In the fall of last year, I was still in full-time language school – the main focus of my ministry. What was unique about this month though was that I was basically studying one-on-one with my teacher, since my other classmates never came to class. This gave me the unique opportunity to get to know her really well.
Since the first day I met her, I knew there was something different about her. She had a curious spirit. Since the day we met, I hadn't been able to get her out of my head. I'd been thinking about her and her heart every day, praying that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself to her. I'd been confident from the beginning that He was speaking to her.
In most of the conversations we had, my faith has naturally come up. Her reactions to what I said gave me confidence that she was seeking Truth.
I'd been feeling the prompting from Father to read a story from the Bible with her, but felt unsure about it. I wanted to let it happen naturally as to not take steps back in the friendship we were developing. In this culture, relationship is always the top priority.
But on a random Wednesday, class took place on holy ground. I built up the courage and asked if we could read a story together from the Bible. I gave her my Thai Bible to follow along as I read from my phone. I read her the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). I told her that Father wanted me to share this story with her because the woman in the story felt like we often do - ashamed, hopeless, unseen, and without purpose. But Jesus saw her as beautiful, purposeful, and full of hope. That's how Jesus saw her too.
After we read this story together, she asked for another one. We read the story of the woman and the two coins (Mark 12:41-44). I shared with her that God cares about the beauty of the heart, not the beauty of things. I told her she had a beautiful heart, that God created her with a beautiful heart.
After we read this, she asked for another one. At this point, I was exhausted. I had never had spiritual conversations like this in all Thai. And after all, I had only practiced reading the first story in Thai. I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS. I asked God for one story and didn't really think past the one, but we serve a good God who is kind enough to not only give us what we hope for, but sometimes even more.
I decided to go for it and read the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). I stumbled over words in this one, but she helped me through, which meant she was reading the Bible out loud to me. Beautiful. I shared with her that when we run away and make mistakes, we may be afraid or ashamed to come home. But when we return home to God, He will always run out to meet us, hug us, and kiss us. His love is an unconditional, undeserved love. That's what makes His love so special. She said she thought the phrase ความรักที่ไม่สมควรได้รับ (khwam rak thii may somkhuan dai rap) was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. That phrase translates to “a love that is undeserved.”
After reading through the three stories, she was so excited to share with me that she could remember all of them. Then she repeated back all of the stories to me.
She told me that the first story I shared with her "hit her heart." She said it was a special story for her.
Then she asked me why when I read the Bible stories my "sounds" changed. I asked her to explain what she meant because I didn't understand. She said that when I read my notebook in school, I sounded “normal,” but when I read the Bible stories my sounds changed. She said I shouldn't be able to read them like I did. She said it was like I was reading at a much higher level. I still wasn't following. Set on explaining it to me, she opened the Bible and read it "like I read my notebook," with pronunciation errors and a lack of confidence. Then she read it "how I read the Bible story," clearly and with confidence. I told her I didn't know I did that. She said it almost scared her because my sounds changed so much. Like someone else was reading. She was struggling to explain it and then it dawned on her - she said I read it with power.
My eyes started welling. I told her that Father must have helped me read it. I told her that I have power from it because it's the most important thing in my life. It gives me power. It gives people power.
This was just a snippet of our 3-hour long conversation. But man, what a special day. I have no doubt that the Lord was and is speaking to her clearly. He is calling her. He desires for her to know Him. Please pray for my sweet friend and teacher. Pray for her continued curiosity and for wisdom and discernment in the conversations we will have in the future.
This day will be engrained in my mind and heart forever. During a break from class, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful image of my Bible next to our Thai textbook. This is ministry here. This book was made for everyone, made for people like her and for those who speak her heart language. As the people in the classes around us learned Thai, we were learning about our Creator. Wow. God showed up big-time and I could not be more humbled.