by our love

I don't speak Thai.
I wish I spoke Thai.

I can say random things like, Hi, How are you?, I miss you, I love you, Happy Birthday, I'll see you tomorrow, You are pretty, You are smart, I can say the days of the week, can, cannot, right, left, little bit, crazy, beautiful, lovely... a bunch of random things.
But I wish I could speak Thai. Like, be able to have a conversation in Thai and to be able to understand what the girls at the house are saying or at the bars when they're chattering away. They usually know enough English to be able to tell me the gist of it. But, I wish I could understand Thai so I could hear all the details and be able to talk to them about whatever I want to talk to them about and they would be able to understand me.

But it has been amazing to see how much I have been able to communicate with the girls with what little Thai I know and what little English they know (they usually know a lot more English than I know Thai). It's been amazing to see the close friendships we've been able to build without even speaking the same language. But there are definitely times where there is more I wish I could say, but I don't know how to say it in a way that they will understand.

One of the hardest parts about the language barrier for me has been when I'm walking down Soi 4, through Nana Plaza or Soi Cowboy or sitting in the pool bars and I just want so badly for these girls to know Jesus. I've prayed in each of these places, "God... I want these girls to know you, but I don't know how I can tell them." And I felt like He was saying, "So show them. Love them". That I can do. We are all called to love. Wether that means loving women in Thailand, or a family member that is going through a stressful time, or a not so lovable coworker, or that socially awkward person that keeps to themselves, or a friend that's going through a hard time, or a hungry child in Africa... We are called to love. It is my goal to live my life in a way that will answer that call.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him... And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:7-21

I can love them. And I pray that in that love they will see Him.



Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love

Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us
We will come reaching, with a song of healing
And they will know us by our love

The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love

Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,
And they will know you by your love