My favorite moment in Myanmar came in the form of mud, candy, and the sound of little feet chasing me.
A few of my teammates and I decided we needed to go to the market to buy supplies, so after breakfast we headed out. It’s the rainy season here in Myanmar, so its basically muddy and humid all the time. This made for an interesting walk to the market. Walking carefully through the mud, we noticed there were a lot of kids on this one street. They all waved to us, smiled at us, or gave us a sassy little look. We loved it.
We decided we would buy candy at the market and pass it out to the kids on the way home. On the way home, once we started to get close to where the kids were, I pulled out the candy I bought and gave each of my teammates a handful. We started to pass out candy to every kid we saw. Pretty soon, the whole street was laughing, peering out their windows, yelling “Thank you!” and waving at us. We thought we had given all the kids some, so we started to walk away.
All of a sudden, I heard the sound of little feet running after us, and a tiny voice yelling “Hey! Hey!” We all turn around to see more kids running after us. They were smiling and laughing as they got closer and closer to us. We passed out more candy, and I started heading to the back of the group of kids that had run after us. I knelt down and gave one little boy some candy. His older sister was holding his hand, and both kids had the most precious smile. I started to walk away, when his sister picked him up, and had him kiss me on the cheek.
I’ve loved my race. I’ve gotten to teach bible class to the most amazing boys in Africa. I’ve gotten to bathe an elephant and cuddle a tiger. I’ve gotten to pray and walk the halls of a Buddhist temple, proclaiming the name of Jesus. I’ve gotten to walk the red light district in Thailand, praying for God to soften the heart of the pimps and prostitutes. That is what I expected the race to look like.
What I didn’t expect was for the simple act of passing out candy in a country I honestly didn’t feel one way or the other about to end up being one of my favorite moments so far. It wasn’t scheduled ministry. It wasn’t something I had already thought about doing. It just happened. That is such a comforting thought.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the person I was six months ago when I first started this journey, the person I am now, and the person I want to be six months from now when the race is over. Honestly, I’ve been a little scared. I’m scared that I’ll go home, and fall back into the same habits, because I don’t have “scheduled ministry”.
But God, in all of his goodness and grace, showed me that doesn’t need to be something I need to worry about. Passing out candy to kids and just smiling and talking with them wasn’t scheduled ministry, and it still happened. It still brought glory to his kingdom. It was a simple act, with hopefully a lasting impression. The same thing can and will happen when I go home, as long as I am in constant communication with the Lord.
When I go home, God is still going to bring these opportunities into my everyday life. He isn’t going to stop asking me to spread the gospel just because I’m back in America. The best part is, this isn’t just good news for me, but its good news for you too. He has called all of us to be disciples. Not just me, not just racers, but all of us. Matthew 28:19 says “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit…” It commands all of us to do this. Which means God is going to present you opportunities every day with a chance to further his kingdom, all we have to do is listen.
