I was sitting down at a small folding table outside on the side walk in front of the restaurant where I had ordered “suan la fen” for dinner. “Suan la fen” is my new favorite food this year. Each person gets their own bowl and fills it with as many veggies as they can fit inside it. Rice noodles of the person’s choice (there are white ones, green ones, and purple ones) are added to the veggies, and together they are cooked in sour, spicy broth. I like it soooooo much!!!
So there I was sitting at the little table on a small stool, which looked like it should have been meant for a preschool-sized body instead of mine, when two girls sat down across from me. One of them smiled and said hello.
A little while later a song came on from the shop next door. It sounded just like the ethnic style of music I had heard up in a village when I was there this past week. This song that was now playing, was it ethnic music? I had to know! So I asked the girl across from me. She looked up, surprised.
“Yes, it is. Do you know any ethnic people?” she asked. I told her I was just in an ethnic village this past week, and the music sounded like the same style as I heard there. She went on to tell me she herself was from that village!
Now I was the one surprised! We chatted a little bit more, and I started to wonder if I should get her phone number. I told her that I went to that village with some friends because they are starting a mountain biking company there. She told me she is a student at one of the nearby universities, her major is tourism for English speakers, and she hopes to return the village once she has graduated. She got up to pay for her food and leave, and I did it; I asked for her phone number.
Neither one of us had paper or a pen, so she asked to borrow from the restaurant owner. That’s when I found out her name: Betsy. I was left sitting there lost in my thoughts, wondering if anything more would ever come of this connection. Because I had just come back from the village, it seemed really cool that I met this girl. I marveled at the way it seemed God had orchestrated the conversation. And then Betsy stopped back at my table after giving the owner back his pen and said, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure!” I replied.
“Are you a Christian?” she blurted out.
I was shocked! “Yes,” I nodded my head incrediously. “Are you?” I asked back.
“Yes!” She smiled at me. “I am new at studying the Bible. Just one month now.”
Even though I’ll be leaving Asia in about a month, I think this is a connection God set up for me. I’ll be meeting with Betsy and her friend again soon!
Looking with eyes wide open to see what God is doing,
Dove