In Part 1 of this blog I was sharing how the
Lord changed my perspective.
That
brings us to today… Today was another day of tracting outreach. Usually I have
felt really awkward before ministry, but today I was worshipping, allowing God’s
love to fill me to overflowing, and then just asking Him to show me people that
were already longing for Him.
My
friend Natalie and I set out on the streets of London. I had some Christmas
tracts with me, but honestly I wasn’t too concerned with giving them out. All I
really wanted was to share with someone the hope offered in Christ. Natalie and
I walked around our first hour or so having a couple of small conversations and
praying with one woman, but not really getting to talk to many people.
We
decided to make our way to the closest bus stop because we figured that was a
place where people were just sitting and waiting giving us an opportunity to
actually talk to them. We sat at the little roadside bus stop making small talk
with everyone who came by and then offering them something about Christmas to
read on the bus. As we were sitting there, Natalie noticed a man standing in
front of one of the shops just looking bored and watching us with curiosity. We
walked over to him and said hello. Immediately he invited us to get out of the
cold by coming into his shop.
It’s
VERY cold in London this time of year (especially for this Atlanta girl) and so
of course we couldn’t turn down our new friend’s offer. We came in and just
began talking about his home, his family, etc. Mark* told us that he is from
Afghanistan, but has been living in London for about the last decade. He asked
us how long we would be in London and what we were doing there. We told him
that we were in London through the holidays, that we were helping some local
churches, and we just wanted people to know how much Jesus loves them. Mark
responds, “Oh. Jesus… I’m really open to hearing more about Jesus. I think it’s
really important to be open-minded about things like that.” Considering Mark’s
background, we were completely flabbergasted and elated at his response!
For
the next 1½ hours Natalie, Mark, and I just talked. We asked questions about
his beliefs and that opened more and more doors to share the good news about
Jesus. We weren’t forceful. We just shared from things that he said he was
looking for: freedom, relationship with God, etc. He seemed interested in
hearing as much as possible, but admitted that family pressures would make it
very difficult for him to make a decision to follow Christ.
As
it was nearing our time to leave, we asked Mark if we could run and bring him
back a small gift. We (literally) ran the 3-4 blocks back to our literature
table to retrieve a New Testament and a Jesus Film dvd in his native language.
Mark was so excited to receive this gift. He promised to read the scriptures
and share them with his wife. We prayed for him and then said our goodbyes.
Please
continue to pray for Mark and his family. Pray that Jesus will reveal Himself
to Mark through the New Testament and through the dvd. Pray that Mark and his
family will come into relationship with God. Pray that the Lord will continue
to send people to share more of the gospel with Mark.
