Darkness was falling, and the dusky evening was enveloping our community. The kids had decorated our table with three crosses and a tomb they had built with their snap blocks. The Sabbath candles were burning, and the peaceful melodies of Trilogy scripture songs filled the room.
Our family gathered around the table for our typical welcome Sabbath meal of popcorn and fruit salad. We said our blessing and dug in. That’s when I glanced up at our front sliding glass door and saw Sen, our neighbor’s live-in maid, looking in at us from across the lane.
The first time we visited this community in search for a house to rent, we met Sen and spoke with her briefly. Now we are neighbors. She has joined us for meals in our front yard, and we have talked on the road. We have become friends.
I got up from the table and went outside. “Pi Sen (Pi is a respectful word which means “older”), will you come and eat with us?” I asked.
She said she had already bathed, hoping she could join us this evening. “I love this atmosphere with the music and candles!” she exclaimed. We ate and talked together. She was leaving in a few days, heading back to rejoin her husband and children. But she wasn’t sure how she could make a living there.
“Sen, whenever you have a need, you can pray to God,” I told her.
“Yes, I do pray to God, and the Buddha, too,” she said expressing the typical synchronistic Thai attitude about religion.
Before Sen left that evening, we all knelt together, and Chris prayed for her relationships and the new life ahead of her. As we opened our eyes, she was crying. Her tears turned to sobs as she thanked us over and over again. The Spirit of Jesus had touched her heart.
I’m not sure when we will see Sen again. But we have her phone number, and she has invited us to keep in touch and visit her.
Life twists and turns, intertwining our paths with others’ briefly before we split off again. I pray that the time we shared with Sen will be a link in the chain that will lead her to Jesus. Please pray for Sen. Pray for us also that we will diligently use these intersections of life for eternal purposes.
