Well here I am. I’m in the middle of my first month of the Race. Here at Casa Verde, doing Shofar Ministries, my eyes, ears and heart have been opened to a TON. Although I’ve been here for only 13 days, each day has been so full, it feels like it’s been 13 years. One ministry in particular where I’ve been growing and stretching is street ministry. Simply put, street ministry is walking around a certain area, praying for the area, as well as knocking on doors and asking the people inside if they have any prayer requests, then my street ministry team and I pray for them.
Before my time here in Guatemala, I had never knocked on someone’s door and asked if I could pray for them. I’ve prayed for cities, prayed for neighborhoods, but never any house or family in particular. Since I’ve landed in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, I’ve done street ministry about five times. During those times, I’ve prayed for different people/ families who have incredible stories to share. One grandmother lost her son only 8 days before we met her. One woman that my team and I prayed for works at the children’s hospital we went to only a few days ago. One man who we prayed for asked to pray that God would give him strength and endurance to learn English for his work.
Since street evangelism is a new thing for me, I’ve definitely been stretched and challenged in my faith. I used to be so comfortable building relationships over months, even years, but with street evangelism, I’ve been interacting with people for roughly 10 minutes. That’s it. When you’re only interacting with people for 10 minutes, what do you say? What do you do? When you’re carrying around the Kingdom, and you’re actively expanding it, how do you make each minute count? These are questions I’ve been asking myself and our Father, and I’m still discovering the answers to.
In the span of your day, who do you interact with for only a few moments? The guy or girl who’s taking your order at McDonald’s? The old man who is bagging your groceries? Your favorite coffee barista who always gets your Starbucks order right? The kid at the grocery store who is crying for a candy bar? Whether you’re a missionary on the streets of Puerto Barrios, grabbing prayer requests and lifting them up, or if you’re a twenty – something in the USA, going to and from your job, you have the ability to display compassion, patience, kindness, goodness and self control. You have the power to make not only every 10 minute interaction, but every single interaction count.
Are you making each minute count?
