Hello Everyone! We have arrived in Thailand which is our second country. We have split from our squad into just teams, so I am with team summit in a hostel. We are in Chiang Mai! Our ministry here is helping at a children’s home. We help with some teaching and playing with the kids, in addition a big focus is more manual labor to help as they recover from flood damage.
Today I wanted to share a moment from back in Malaysia that’s been on my mind and shifted some perspective.
We got the wonderful opportunity to go and visit the village lots of the kids we taught stayed at. The second we arrived all the kids were waiting outside for us and we were greeted with the biggest smiles and hugs. They were so excited and immediately each student grabbed their teachers hand and brought them to their homes. The parents were waiting at the door to greet us and bless us with a drink I can’t pronounce the name of. Basically everyone had a cat that they wanted us to hold, and after a moment there, they would pull us to the next place they wanted us to see. After a while we all met up in one home and they sat us all in a circle. A bowl of water was passed around for us to rinse our hands clean, and then plates upon plates of food was brought out for us. So much food that it filled every small space within the circle of the 14 of us. The children and their families didn’t sit down, they just stood back and offered us more and more food as we began to eat.
“Do you want to come sit with us?”
“No, no this is all for you, thank you for coming.”
Not only was the food absolutely incredible, but they thanked us for coming into their home and eating their food. They didn’t even want to eat even though there was definitely enough food for them to. They wanted to honor us by serving us and providing what they could for us, which was the food. Later on I found out that it took them 5 hours to prepare it all, and then they stood back and didn’t even try it. They didn’t have much, but they truly did give away everything they had so we could feel honored by them.
After we all were full, we went outside to play with the kids. We played monkey in the middle and the kids had the best time, and the mothers watched and waited just incase we needed anything. After a while of playing barefoot, my feet started to hurt so I went to put on my shoes. As I started to do so, one of the mothers came up to me and took off her own shoes gesturing for me to take hers instead. She could see I was putting on my own, I wasn’t in need of shoes, however she WANTED me to have hers. She wanted to sacrifice something of her own, not because I needed it, but because I didn’t need it and she wanted me to feel honored by her. At first my American mind had me say “oh no that’s okay, I have my own!” She was taken aback and gestured again for me to take them. I quickly remembered it is important to accept all they offer, even if it feels strange (or even if you get full of your food) because they are in a honor and shame culture. For me not to accept something is disrespectful. So I urgently thanked her and put on her shoes. Her shoes were clean and had a nice bow on them, I was headed back to play in the dirt. My shoes were already dirty and would’ve worked just fine, but she wanted me to feel loved, and so once again she gave all she could.
This moment was truly eye opening to me. I immediately thought of the widow who gave two coins. Others gave much more than her, but they gave a small amount of what they had, she gave EVERYTHING she had. Jesus recognized her.
“He said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty has offered her whole livelihood.” Luke 21:3-4 NABRE
It was not about how much she gave, but her heart posture. Similarly, this woman gave all she had. It wasn’t because I was starving or because I was in need of shoes, and she knew that. However, she still gave everything she could to me because she wanted me to Geel love, honor, and her gratitiude . She was living the Gospel without even knowing it. I knew the Gospel and somehow I haven’t been acting as the widow in the story, rather I was the prideful men. This moment truly encouraged me to look at my heart in all I do, in all giving, why am I doing it? Also, how can I honor others? I want these questions to be flowing through my mind constantly.
I also want to shine glory on God for this. Rather than calling me out in a way of shame or embarrassment, he had another’s kindnesses to me be a teaching. Through a kind interaction and a recalling of a Bible story, He gently taught me what he needed to. In all things God is so kind, never doubt His character. I also want to encourage you all to look at your lives and your hearts. In that story, who are you: the widow or the men? Another question is how can you show honor to others better? This could be an awareness of something, stopping gossip or slander of someones name. It could also be opening your home and generosity to others. To follow God, you must let EVERYTHING of yours, be His.
Thank you for reading, I am so grateful for all of you and I hope this touched your heart in some way. Please pray for me and my team as we step into the new chapter of Thailand, and continue to pray as I am getting closer to my fundraising goal. Never question to reach out and talk to me or ask for prayer requests!
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