After our evangelism team time last month in Peru, I was really excited to come to Africa and start our new ministry evangelizing to truck drivers. I had no idea what to expect; all I knew was that God just did something awesome and I wanted more.
We have been so blessed this month with the most amazing hosts that have been building an incredible ministry here. I don’t know how we got so lucky. My Southern heart has been filled with a piece of home by our hosts from Tennessee. They go out to the ports where there are hundreds of trucks sitting there waiting for their shipments. So many men and younger guys waiting to hear the good news of Jesus. It is amazing to ask these guys if they think they will go to heaven when they die and to see how surprised they are when we tell them we know that’s where we will be.Most of these men are Muslim and have never heard the whole story of Jesus. This ministry offers the story of Jesus in a way they have never heard before. It shares with them the part they are familiar with- the first sacrifice that happened in the Garden of Eden, and then shares what Jesus did for us and how He was the final sacrifice that paid the price for our sins. It is a ministry where men come to Christ every day.
So I was excited the first time I went out in my group of 4. We found a group of boys. All but one had heard the message of Jesus and decided to accept Him. So we shared with the one and he accepted Christ. We prayed with him, gave him the ministry card with phone numbers on it, gave him an SD card for his phone that had the bible recorded in French, and wrote down his name and phone number. And then we found another man to share with and he accepted Christ. Then we found another and he accepted Christ. Then I became skeptical.
How can this many people hear one short story and then decide to accept Jesus? Do they actually know what they just did? Do they know what to do now? Do they know it’s not just a one-time say yes and then go on their way kind of thing? It is a life changing decision. How can we just leave them now without knowing they fully understand?
I didn’t believe it and I couldn’t take part in it. I avoided it. That week I poured all of myself into my kids ministry- until the next Friday morning.
Everyone goes to the port on Friday. I was not excited to evangelize. I was anxious and scared. How could I be a part of something I wasn’t sold on? But there I was, sitting in a group with at least 5 Muslim men while the message of Jesus was being told. But this time was different.
A truck driver was in the group. The drivers are usually much more difficult to get a hold of. But he was there and he was interested. He listened intently as the story was being told. He had questions; there was discussion; he had a desire to know more. He kept asking for a bible so he could learn more about Jesus, but he didn’t make the decision to follow Him. And I was glad. He didn’t accept on a whim. He didn’t say yes without knowing what he was doing. He didn’t make a commitment that he couldn’t keep. Instead he wanted to know more, and I was ok with that.
It was a seed. The ministry is there to plant the seed for God to sew. Our hosts have been good to understand where the doubt comes from and explain what it is that is happening. We are doing what God has called each of us to do- to go out and share His word and His love. Then it is in God’s hands what happens next.
Sometimes all it takes is one more time. My teammate came back from the port one day and told us about a man she met. She told him the story of Jesus and he decided that day was the day he was going to change his life. Many people had come before and told him about Jesus and each time that seed grew until that day when it was ready to blossom.
Do I hope that man hears more about Jesus and decides to let Him change his life? Absolutely. I want nothing more than to see people come to Christ and have the kingdom of heaven built up. I pray that more people come to him in his lifetime and share the love that Christ has for him. I pray that each time he hears the message of Jesus that his interest will grow and that his heart will be stirred. I pray that God radically changes his life one day.
God has the power to take one small situation and turn it into a life-changing event. It is not my place, or anyone else’s, to doubt what God is capable of doing. We are called to do the work he has told us to do and to trust that He will take it and make it into something beautiful for His kingdom.
And He will.
Never doubt those small seeds that you plant. God is a miraculous gardener.
