A lot of times on the race you get the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people for the very first time. We plant the seed. Usually it takes awhile for that seed to grow but sometimes you get to be a part of someone giving their life to Jesus.
In a small village called Oress-Krobou, Alyssa and I got to do some home visits. God is so good and truly blessed us with this day. This day was a government holiday which means the men didn’t have to be at work. During our time doing home visits we usually only get to pray for women and children.
At the first house we went to the husband was not a believer but his wife regularly goes to church. Hearing this I turned to Alyssa and we started praying and brain storming what we would share. (During home visits we don’t prepare anything until we find out the persons situation. Its all on the spot work led by the Spirit.) We both decided of course to share the basic gospel of how Jesus cast out all the sin of the world by what he did at the cross. Alyssa told the story of Nicodemus (John 3:3) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Alyssa talked about the importance of being born again and the gospel of how Jesus died for our sin.
While Alyssa was talking I started to panic. Not because I had to talk next, I’m getting very used to being randomly put on the spot. I was nervous because we had this mans future in our hands. The reason this man let the pastor come to his house was because he brought people from America with him. One wrong word and I felt like this mans whole life would be doomed. In this moment I prayed for God’s peace to just overwhelm me and that He would give me the correct words to say to His child. I realized that the pressure wasn’t on me but on God, my job is to just listen to God.
When it was time for me to share I was thinking about sharing a verse in 1 John but God had something else in mind. I felt the need to truly share how big God’s love is for His children. I opened up my truth journal and a verse from Romans stuck out to me. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.” Romans 8:38-39. I shared with this man that nothing can separate us from the love of God, except sin. However when Jesus died on the cross for our sin he bridged the gap. Even if he was the only man on the earth Jesus still would have come to earth to die for him, that is how much God loves us. All we have to do is confess our sin and ask God to come into our lives.
After I was finished sharing the pastor talked with the man and the man decided to give his life to Christ.
This is why I signed up for the race. To bring kingdom where ever we go. At this house I felt the urgency of how important each moment is. This may be your only opportunity to share God’s love with the person in front of you. Their eternity could change if you listen to God’s prompting and boldly step out in your faith.
The same day in the same village another man decided to give life back to Christ. His reason shows how much just putting forth effort means to people. This man was a christian. He was even baptized. He stopped going to church and pursing God because he didn’t always have the time. We shared a word with the man as well as our hearts. The man gave his life back to Christ and said, “If you can come here to Africa all the way from the United States just to share God’s love with me, then I can make the effort to go to church every Sunday.”
God’s timing is perfect. All you have to do is listen to his prompting.
