From a Team Expansion worker:
While traveling in Southeast Asia, I was staying in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at a hotel located in the heart of the city for a few days. One afternoon, I was waiting in the lobby to meet someone. As I stood there, I noticed that the woman working at the service desk spoke some English. Her name was Minh. We began with the usual small talk.
Eventually, I asked her a simple question: “Have you ever read the Bible?” She said no. Then I asked, “Have you ever heard of Jesus?” To my astonishment, she said no again. She told me she had never heard the name of Jesus.
Right there in the hotel lobby, we began talking about Christ and the good news of the Gospel. I shared as simply and clearly as I could who Jesus is and what He has done. Before I left, I asked her if I could pray for her, and she graciously agreed.
It Was There All Along
When I finished praying, she looked at me and said that my prayer had great power. I told her it wasn’t me—it was the Holy Spirit. Just as I was preparing to leave, something caught my eye. Sitting in the lobby, no more than fifteen feet from where Minh worked every day, was a Thai Bible.
At that moment, the lobby began filling with people who were waiting for Minh to check in. Before she got overwhelmed, I quickly grabbed the Bible, pointed Minh to the Gospel of John, and encouraged her to read it to learn more about Jesus.
As I walked away, I couldn’t shake the weight of what had just happened. This image-bearer of God had sat in that lobby day after day, never knowing the name of Jesus—all the while the very Word of God had been sitting just a few feet away from her.
It was clear: access does not equal exposure. The Word of God can be nearby, yet completely unknown, unless someone is willing to speak the name of Jesus. God calls His people to be the bridge—boldly sharing, pointing others to His Word, and trusting the Spirit to work in hearts.
