After all that happened in the past couple days, Ronny and I had little idea that we were being primed for some big stuff. This one day was so unusual it deserved a blog in itself.
Day 3
So we returned, of course, to Starbucks. And of course Hannah was there. Ronny decided he should get some quiet time and do leadership calls, so it was just me and her.
This time around she was getting ready to meet up with a friend who goes to the local Chinese church with her. A few minutes later, a young woman in her 20s takes a seat with us.
Lois, who grew up in southern China, had moved to the city to do bible school and help serve with the Chinese church plant. Her story is similar to many American Christians, who grow up in Christian families and stuff but didn’t experience Jesus firsthand until much later.
Lois, me, and Hannah
So in Lois’s case, she told the story of how she experienced God miraculously heal her of a debilitating eye infection.
Her father spent an entire night to pray for healing. And it came the next day. Now, a year later, she has been able to greatly improve her English skills and has even gotten scholarships because she could study better with her renewed eyesight. Talk about God setting people free…
So as I’m getting to know Lois, Hannah starts casually striking up a conversation with a teenage-looking guy the next table over. She motions to me.
“Brandon, your English is the best, so why don’t you share the gospel with him?”
So since I couldn’t just say, “Well I’d rather not since I’m not experienced at this or anything and it can be awkward” I was like “Yeah, sure!” What did I have to lose? Plus, if Hannah started a conversation about the gospel in English, and it isn’t even her first language, why should I be so silly and be all uptight about the good news? I told Brandon to stop being silly and scooted my chair up near him and started talking.
And I went for it, no second thoughts, giving a basic rundown of separation from God, sin, and Jesus. I gotta say, I felt like I numbed it down to 1st grade level.
But then Hannah the Olympic Evangalethe jumped in and really shared the gospel.
Like, I presented a blob of clay and she spun it up into a Renaissance sculpture. She gave the details, excellently giving a ton of basic facts that I forgot that he probably didn’t know since he never heard of Jesus. As she did it, I was like, “woah.” Like a little kid seeing Star Wars for the first time.
By the way, this teen became genuinely interested in Jesus. He downloaded the bible app and got her contact info to follow up. C’mon Lord!
I’ve been reading the book Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler lately. It couldn’t have been a better book to read this week, because we shared the gospel so flipping much. In it learned some key truths:
The gospel always triggers response. Sometimes that response is acceptance, sometimes its rejection. But nobody could really just hear the gospel and just mosey about their day like nothing happened. And we must know the response of the gospel is never our weight to carry.
The gospel is simple. It’s really not like we are sharing some high philosophy. The people we share with are just like us, at our level and no different. If they don’t want the gospel, it’s not your fault. I pray that truth settles inside of us so we can be free.
Sharing is simple. Why not just strike up a conversation? Get to know them. Just because someone is Christian doesn’t mean they’re any different at human-level. It’s really that simple – we can be their friend.
Even though the gospel is real and powerful and living, its still a story, and I think in a great respect it can be treated as such. We can share the story just like someone came up to you and shared a cool story.
There’s nothing to lose. We can relax!
All you gotta do to start is say stuff like,
“Hey my name is ______. What’s your name? Can I have a couple minutes of your time?”
“I want to share the story of Jesus with you, because he really changed my life. Have you ever accepted him or know about him?” …
And the grace of God compensates for every shortfall. Do the possible, and God does the impossible!
These past few days, Ronny and I grew tenfold in boldness. Hannah’s example and faith stirred both me and Ronny. Sharing’s hardly scary anymore. God had to have sent Hannah to walk us out of timidity.
Here’s what’s awesome: I kinda had this sense that this couldn’t have happened without prayer. Yesterday my brother mentioned to me that he was praying for me during his 3 day fast, all the way across the ocean in California. The timing was perfect. And I know he wasn’t the only one.
And little did we know, our newfound boldness wove perfectly into a greater divine plan the next day.
New blog coming soon!
Cambodian In-n-Out and AZ iced tea. Home sweet home. Thanks Ronny 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Brandon
