 |
| Lek's Bar on Soi (Street) 7. |
Sarah, Ying, Maè (Ying's Mom) and I have been spending Friday afternoons at 'Lek' bar. Lek is a fiery 58 yr. old Thai woman with a huge heart and a very strong English accent. She has been married to her British husband Charlie for 21 years and when she talks to us, I hear Charlie, not the tiny Thai lady sitting in front of me.
To make a long story very, very short, Lek and Charlie own a bar along one of the beaches in Pattaya. Not many people have been coming for a while now, maybe because their bar is a rock n' roll and beer kind of bar, not a naked Thai women one. (Lek is looking for someone to take the lease over for her bar if any of you are interested).
My understanding is that Lek started attending "True Friends Church" (the one we are working with), after an encounter with a group of girls from the USA. As the story goes ( this is as true as I could interpret) an American girl named Nicki showed up at Lek's bar one evening to pray for Lek's daughter in law. The girl was with a group from a prophecy school in The US who had been planning a trip to Thailand and before leaving the girl had a dream about a bar in Thailand where someone was sick. Upon arriving in Pattaya they started the treasure hunt for what turned out to be Lek's bar. Nikki introduced herself to Lek and asked if she could share her story - of the dream and wanting to pray for the sick person in her dream- if there was one. Lek's daughter in law was dying of cancer and they excepted prayer. Lek said "Even 'Chalee' (who is a Buddhist) couldn't deny that God must have brought those people to us". Slowly a relationship began to develop between Lek, Ying and Maè. Ying spent a lot of time with Lek's daughter in law who wasn't open to hearing about Jesus until a day or two before she died when she excepted Christ. The story is bitter sweet. Lek can't speak a word about her daughter-in-law without crying and even from the outside I am left wondering why God didn't choose to heal her. On the up side, Lek has an amazing group of friends from the church and she is sharing her new hope in Christ with her family and the many hopeless people she encounters on a daily basis.
 |
| Lek, Myself and Ma`e having a cuddle. |
So, that's a bit about Lek. I love her a lot and I look forward to Friday afternoon with the ladies. Sarah and I are supposed to be doing ministry while we are at Lek's bar on Friday's. Bridges to the Nations was wanting to set up another outreach location and meeting at Lek's was killing two birds with one stone. A free place to hang out for a type of women's 'friendship circle' while supporting Lek's business by buying water and soda. Sarah and I helping with the new ministry usually ends up more like us going to school. The ladies teach us about Thai culture, how to speak Thai, how to eat Thai food:), etc. It's great!
We have a few 'events' planned at the bar before we go and Ying and Maè are going to continue meeting there with Lek and any women who show up for 'friendshiip circle'.
 |
| The ladies chatting. |
 |
| The 'Friendship' circle. |
My understanding is that Lek started attending "True Friends Church" (the one we are working with), after an encounter with a group of girls from the USA. As the story goes ( this is as true as I could interpret) an American girl named Nicki showed up at Lek's bar one evening to pray for Lek's daughter in law. The girl was with a group from a prophecy school in The US who had been planning a trip to Thailand and before leaving the girl had a dream about a bar in Thailand where someone was sick. Upon arriving in Pattaya they started the treasure hunt for what turned out to be Lek's bar. Nikki introduced herself to Lek and asked if she could share her story - of the dream and wanting to pray for the sick person in her dream- if there was one. Lek's daughter in law was dying of cancer and they excepted prayer. Lek said "Even 'Chalee' (who is a Buddhist) couldn't deny that God must have brought those people to us". Slowly a relationship began to develop between Lek, Ying and Maè. Ying spent a lot of time with Lek's daughter in law who wasn't open to hearing about Jesus until a day or two before she died when she excepted Christ. The story is bitter sweet. Lek can't speak a word about her daughter-in-law without crying and even from the outside I am left wondering why God didn't choose to heal her. On the up side, Lek has an amazing group of friends from the church and she is sharing her new hope in Christ with her family and the many hopeless people she encounters on a daily basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment