A chat with Dinay. A changed life.

Megan and I made the rounds in our neighborhood tonight on our way to the beach, stopping off for a while at Gan's to share some of our pictures of Koh Yao Noi with her, since she's adding Koh Yao to the list of tours she offers at the Green Biking Company, then saying "sawat dee ka" to the ladies at the massage shops and the guys who work at the yellow Italian restaurant, and after a few minutes at the beach (it was already late- like 9:15), stopping to chat with Dinay at his tailor shop. It's been so exciting to see him grow in his new faith in Jesus. It's so much fun to meet with Dinay whenever I have time to stop for a while. His face beams radiantly every time I see him, and he's so joyful. He's been reading the Nepalese Bible, which I had asked the Honeymans (a family helping out at Step Ahead right now) to bring down from Bangkok, every day. Last week I asked him if he had ever read the Bible before, and he said "no, this is the first time!" He is amazed by the story of Creation and the stories of Jesus in the gospels (he read John first). This week he said he went to Krabi for a few days for his cousin's wedding and that while he was there, he read his Bible aloud to some of his relatives. One of them was really interested and has kept asking Dinay if he's still reading the Bible. 

Dinay likes percentages. Tonight he said several things that made me and Megan crack up. It went something like this:

Bri: "Is it as clean in Nepal as it is in Thailand?"

Dinay: "Oh no, it's about 20% as clean as Thailand."

Bri: "Really?"

. . . .

Dinay: "I'm too dark. I wish my skin were whiter."

Megan: "I wish I were dark like you! Does my skin look darker than when I came here?"

Dinay: "Oh yes, I think you're about 20% as dark as me."

(this makes perfect sense in his mind)

. . . .

Megan: "How many languages do you speak?"

Dinay: "About 5: Nepalese, Burmese, Thai, English, and a little bit of Italian. Thai about 60-70%. English about 60-70%. Italian only about 20%."

  I might have gotten some of the details incorrect. I have a bad memory. But it was funny.