My Little Missionary

Since the day he uttered his first word, Roo has been trying to communicate with the lady who comes to clean our house everyday. She speaks purely Thai, and Roo speaks only English. When they try to talk to each other, each would say a word in her/his own language. The thing is, both of them are so intent on teaching the other his language that neither of them listen to each other. The khun pa we call her, for instance would point to the ball, and tell Roo, "bon." Roo in return would tell her "ball" and insist that it's a ball, not a bon.

Ball.

Bon.

Ball.

Bon.

That's what you'll hear for a few minutes. Eventually one of them gives up and goes back to his/her own thing. The next day when they meet, the same thing happens. Many times, it's another word. Most of the time, it's the same word.

We've been telling Roo to listen really carefully when the khun pa talks so he can learn Thai. Ever since he found out that the khun pa does not know Jesus, he has been itching to tell her. He tried several times, but in English, so the khun pa couldn't understand a word he's saying. He even watches Thomas the train in Thai at times, just so he can learn to speak Thai.

Today, he found a way. The Holy Spirit is evidently at work in Roo's heart. While I was surfing the net, I noticed that Roo was standing in the narrow space between his lolo's bed and the locker, so I told him he'd have to move out of the way because the khun pa would have to pass that way from the porch. He said, no mommy, I have to show her Jesus. On the bed was my old yearbook, and he had turned it to the page where Jesus picture was. So when the old lady came in from the porch with her mop, Roo cornered her and pointed to the picture of Jesus. The old lady acknowledged, and said, "Phra Yesu."

Apparently, she knows something about Jesus. I struck a conversation with her about it, and learned that she has read tracts and books and knows that Jesus was here on earth before and that he was crucified. She told us she liked reading about him. So Roo and I gave her a book to read. My little missionary wore a huge smile on his face as the khun pa said "khop khun khap!" (thank you!)