Another Step in the Journey

George invited me yesterday to visit his Church in St Johns where a group (17 yesterday) has started on a regular basis to go out into the village to tell people about the Gospel. To be honest, this seemed something of a challenge and not very British; but putting anxiety aside, I went along. Now, the very idea of walking up to people 'cold' and speaking to them about Jesus seemed very foreign to me. But, first we spent some time in prayer and we listened to a recording about a 'strange little white haired man' who stepped out of shop doorways and asked the question, 'Excuse me sir, are you saved? If you die tonight are you going to Heaven?'. The recording transcript and downloadable recording may be found here http://www.christianstogether.net/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=82079 and it's a wonderful story worth reading/listening to. This was good preparation and I was paired up with a young lady who'd been out before (the ideal pairing is a man and a woman [not too intimidating for whomever you meet]) and we went out at quite a pace. She was in a hurry!

We met several people in all, mostly they were with someone else, maybe wife/husband or partners. What interested me most was that the encounters were nothing like as gut-wrenching as I'd expected. In my tiny mind I'd built a picture of talking to people who'd think we were nuts, or would humour us (which would be worse). The reality was that we were having quite challenging conversations with people, two of whom were very much without a Christian faith but who were nevertheless prepared to talk!

The first of these was a man with a lady, an atheist but nevertheless a ‘good person’. Interestingly, my partner had only a few minutes earlier explained to me that her university degree was in anthropology, and this gentleman’s first line of attack was to quote Darwinism. Naturally my partner wasn’t slow to point out her background and to share how she nevertheless came to the conclusion two years ago, despite all her learning, that God was responsible for all creation, including us. I couldn’t help thinking that the Holy Spirit had had something to do with all that :o)

The second couple were a challenge also. The gentleman described himself as Romany, with a faith system that originated in Egypt. His ears seemed firmly closed although he also claimed to be a ‘good person’.

What was really interesting in both cases was that the ladies were relatively quiet but they both were prepared to accept the tracts that we gave them and one promised me faithfully that she’d read them. I pray that they both will do that and that they’ll share what they read with their partners.

Only God knows what might come of yesterday. What I know now is that going out and speaking to people about God isn’t as terrifying as I’d anticipated. If they think I’m mildly eccentric, then in itself that’s not a bad thing – it’s certainly a very British trait so I won’t be letting the side down :o) The experience has given me more courage to do the same again and I regard this as a building up by the Holy Spirit, toward going out to the young people who are drinking their lives away.

There was much in this morning’s talk by Jo Parsons that was encouraging. I’m not sure whether I’ve had my ears/mind/heart closed for the past twenty years or whether I’m a better listener than I was, but it seems that almost everything and everyone I’m hearing carries the same message, that going out to people is what God wants. I’ve therefore a choice: to be obedient, or disobedient. I don’t think it’ll be the latter

One of the apparent challenges is whether one, when speaking to young people, should share the Gospel straight away as we were doing yesterday, and as the white-haired man did; or do we share Jesus' love in practical ways first? This requires a LOT of prayer, please. It seems to me that I definitely know of people who have come to faith having had the Gospel shared with them - one of them was 13 when that happened, and with a troubled background. Another is someone who was brought to faith through that young man! Yet, I've had advice from good friends at church that doing things this way would lose the interest of young people on the streets. Please, therefore, make this your main prayer focus that God might give me/us the wisdom to understand precisely what he wants.

For His Glory

John