There are some days on the race that just make you say “This is it. This is the entire reason why I’m doing the World Race.” Our last Monday in Cote d’Ivoire was such a day for me.
That Monday happened to be the Ivorian version of Labor Day, so most of the men were home from work. On that particular day, my team was split up into groups of 2 and sent out with translators into different villages to work with their churches.
My teammate Haylee and I wound up in the village of Oress-krobou. After the pastor there introduced us to part of his congregation and then the leader of the village, we set out to do my favorite ministry of the month, home visits.
As we approached the first house the pastor gave us a brief overview of the situation. It was a relatively common one; the wife was a Christian and the husband was not. Now, over the last few weeks during our home visits we prayed with a lot of women who wanted their husbands to come to know Christ, but never before had we actually gotten to talk to the husbands about Jesus. This would be a new experience.
Haylee and I went into this house praying that God would soften this man’s heart and give us the words to say. God answered those prayers.
I shared the Gospel through the story of Nicodemus, found in John 3. Then Haylee shared Romans 8:38-39:
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
~Romans 8:38-39 (NASB)
God’s love for each individual person on Earth is so great that nothing can get in the way of it. But people separate themselves from God when they choose something else above him, like Eve did in the Garden of Eden. God still loves each and every person He has created and wants a personal relationship with each one, even though we continue to sin.So He sent Jesus to die on the cross and defeat that sin. God’s love is huge. He died to bridge the gap between us and Him.
After we shared this with the man we asked Him if he had any questions. He said no, he didn’t disagree with us. After all he didn’t stop his wife from going to church, so he was a pretty good guy.
Then the pastor who’d come with us spoke up. He challenged this man to have a personal relationship with God, rather than just allowing his wife to have one. They then had a long conversation in French, so I’m not sure what all was said, but I do know this: at the end of that conversation the man decided to give his life to Christ and he said he would start going to church!
I left that house knowing that this was the reason why I’m doing the World Race: to share the hope and love that Jesus brings. Then God did more.
At the next house we met with 2 different men, unbelievers who were married to Christian women. After being served water, juice, and soda we began to talk with them. Haylee shared the gospel. I shared the parable of the lost lamb (Matthew 18:12-14) and talked about how important each and every person on Earth is to our Heavenly Father. Then one of the men spoke up and told us his story.
He’d been a Christian, at one point in time he’d given his life to Christ and been baptized. Then life got busy and he fell away from walking with God. He just didn’t have time anymore. As he explained this to us he said one thing that made the entire World Race worth it.
He told Haylee and I this “The fact that you came to my house, all the way from America, to tell me Jesus loves me shows me how much you care and how much God cares. If you can come all the way here because of God, I think I can start going to Church again.”
This man recommitted his life to Christ that afternoon. His neighbor is now thinking about becoming a christian, so the village pastor will continue to reach out to him. These encounters left me absolutely amazed by God. He knew what these men needed in order to come to Him, and he used us to do it!
Let me leave you with this one thing; when you have an opportunity to talk with someone about Jesus, seize it! You never know how God may use you to help others.
