About a month ago while out for a run, I ran past a restaurant that a friend of mine (Joy) owns. I stopped to say hi and chat briefly. As I was chatting to Joy, I had a sense that she was not doing well. Thai people are really good at keeping their emotions under wraps, but you can often get a sense of how they are truly doing by their eyes. Joy’s eyes did not have the usual friendly glint, instead they showed worry and burden.

I pushed the friendship boundary a little by asking how she was again because she did not seem to be okay. She once again said everything was fine. It was only when I once again said that I was worried about her and that her eyes were telling me that she was not fine that she was finally willing to share her worries with me. She shared with me about her financial concerns, the debt she is in due to her mother’s illness, her restaurant having fewer customers due to COVID, and not having enough money to cover her daily expenses.

While listening to her story I felt led to share with her from Matthew 6 about not worrying about our lives, what we will eat or drink.....ending with how valuable we are to God. I encouraged her to pray and ask God to help her and to show her that He is real. I explained that she could talk to God like she was talking to me, she could tell him that she wasn’t sure he was real, ask him to reveal Himself to her, ask for help, etc.

She told me that she would pray that night once she was home. I continued my run and prayed for her, but I was skeptical that she would follow through and pray that evening. A couple of weeks passed before I saw her again, as she had now closed her restaurant and I had not had the time to go past her house to check up on her. I finally popped in to visit her and was genuinely surprised to hear that she had prayed to God just as she said she would and that she was acknowledging that He had answered her prayer. In her words she prayed ‘ to the God that Trish believes in’ and He answered her prayers. The day after her prayer someone came to return money (2000Baht) that they owed to her and her financial worries were alleviated slightly. Since then she said that she often prays when she can’t sleep and every time she prays she is able to sleep peacefully with no concerns/worries to keep her awake.