The hottest time of the year in Tai-Kadai is just about coming to an end. I enjoyed the mangoes during this season, but other than that, I’m quite happy to have the tropical rains come and cool this place down a bit!

I’ve been living in this part of the world as an English teacher for almost three years now, and I have fallen in love with the culture. People here are very friendly and respectful. The culture here has opened my mind to new perspectives on God, and the relationship that I ought to have with Him. I was reading the Bible in the Tai-Kadai language, and I decided to start in 1 Samuel, because I know the style of writing in that particular book is much simpler and easier to read compared to other parts of the Bible (my Tai-Kadai language abilities are still in the beginner stages). As I read the story of Hannah, praying to God, and then talking with Eli, it struck me how respectful she was being, referring to herself basically as “little me.” I spoke to a local friend of mine about that – let’s call my friend Ben. Ben said the word she used basically meant she was referring to herself as a slave. Hannah was pouring her heart out to God, passionately pleading for her request to have a son, yet through it all she was exceptionally humble and respectful. She also used that word when talking to Eli, calling herself his slave.

Growing up in the west, I always thought that it was best to look at everyone as equals. I was taught that God is my friend – and I do believe that He is. But by no means does that make Him my equal. Still, how can one even relate to Someone who has such a higher status compared to our own?

When I first moved to this part of the world, my students would always want to do nice things for me, giving me food, giving me rides to different places, paying for food and gifts for me and such. It actually made me a bit uncomfortable that they did so much for me, as I felt like I had come here to serve them, and I had so much more than they did, so why were they doing so much for me?

My friend Ben, whom I mentioned above, helped me understand the answer to this question. He finished university about a year ago. He had been unable to find a job in all that time, and just lived with his family, helping out at home, but feeling depressed as he saw all his friends and even his twin brother going out and getting jobs and contributing to the world. He told me how much he missed being in school, he missed having teachers. He told me how, during high school, he and his friends would take care of the school grounds, and even went to his teacher’s house to tend the yard. He talked about these experiences with such joy, and told me what a privilege it is to be able to give something back to the teachers who give them so much. Ben started attending our English school back in February, and he has been thrilled to have teachers again, people he can show respect to and do nice things for. He’s often brought these tasty little snacks for us to try. One day, I really needed to go to the hospital because I had a problem with my ear, but I was scared to go as I don’t speak the local language very well, so Ben gave me a ride and came in with me and translated everything for me. I was overcome by his generosity and the level of respect that he holds for his teachers. But he assures me that all of this is really a privilege, and I can see it in his face every time he has a chance to help.

I realized that this is how I ought to view God. God is a much higher status than I could ever hope to even fully comprehend. Yet He also has a personal relationship with us. I am privileged to be His servant, and His student, and I should have just as much joy in my face when I have an opportunity to help God with the work He has for me as that young man had when he had a chance to help his teachers.

Ben has been asking questions about God, and has seemed to enjoy coming to church a few times and learning about stories in the Bible. He watched us pray together each week, and we would always ask for certain prayer requests. He finally got up the courage to ask us to pray for him to find a job – it really has been a thorn in his side to not have a job for a long time. We agreed, and started praying for him to find a job. He went to another interview…but he didn’t get that job. He felt discouraged. Why hadn’t God answered the prayer? I told him, sometimes God wants us to pray for things many times, because He wants to know we will actually appreciate the answer when we get it. I told him the story in Luke 11, where Jesus described someone going and knocking on his neighbor’s door in the middle of the night many times, asking for food, until the neighbor finally gave in and got some food, not because of friendship, but just because of sheer persistence. And Jesus said that this is how we SHOULD ask God for things – persistently! I convinced my friend not to give up, but continued praying with him all the more that he would finally be able to find a job.

And he did! A company that has both foreigners and Tai-Kadai people hired him to do translating work. I was so happy for Ben – though he has also been rather overwhelmed by the new job. It’s not what he expected to do in his life, and when they use big construction words he often doesn’t understand everything, and it’s very challenging. So, God answered his prayer to get a job, but now he’s overwhelmed by the job he got. I told him not to worry so much, he will learn the construction vocabulary very well over time, as he keeps working for him. The one thing I don’t like about the new job is, he has a lot less free time to spend with us, learning about God, and he hasn’t come to church recently because he has to work on Saturdays. But I know that God answered the prayer for him to get a job, and God can help him in this situation too. He actually told me he wanted to ask for Saturdays off, but since he hasn’t had a job before he’s very intimidated to talk to his bosses about anything.

Anyway, I will be praying for my friend, and I hope others around the world will pray for him as well!

• Twitter