Sometimes trying to be a reflection of Christ takes sacrifices. Case in point: right now I have pink nails. Bright pink. As in almost glow-in-the-dark. Maybe that isn't what sacrifice looks like to you, but I hate pink. And I paint my nails about once every year or two. But today our friends Noi and Deuan came over to SHE to teach us how to make som tam (papaya salad), and afterward we painted nails on the floor in the kitchen. So now my fingernails are florescent pink. All of them. But just to have that time to hang out with our friends was worth it.
So the cook here is named Oon(oh-on). She is from Esan (same as Noi & Deuan), is in her fourtys, and is absolutly hilarious. She doesn't really speak English, and I don't really speak Thai, but we laugh. A lot. Anyway, Oon helped us make som tam, and so Noi, Deuan, and Oon talked in Thai a lot of the time, We felt a bit out of the loop, since we couldn't understand what was going on, but we just kind of chilled. That happens a lot in this ministry. But I sort of got the feeling that Oon might being telling them important stuff.
After we cleaned up from the som tam, I showed the girls around SHE, and tried to tell them a bit more about it. They didn't seem super enthused. Then we painted nails, laughed and Amber's nubbins (she bites her nails worse than anyone I have ever seen) and then drove them home. It was a bit exciting, because Deuan met Liz, the English class teacher, and seems pretty interested in going to class, but it's not like they were jumping up and down to come work at SHE.
Later on, Phil, who speaks pretty good Thai, told us that Oon was saying encouraging things to the girls about what goes on at SHE. And she was saying it in their own language and dialect. Maybe getting my nails painted neon pink isn't my idea of "missionary work," but I kind of think it was God's idea for getting Noi and Deuan here to have seeds planted in their hearts and minds.
