just look at me part 2: their daddy’s eyes

I prayed for the Lord to give Ryan a dream that night to reveal if we were supposed to re-visit the market and worship in the midst of hundreds of Thai people, then finally fell to sleep. I woke up the next morning with an eager anticipation to talk with Ryan, so I headed into the guys room and randomly asked if he had any dreams the previous night. Ryan’s first response was no, but then he remembered that he had a dream about Andrew, one of our logistics leaders on the squad. Andrew was speaking truth to Ryan in the dream and telling him to be bold. Perfect. Before I could stop the words from coming out of my mouth, I heard myself saying, “we’re going to need some boldness tonight, because I think we’re supposed to go worship at the carnival.” Really…really? Did I just say that? 

When I laid my head down to sleep the previous night and kept seeing the vision of us worshiping in the midst of the market, all I kept thinking was “I do not want to do that”. Thomas had also just written a blog about living in a spirit of overflow and being willing to be uncomfortable, which meant that all signs pointed to returning to the festival that night. You see, I absolutely adore worship. But, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m completely tone deaf and can’t carry a tune in a bucket. So, standing in the middle of people and singing isn’t exactly a highlight for me. Nonetheless, we decided to make our way back to the very place we stood the previous evening.

We had no plan. We just prayed for the Spirit to move. Not too long after we started singing worship songs, we found ourselves in the midst of a crowd; some people were smiling and giving us a  thumbs up, others were tossing money at our feet, and a few were videoing us with their phones [I’m sure there’s a youtube sensation out there somewhere]. We just kept singing and singing, laughing at the fact that the people surrounding us had no clue they were giving the thumbs up and nodding vigorously to the sound of worship, smiling diligently for Jesus to invade their hearts. 

Eventually, Thomas’ fingers were numb from playing guitar and all of our voices were shot, so we decided to take the money that people have given us and bless the beggars in the walk-ways with food. It’s rare to find people that speak English, so we were contemplating how we would ask them what kind of food they would like. [Some of them have sores in their mouths or no teeth, so we wanted to make sure what we gave them was edible]. Of course, the Lord brought two of the girls that have been taking English classes at the University from our all girl team across our paths as soon as we began packing up.

These girls don’t know the Lord; they’re precious and innocent, but they’ve been raised in a culture that teaches them to worship idols. After being a little hesitant when we asked them to approach the man with us to ask what food he preferred, they eagerly began to jump into conversations with each person that we met, helping us choose food that tasted best and giving smiles to the elderly people we were giving food. So, unknown to them, they were being the hands of feet of Jesus and actually participated in a feeding ministry with us the entire night.  

While working in my hometown for a few weeks before going back on the mission field to squad lead, one of the things that struck me was that people always knew who I was because of my eyes. Every person I encountered, whether they were a complete stranger or friend of the family, knew that I was Tommy Compton’s daughter because of my eyes. They’d say, “you must be Tommy’s daughter, you have his eyes.” I found myself thinking the same thought each time that my eyes met with the beggars we were giving food. I would glance into their tear-stained eyes, while they clasped their hands above their head in a wai [the highest sign of respect in Thai], and think, “ah, you have your daddy’s eyes. You’re so precious. So loved. So cherished. So adored. If you could just see yourself through His eyes, then you’d know the truth.”

Last night was a night that was way out of my element. People stared at us, some with smiles and others with angered looks. But, it didn’t matter. We sang songs of truth and redemption over a nation that is in desperate need of revival. A nation that is in dire need to know the truth. Will you join me in prayer for Thailand? Not in a, throw up a random prayer and hope it doesn’t bounce off the ceiling, but in a heartfelt, chain-breaking, life-giving prayer?