Love Thy Neighbor

At the JT, you have lots of neighbors. Guest neighbors. Puppy neighbors. Food cart neighbors. Gecko neighbors. Mommy and baby neighbors.

My immediate neighbors are always changing, and I'm learning to embrace this change. Sitting on my balcony this afternoon reading "Praying in Color," I noticed my next door neighbor also reading on her balcony while her family watched TV. We didn't say anything to the other, but it was nice knowing that I had company. After being in the community industry for a while now (Resident Assistant, Ice Cream Server, Hostel Volunteer), it is quite noticeable when there is no community. September has been a pretty slow month for the JT, but things are picking up once again, and I am getting new neighbors, new community. My joy is increasing.

One neighbor in particular has increased my joy tremendously. When she first arrived here, I was overwhelmed by her personality. She comes from a culture I am not familiar with and a story unlike my own. She is a community junkie. Since my neighborhood had been pretty lean on community lately, I really had a slow time adjusting to this push for community. I prayed for my heart to be opened to her and for God's love to be manifested in our time together. Since then, I have heard how she met her husband, what dishes her daughter likes to cook, the compliments her dad gives her, how God healed her of breast cancer, and how she converted to Christianity from Hinduism. She also is "a strong daughter of the living God," as she would say. "Praise God," "my sister," and "my God is alive!" are some of the phrases constantly surrounding this woman. She believes in Jesus Christ and is not afraid to let people know. While on "vacation" here, she has witnessed to a local massage hut owner and connected her with a Thai church. I repeat, she does not live here and is on "vacation." She is a force to be reckoned with, one that makes me ask myself "What the heck kind of faith do I have?!" She leaves tomorrow, and I am genuinely going to miss her smile around my neighborhood.

Thanks be to God for showing himself to us through the differences in others. Thanks be to God for the community he puts around us at any given time, constantly changing, inviting us to join in.


[Y'all. I posted this the first time and as I hit publish, the lady came into the office saying the massage worker she witnessed to accepted Christ. She has been invited to share Jesus at a dinner full of Thai people tonight on our beach. I am going with. WHAT?!??]