Games lead to bonding and communication between missionaries and Indonesians.
"It all started with an invitation to play chess," wrote missionary Sarah Deal, serving with her husband, Shad. "Our neighbor, Mafoot, already a friend of Shad's, challenged Shad to a game on a Sunday afternoon."
After several hours, Shad was exhausted but had the chance to jot down a lot of new vocabulary and talk to several neighbors.
Inspired by the fun he had at chess, Shad asked Mafoot if he wanted to play ping-pong sometime. Mafoot said he would love to, but didn't know where they could play. Searching around and seeing the prices for tables, Shad decided he would try to build one.
Sarah wrote, "After talking again with several neighbors, he decided that this table would belong not to our family, but to the entire neighborhood, providing our neighbors would be willing to help build it. Word spread fast, and by the time Shad bought the wood and various other supplies, several men had come by to help get the work started."
"A week later, the table is almost done! But more importantly, God has opened up doors for new and deeper relationships with our neighbors. Everyone who walks by the house or sees us out and about asks how the table is coming. Most have shown a genuine appreciation for Shad's hard work on their behalf, and we pray that in some small way, this simple act of building a ping-pong table reflects God's love to our friends."
Praise God for the way His hand can be seen even in the small things, and pray that some of the Deal's neighbors will come to know Him due to this.
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