It has been finals time around here, which means drastically less students coming to Grapevine. Anticipating low attendance, we decided to do something a bit different for Souper Tuesday last week. The Thai school year is not in session during Easter time, so it is not often that we get the opportunity to share the whole Passion story at once. We chose to do the "stations of the cross." Each staff member took one or two stories of the last week of Jesus' life to present to the students as we walked through campus to wind up at Grapevine for dinner.
Early in the afternoon, I went to campus and found a painted picnic table to sit at as I prepared for the talk. The table had a picture of a golden castle on a cloud in the sky and the word "paradise" written in English above it. Some of the other painted clouds were holding pots of gold, and there were little smiling Asian angels positioned around the castle. I thought it was a fitting table to sit at for my purpose. I wondered if the students who painted it had ever even heard the story we were going to tell that night. Chances are, probably not.
At the first station, six students showed up. We talked about the triumphal entry, and how Jesus was the fulfillment of Scripture. The second station was the Lord's supper. We did not partake in communion, as the students with us were not Christians, but we did share a snack to symbolize the meaningfulness of meal-sharing. For this part, we coincidentally wound up sitting at the same "paradise" table I had been preparing at earlier that day. Third, I took the students to a garden to speak to them about what was happening as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. By this station, there were only four students. At the end, we all picked up rocks to carry with us.
The fourth station was a long walk from the third, and there we discussed the trial, beatings, and humiliation of Jesus. It was moving for the staff members. I know that I, at least, do not consider Jesus' suffering very often. The Thai students were quiet. The place where we stood together was right next to the main campus shrine-- a 30 foot sculpture of two spiraling dragons, with many gifts and flower wreathes below it. From there we moved to a small foot bridge nearby, where we talked about the crucifixion. This part was in Thai. By this time, we were down to three students.
For the last station before we headed back, I led the remaining students to the steps in front of a dorm/food court in between campus and Grapevine. Just down the steps from us was the shrine of the building-- an elephant goddess with many heads and arms, the smell of the incense burning drifted over to where we were sitting. We talked about how Jesus is now ALIVE, and how this fact offers real hope and victory over death.
The students who were present at each of the various stations listened politely and seemed mildly interested in what we were saying. We did not, by any means, expect some great crowd of converts by the end of the night. Our goal was to tell the story in an intimate group. That goal was accomplished. We told the story. And if anything, it was a powerful experience for the staff to remember the sacrifice of our Savior together. And as for the students, I trust that God knows exactly what they heard, and he is more than capable of continuing to speak.
One of the most important lessons I have learned through doing ministry with Thai Buddhist students is that the Lord can do immeasurably more than we think or imagine with what we give him. There is so much going on that we do not see. God is using us so much more than we know.
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