This is the part three. You want to start at part one and then work your way to part two.
Just sayin’.
Just sayin’.
And when he finds his lost sheep, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
–Luke 15:5-7
It’s 9pm.
I’ve spent all day in prayer for this meeting as I grab my purse and walk down the street to the massage parlor. I’ve been a little nervous at times, but then I remember, “I’m not responsible for the words I’m going to say, because they are the words of Christ.” So, all day, I read my Bible and focused on not rehearsing any plan of attack in my head. I wanted everything I said to be completely inspired by the Holy Spirit.
She is waiting outside as I near the store front. Even though she is very friendly, I can tell she still doesn’t have a clue as to why I am here. As we hop on her motorbike, she asks me if I want to go to a club or a bar or go out dancing. I shake my head and say, “I’m just interested in talking and hearing about you, Mai. How about going out for coffee instead?”
She drives past the coffee shop. I have no idea where we are going, but she suggests, “If you want to talk, we can walk around the park for exercise.” I agree.
As we circle the circumference of the park, I begin to wonder how in the world I’m going to tell her about my Jesus. I’m not scared, I’m just waiting to seize any opportunity to begin. I can tell she still has no idea what to think of me, but as we talk, she seems to become more comfortable by the moment as I share with her. Eventually, we sit down on a bench beneath the street light and begin to really talk.
I really couldn’t tell you now how the subject came up, but before I was even aware of it, we were talking about God. She mentioned how friendly I was and how it made her happy to see someone as nice as me. I told her,
“The reason I am the way that I am is because of God. He gives me joy and love for all people.”
She nodded, and to my surprise, she said,
“You are very different than other foreigner. I think you are this.” She touched her forehead, chest, and shoulders in the sign of the Catholic cross. I was stunned.
“Yes, I am a Christian. Do you know anything about this?”
She began to tell me she had heard about Jesus a few times, but that she knew some people prayed to Maria. I asked her who she prayed to.
“I pray to Buddha, but I also believe it is good to pray to Jesus.” I nodded, having heard this inclusive response from many Buddhists before.
I told her,
“I do not pray to Maria, because I believe Jesus is God. He is the only one that I pray to because He changed my life. Can I tell you about my story and how He changed me?”
She eagerly nodded, turned towards me, and curled her legs up beneath her.
And so I started from the beginning. I told her of the depression and anger and thoughts of suicide I had when I was a teenager. I told her of how bitter I was towards myself, how lonely I felt, and how I was mad at God and didn’t want anything to do with Him. As I described my pain to her, my heart broke as her face twisted in sympathy. She was deeply moved by my pain, and I could tell there were many things I was saying that resonated deeply inside of her.
Then I told her of the night I gave Jesus my pain and how He completely took it away. I told her how I found out that God loved me, that I was special to Him. She nodded in understanding, her entire face open in understanding and empathy.
“God changed my life, Mai. That is why I am traveling around the world. That is why I am here right now, in Vietnam. And I have to tell you the truth… There is a reason I am here with you right now.”
Her brows knit in concentration as she leaned in closer to me. I had her wrapt attention.
“When I came in to get a massage from you last week, I was lying on the table while you rubbed my back, and God spoke to me. He said, ‘Shan, the girl who is rubbing your back… do you know that I love her? I want you to tell her that I love her very, very much.”
Her eyes widened.
“Mai, God loves you. He loves you so much that He took me from America and brought me to Vietnam just to meet you and tell you that He loves you. Do you understand how deeply He loves you?”
She laughed in disbelief, her eyes reflecting some beautiful hope.
I told her many things. I told her of how deep the love of God is for us. I told her that she never needs to worry, that she never needs to fear. But somehow, no matter what I said, I always came back to the simple statement, “God loves you, Mai. He loves you so much.” I must have said this at least twenty times over the course of the evening, if not more. But incredibly, every time I said it, I saw her disbelief become more apparent, her hope become more audacious.
Earlier in the day, I had asked God for a specific word for her, something personal that, when spoken, she would know God was in my words. And, earlier in the day, I had received that word.
“Mai… God knows you have felt alone most of your life. But He is always with you, and in the Bible, Jesus promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He loves you. He is always with you.”
When I said this, I saw the first sign of tears brim her eyes. She went on to explain to me how she had come from a poor country family, how she had to do back-breaking work in the rice fields when she was ten years old, and how she had left her family at fourteen to come and work in the city. She had to wake up at 3am each morning, spending all day cleaning and moving heavy crates, not getting to bed until 11pm each night. The woman that she lived with was never satisified with her work and often beat her.
Tears spilled over her beautiful brown eyes.
“I had no one to talk with, and no one to understand how much pain I have in my heart. Each night, I would write down all the things that hurt me, but often I can’t read them again because so many of my tears would fall on the paper and ruin the words I wrote.”
She looked up at me. We both had tears in our eyes.
“Shan, you are not what I thought. I have never, ever had a foreigner talk to me like you. I have never had a foreigner, not even a Vietnamese, come to me and want to spend time with me just to know me. No one. There has been no one. You are the only one. I did not understand why, but now I do. I cannot talk to anyone about my pain, but you want to know. You care about me. I know that God has told you to talk to me, because I have seen hundreds and hundreds of people come in and out, and no one came back for me but you. It must be God, as you say it is, because no people come back for me.”
