But What if He Doesn’t Speak English?

"Tell the man you are sitting next to that I love him and I am waiting for him to take that next step in my relationship with him."

Uh no thank you God. I am not doing that.

This was only the beginning of a conversation I had with God on the bus ride home from Bangla Road. 

My team and I had just got done prayer walking and had caught the 4:00 o'clock bus instead of the 3:00 o'clock bus we usually catch because we had to make grocery store stop.  I happened to go in first and happened to sit next to this cute little Asian man, I didn't even make it five minutes down the road when God told me, "Tell the man you are sitting next to that I love him and I am waiting for him to take that next step in my relationship with him." 

So naturally I tell him, "Uh…no thank you God. I am not doing that."

For the next twenty minutes I listed all the reasons why I didn't want to give this stranger that word.

But God, what if he thinks I am crazy?

But God, what if this isn't you telling me this and it's just myself?

But God, what if I am wrong?

But God, what if he doesn't even believe in you?

God just listened to me the whole time while I doubted what I was hearing and tried to justify not telling this man this word.  Needless to say giving words to people has always been a struggle for me, I'll fight it for days even though I know what I am hearing and seeing is from God, I can't get over myself.  I can't get over the fear that it'll be wrong. The fear that they'll think I'm crazy.  The fear that I am not actually hearing God's voice but mine.  But at this moment I didn't have days, I had minutes. 

So I told God my last reason why I didn't want to give this man, what if he doesn't speak English?

And He finally answered me back with a simple, "Then just ask him if he speaks English."

After all, how many times had I done that on this trip?

I finally decide to do it, because I am almost home and really if he doesn't speak English or thinks I am crazy it'll only be awkward for a little bit.  Right as I go to do it, my teammate Kate shows me a bible verse God had showed her on Bangla, I honestly don't even remember what it was, but it gave me a little more courage. 

So I tap the man's leg and ask him if he speaks English.  He tells me yes I do because I read bible and points to Kate's bible.  WHAT???  I got the biggest smile on my face and tell him that Jesus loves him and is waiting for him to take that next step in his relationship with Him.  He starts laughing and tells me to slow down because I was talking too fast, he couldn't understand very well, so I reel in my excitement and speak slower.  After I tell him, he kind of just sits in thought for a second and then he starts telling me he has been a christian for 20 years and he just got done spending two years in northern Thailand doing missionary work with the mountain villages there and was going to go to Bangkok the next day and wait for the Lord to tell him what the next step is.

And he looks at me and says, "It's crazy you tell me Jesus loves me and is waiting for me to take next step, now I know that's what I'm supposed to do in Bangkok." 

Right after he says that we pull up to our stop and I smile and shake his hand, wish him luck, and that I'll be praying for him.  I get off the bus and my teammates are all laughing because apparently the whole bus had gone quiet when I started talking to this man and they all had been listening to this crazy encounter of me getting a word from God for this stranger and it had exactly to do with what was going on his life.

I am in the process of learning to just go and trust the Lord when he gives me a picture or a word for someone.  To get over myself and the fear I have of doing it.  Because who knows what can come of it?  A man gets confirmation of what he should  be doing and a bus full of people were able to see God speaking and moving between two strangers.