Or rather, I am now convinced that God uses pizza to change people’s lives. Does this sound crazy? I’m beginning to realize that the reality of “ministry” and “how God works” does not fit into the nice, little, preconceived box we expect it to fit in. Sometimes God uses Pizza to do His will and I, for one, am ok with that.
The first time Kelsey and I made the 15-minute walk to Pizza Hut for their free internet, we had no idea what God had waiting for us there. The staff was nice and the internet was great, so we ended up going there the next day, and the next, and then a few days after that. The manager and a few of the waiters began to smile and wave whenever we came, and basically, we became ‘regulars’ at a type of restaurant that doesn’t normally have regulars. Three days before we had to leave El Salvador, Kelsey and I went back for what we thought might be our last trip over there. We got to talk a little with the manager and one of our favorite waiters, and as we were leaving the manager came and asked
us more specifics about what we were doing there and how long we were in the area, etc. It opened the door to be able to briefly tell him about our trip and the church we were working with in Santa Ana. After talking for just a few minutes, Kelsey and I stopped at the bathroom before our walk home. When we came out, another waiter we had never talked to before came up to us asking a lot of questions about the church we were working with, the times of their services, and if there was any time someone could talk to him. His basic translation ended up being, “I need help with God.” and you could tell by his face it was the truth.
The next morning at 9am, our contact, Alberto, went with us to pick up our new friend at Pizza Hut and take him to our church. Both of these men are husbands and fathers which made it so appropriate that Alberto was the one that God used to explain things and relate to this younger man. We sat talking through things for hours, wading through sins and focusing on the truth and freedom that only comes through Jesus.
And yes, I now have a new brother in Christ!
I think what hit me the most with this wonderful situation was that it wasn’t during “ministry time.” This wasn’t a scheduled outing where we had tracts in our hands or had an agenda. These were our free days, our afternoons getting away from everyone. We had no expectations, but we were willing. We had begun praying that God would use any friendship, any smile, any interaction to bring glory to Him, and He chose to do that at Pizza Hut.
God is HUGE. He isn’t confined to Sunday and Wednesday services. He doesn’t just work through pastors and Sunday school teachers. He doesn’t care if things fall within “official ministry time” or not. He calls us to be sold out, on fire, Jesus-lovers every second of every day, and to be ready when opportunities present themselves. People are watching our lives and it is time to call ourselves to a higher standard of living. Who knows who He might put in our path? When you are truly living out Christ’s love there is no more distinction between ministry and non-ministry. The line gets blurred, life becomes ministry, and yes – pizza changes lives.