I smiled, knowing that the Good Shepherd had come back for her
She continued,
“No, I mean it, Shan. I have done this for long time. No one is like you. I have never seen not one person like you.”
“The reason I am who I am is because Jesus lives inside of me, Mai. The love that I have for you comes from Him, because He loves you so much. He wants you to feel close to Him, so I have a giift for you…”
I reached in my purse and grabbed the Bible I had bought for her. As I pulled it out and handed it to her, I couldn’t have anticipated her response.
Once she realied that I had bought her a Bible in her own language, her jaw dropped and she gasped out loud. Then, in a moment, she pressed it to her face and began to weep uncontrollably.
Once she had gained her composure, she said to me,
“I had seen this… I had seen this and I had always wondered… And now, I have. How did you get this? Where did you get this? I don’t believe that you bought this for me!” She grabbed my hand, hard tears streaming down her face.
I was crying at this point, too. I opened her Bible to the book of John, which I had read in English today and highlighted meaningful verses in her Vietnamese version. She could barely contain her excitement, even in spite of her tears. I told her,
“This book will tell you about Jesus and all the love He has for you. I hope you will read it.”
She gulped hard, pressed the Bible to her heart, and through her tears she promised, “I will read this book. I will read it every day and I will think of how God sent you to tell me about this.”
I asked if I could pray for her. She wasn’t sure how to pray, so I told her it is when we talk to God. I began praying as the Spirit led me, and when I prayed for her family and financial provision for them, I heard her choke back an enormous sob and grab my shoulder. I could tell, even in the prayer, that she was shocked that I knew to pray for this need. After praying, she said,
“How is it you are 24 years old and you know all about God? I have never met one like you. No foreigner, no Vietnamese. You know so much about God! I really believe you. I really, really believe God sent you to talk to me. I really, really believe that He loves me.”
Sensing that the Spirit was opening her heart in a huge way, I began to show her verses in the Bible about Jesus’ love. I showed her John 3:16 and she read it, in her own language. She looked at me, emotions manifesting again. I asked her,
“Do you believe this?”
She nodded fervently. “I believe this, Shan. I really, really, really believe this.”
I stepped back from myself and noticed that somehow, somewhere along the way, her uncertainty had completely melted away and she was desperate for God.
“Do you believe Jesus sent me to you? Do you believe He loves you and that He is God?”
Nearly bouncing up and down, she repeated again,
“I really, really, really, really, really believe!”
I turned to John 14:6.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me.”
“Do you understand this verse?” I asked Mai.
She nodded hesitantly.
“It means that if you believe that Jesus is God, there is no other way to get to Heaven. To follow Jesus, you must believe He is the only God. It means that you don’t have to pray to Buddha now, because Jesus is the only God and He is the one answering your prayers. Do you understand?”
She nodded emphatically,
“I understand.”
“Do you believe Jesus is the truth, even if it means you don’t follow Buddha?”
Once again, nearly jumping off of the bench in excitement, she said,
“I really really, really, really, really believe! I do because I know that in my heart, what you are saying is the truth. I know this because I know that God sent you to me. I feel something in my head and heart I have not felt before. I don’t understand, but I know that whatever you tell me is the truth, because I really, really, really, really know God sent you to tell me He loves me. So I know that what you tell me about God is the truth. I know God loves me, Shan. I know He wants me to know the truth.”
I was… well, blown away is a feeble expression, but you get the picture. At this point, I knew the Holy Spirit was moving in her. I could see it written all over her face, and I even told her I saw the difference. She nodded and said, “I have never feel this, ever. It is the truth! I know it is the truth.”
I took her hands and explained that, if she wanted to accept Jesus, we could pray to Him right now. I promised if she meant it with all of herself, she would feel Him come into her heart. Once again, with the verification of many “reallys”, she stated that she completely understood what she was about to do.
I told her to repeat the words I was saying, not to me, but to Jesus. We didn’t bow our heads, but rather, looked each other in the eyes. I’m so thankful we did, because I got to see pure joy dancing in hers the entire time she was praying.
I had said many sentences when I got to the part of the prayer that, for all intents and purposes, made my race.
Me: “Jesus, please take my pain away.”
Mai: “Jee-suh, ‘plea ‘tay my pain away… WOW!”
At this moment, I saw her jaw drop and she pointed to her heart emphatically.
“Shan! I feel it! I feel it!”
To heck with walking out of the park that night… I ran all the way home!
People, I’m rocked to my core. Tonight was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had.
And to think… It all started because God wouldn’t let me turn off my brain. He wasn’t content to let me think of ministry as what happens between scheduled hours. No, He wants ALL of me. How in the world was I to know that I would end up crying and hugging my new sister beneath the midnight glow of a street lamp, all because I listened to the conviction God laid on my heart?
All because I told one girl I could have easily walked away from that God loved her?
All it takes is your obedience.
And I’m getting hooked.
I was reminded of the prayers I asked all of you to pray in my last blog:
Please be in prayer for this meeting, that it will not be a meeting of an American vagabond and a Vietnamese masseuse, but rather of a Father and His precious daughter, The Good Shepherd and the little, lost sheep.
Little lost sheep: FOUND.
