by Jillian L, DTS graduate, outreach team leader
After a long day of ministry teaching English to women from the bar and leading a program for kids in the slums, our team headed to the Pattaya House of Prayer (PHOP) for a time of rejuvenation with the Holy Spirit. About 30 people from ministries all over Pattaya joined together to praise God and speak truth over the city. We then broke into groups for a “treasure hunt” in the red light district.
A “treasure hunt” is a special time of searching out God's treasures — individuals — and sharing an encouraging message with them.
Before we set out to find our “treasure,” we asked God for clues about who we should look for.
A picture came to my mind of an Asian man wearing a collared, yellow shirt. We combined our list of “clues” and headed towards the beach. We couldn't wait to share a special message of God's love with this individual.
Right after we arrived on “Beach Road,” we spotted a man in a yellow collared shirt! Before we could reach him, he jumped on his bicycle and rode away. I couldn't believe we were so close and yet missed our chance to talk with him.
Then, as others in the group were talking to someone else, the man rode past us again, got off his bike, and sat down. We felt confident this was the man the Lord wanted us to talk to, but we had no idea what to say to him! One of the guys in our group encouraged us not to miss this second chance, but to be bold. So Catherine, Eric, Pang, and I began walking toward him.
“Excuse me, may we interrupt?” I said.
The man looked excited to speak with us and moved over to make room for us to sit next to him.
“This may seem very unusual,” I said. “But I feel as though the Lord wants to tell you He loves you.”
The man's eyes lit up as Pang translated what I said.
“God showed me a picture of you in my mind. He wants you to know that He sees you and He loves you”
“Oh thank you!” he said.
While I was talking to the man, Eric and Catherine were silently praying and asking God what else we should tell him.
Eric said, “God sees your intelligence and loves your persistence in learning. Jesus wants you to use this gift he has given you to learn truth.”
“Oh wow!” he responded. “Do you have a word from the Bible for me?”
It was then that Catherine shared Psalm 139:17-18. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”
“I would like to read more of the Bible,” the man in yellow said. “And I'd like to learn some English.”
Eric made plans to meet him the following day to give him a Thai Bible and teach him English!
Our tag-team evangelism was a lot of fun as we got to meet more people to tell them they are treasured by God.