When we were living in Chiangmai, Cindi and I prayed that the Lord would help us connect with our neighbors. Having limited language skills, we knew it would take some work to develop deep relationships. We took advantage of the opportunities we had to talk with neighbors when we saw them outside, but usually the conversations were relatively short. One of our neighbors, Pi Tdao, a 32-year-old single father of an eight-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl, was always friendly to us, but not very interested in talking for more than a few minutes. His children, however, were a different story.
One evening as Cindi and I were going out for a walk, Pi Tdao’s children ran up to us and eagerly began chatting away. We spent the next hour with them, asking questions, laughing and practicing Thai. We sensed a connection forming. Shortly thereafter, we began playing badminton and soccer with them in the street. They were always eager for us to join their games. Sometimes they would even ring our doorbell or motion to us through our window. Another neighbor boy, the son of our landlord, would also join in the fun.
Once we began spending time with the children, we noticed that our neighbors began to warm up to us. One night when we arrived home after dark, we saw the children still playing outside. Rather than going inside to eat supper, we joined them. After 45 minutes, Pi Tdao came out to call his children in for bed, so I went over and talked with him. To my surprise, we ended up talking for close to half an hour, and he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to end the conversation. I learned a lot about Pi Tdao, including the fact that he was a big fan of tennis. It felt like we had become friends.
In August, before Cindi and I moved from Chiangmai to Khon Kaen, we wanted to do something meaningful to say goodbye to our neighbors. We decided to purchase two illustrated children’s Bibles from the Thailand Bible society to give to our new little friends. The night before we left, I took a Bible along with a Thai version of Steps to Christ to give to Pi Tdao. When he saw me, he asked me to wait a minute while he went into his house to get me “a gift to remember me by.” He came back out with a white T-shirt, which he showed me had been signed by tennis great Jimmy Connors. He told me he had received it first-hand three years ago when Connors came to Thailand to hold a tennis camp.
I was stunned that Pi Tdao would give me something that held so much value to him. I felt guilty for accepting the gift, but knew it would be wrong to refuse it. We talked for the next 40 minutes, and he told me how much his children were going to miss us. I told him we would miss them, too, and him as well, and that he was doing a good job parenting them. He thanked me for playing with them, adding sheepishly that he was usually too tired to play after work.
Shortly before I left, his daughter ran to the door with her new Bible, proudly exclaiming that she was already on page 37! I left Pi Tdao’s house at a loss for words, realizing that God had indeed answered our prayer.
