We weren’t even supposed to be here.
When we left in July 2013, our squad was supposed to go to Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. But due to the conflict in those countries, we were wisely rerouted to Vietnam, Zambia and Malawi. Obviously God knew ahead of time that He was going to send us to Zambia and Malawi, so of course He’d have a reason to send us there.
The World Race gives you a unique opportunity to be stripped of everything you thought you knew about yourself- God leads you to a place of brokenness, you cry a lot, and as God starts to pick you back up again you ask Him for new eyes. You ask Him to show you how He sees things. As I’ve gone through that process on the Race and as I’ve been seeking God’s direction for the rest of my life, He’s started to put more passion in me for His people around the world. You can’t come back from these countries unchanged (well, you can if you’re the Tinman). Your eyes see things you never thought you’d see, your heart feels things you never thought you could feel, and God refines the way you think about everything. If you let Him, God will wreck your life and show you who He really is and how much He loves you.
I had this idea of what “evangelism” would look like before the race: showing up at peoples’ homes, knocking on their doors, preaching a 5 minute mini-sermon and asking them to pray the sinner’s prayer. And I was convinced I couldn’t do it. I was convinced I would hate it. But like most things in life, it turned out to be different than I thought.
Our first country in Africa was Zambia, and the ministry we worked with was primarily focused on getting the youth in their local church out into the community- serving, speaking, loving. So we went with them. We went house to house in the village and the poorer parts of Livingstone. But it wasn’t like we were going out focused on numbers or our own agenda. We just went expecting God to show up in whatever way He wanted to. If He led us to turn left, we turned left. If He led us to pray, we prayed. If we didn’t know where He was leading us, we’d trust that He was with us anyways.
I wish I could adequately explain how simple and un-weird it was. We met people. We asked what they did for a living. We asked about their kids. We asked about their parents, their spouses, their jobs, their struggles, their past, their current situations, their dreams, their fears, their passions, their desires. We asked them what they knew about Jesus. We asked if they had any questions. We asked if they wanted prayer for anything. And if the Lord put something on our hearts to share with them in that time (Scripture, a testimony, word of encouragement/knowledge, etc.), we would share it.
I still wouldn’t say I’m the most talkative, bold person when it comes to meeting people and evangelism, but can tell you that I was surprised by how much God had to say through me. I was surprised how much He used me when I simply let Him. I was surprised by the words that would come out of my mouth when I simply started talking- even though I didn’t know what I was going to say or what point I was trying to make.
After two months of this door-to-door “talking,” I realized it’s not as important what you know, but who you know. Spreading the Gospel is less about preaching from the pulpit and more about showing a genuine interest in peoples’ lives and telling them the hope they have in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s not that we walked around spewing memory verses everywhere we went- we told people how God has worked in our lives. We told them how Scripture encourages us and gives us spiritual nourishment. We told them of the Hope and Life Jesus offers- and told them how He has drawn us into that Hope.
Spreading the Gospel is really very simple. Do you know the One who loves you? Do you know the One who died in your place? Do you know the power of His work in your life? Do you know the One who made you? Do you know that He has the same love for others as He does for you? Share your story. His story.
