Even though thirteen-year-old Chaz had lived in Chiangmai, Thailand for most of his life, he had never yet led anyone to Jesus. His need for a backpack changed all that.<\/p>\n
Chaz found a brightly lit luggage stall at the side of the Night Market near a Buddhist temple. Numerous bags and purses hung from a tarp canopy hovering above rows of suitcases arranged on the ground.<\/p>\n
As Chaz approached, the shopkeeper stood up and said, \u201cWelcome sir!\u201d He was probably in his fifties and had short silver hair. His suit jacket seemed out of place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks. Hi.\u201d Chaz wasn’t sure how to respond to someone calling him sir.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have good suitcase.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaz decided to speak Thai, which usually helped to get the price reduced. Chaz swiped his forehead sweat over his blond hair. \u201cI’m looking for an internal frame backpack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise, wrinkling half of his upper face. \u201cYou speak our language very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d Chaz had worked hard to learn this complicated language.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Thai. You practice me English, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait here. I have special pack today.\u201d Chaz looked around while the man went back through some tattered curtains.<\/p>\n
The shopkeeper returned with a large smile on his face and an army green backpack. \u201cYou look.\u201d He set the bag down on the table and gently slid it out of a plastic wrapper.<\/p>\n
The smell made Chaz feel dizzy as he examined it. The zippers were thick and sturdy with strong buckles. The fabric was thick and durable with double stitching. It was the most beautiful pack he had ever seen and he assumed it would cost him at least double what he had to spend. Money was tight right now, so there was no point asking his dad for more. He set it down gently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you think? Very nice, yes?\u201d The shopkeeper held the pack up to the light.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery nice.\u201d Chaz squelched his envy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you do in Thailand?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaz stood up straight, \u201cMy parents are missionaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh. Good karma. You do so good for Thailand.\u201d The man took Chaz\u2019s hand and shook it vigorously, which was strange because no one ever shook hands around here. Instead, Thai people thanked and greeted by putting their hands together in a waii.<\/p>\n
Maybe he feels hand-shaking goes hand-in-hand with having an English conversation.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOh. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n The man let Chaz\u2019s hand go \u201cWhat you name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m Chaz.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am Burut. I attend Catholic missionary school when I boy. I learn English good. I learn about Jesus. You know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I know about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cForgive enemies, yes? Then God take away your sin?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like this. How I can Christian too?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI, umh, well you need to pray to God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou pray me, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think my dad would be better at this.\u201d Chaz felt way out of his league.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you pray me.\u201d The man grabbed his hands and looked intently into his eyes. It seemed a little strange to Chaz because usually Thai people weren’t so forward.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t matter. What mattered was this man\u2019s soul was on the line.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn English?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes, English.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I guess, why don\u2019t you just say what I pray?\u201d<\/p>\n Chaz bowed his head and put his hands together much like the Thai\u2019s did in a waii. He began, \u201cOkay? Dear God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay? Dear God.\u201d Chaz smiled when the man repeated the word \u201cokay\u201d. Chaz hoped he thoroughly covered every thing needed for the prayer of salvation by the time he reached \u201cAmen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, now I can attend Christian temple?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, do you have any questions?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI pray you will get to know Jesus better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI found already. I know this good path for me. Thank you for happy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUmh, sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, I think you find what you like. Yes?\u201d Burut said with a sly smile.<\/p>\n \u201cI did?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. You like backpack?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course. It’s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSpecial price for you only. I buy for cheap. You, help me. I sell you cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnly you do one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure, what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n The shopkeeper smiled with deeply yellowed teeth. \u201cYou tell more of my people about Jesus, so they be happy, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a deal,\u201d Chaz replied. He paid, slid on the shoulder straps and raced to show his dad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though thirteen-year-old Chaz had lived in Chiangmai, Thailand for most of his life, he had never yet led anyone to Jesus. His need for a backpack changed all that. Chaz found a brightly lit luggage stall at the side of the Night Market near a Buddhist temple. Numerous bags and purses hung from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,9,8,12,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christian","category-missionary-kids","category-my-books","category-thailand","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2134,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}