably special for my dear friend’s birthday. Describing him or his actions doesn’t do the man they call Ugly justice. This man showed us a selfless love like Jesus’, and he doesn’t even know Him. The man they call Ugly and his spirit are anything but ugly.
I was in my eighth grade choir class when a classmate called me ugly. Embarrassed and angry, I believed it deeply. Ugly became a name I internally dressed myself with each day for several years afterward. I gave the words a fourteen-year-old boy spoke over me significant weight. I gave them power. At fourteen, I didn’t understand something important that took me a long time to figure out—our names, the names they call us, do not define us.
Our names don’t define us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t let them. The words spoken over us hold a significant weight, but only as much as we allow them. A name does not define the man they call Ugly, just as I am not defined by the words I’ve been called, just as you are not defined by the words they have called you. Stop dressing yourself in robes of ugly, lazy, dorky, worthless, insignificant, too much, or not enough. We are quick to believe lies and adhere to what others say about us—what they tell us we are. We believe it as truth. News flash: it is NOT inherent truth. You are not what others call you. You are not your past, and you are not your sin. These things scream for your attention only to tell you that you don’t deserve a new name. They call you something, but you are something else entirely. You are HIS creation and He gives you a new name.
They may call you ugly, but HE calls you worthy. He calls you His wonderful creation—a creation He knitted together in your mother’s womb. He made you in full awareness and with the utmost intention of what His hands were creating. He has called you His.
. . .
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them….God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31, NIV).
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13, 14, NIV).
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31, NIV).
“The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord” (Psalm 45:11, NIV).
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He as also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV).
“The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married” (Isaiah 62:2-4, NIV).
. . .
**If you ever come to Chiang Mai and have a hankering to get tattooed, please visit my friends Ugly and Boy at Naga Tattoo on Loi Kroh Road. They are both anything but ugly, and so are their tattoos!**
