Trust and obey. Two words that God gave me last month.
Her name was Jopan. She is a mother of three and currently five months pregnant. She has been working in nail and feet care for eight years. Her husband works as a tuk-tuk driver. She is Buddhist.
As she worked the Holy Spirit began to nudge my heart to step out and share with this woman. Trust and obey. So the gospel went forth.
She couldn’t understand English very well so I invited the manager in to the nail parlor to translate for me. He is also Buddhist.
I proceeded to share the gospel with her and him. The Lord spoke to me to tell this woman that He loved her, that she was beautiful in His eyes, and that He wanted her. The translator wouldn’t translate that part. I knew that he was reluctant to further share.
She allowed me to pray for her before I left and I prayed for God to send her more people to keep telling her about the name of Jesus. One seed planted. She continued to smile a big smile and bow to me in thanks, as is custom here in Asia.
Before leaving the parlor the manager proceeded to ask me what Bible I read. I answered the Holy Bible. God said two seeds planted. This was the very first time I had ever intentionally shared the gospel, and the Lord wanted me to continue to do so.
The next morning God asked me to focus on Him and not me. To be thankful.
That night me and Teresa set out to her favorite Cambodian restaurant to have a one on one.
Half way into our talk Teresa waved to two gentlemen who were walking by to come in and try the food. Little did they know Jesus was inviting them to His table.
The Lord interrupted that one on one and reminded me that it wasn’t about me talking about myself but that we needed to share Him with these two gentlemen. Trust and obey.
Their names were Ashref and Chuck. Ashref is a business man who has had family hurt in the past. Chuck is an author who has written 15 to 16 books. Both are agnostic.
We continued to talk with them and the gospel went forth. We invited them to our table to continue the conversation. Teresa asked Chuck if he had ever heard about Jesus before and his response was “oh yes yes. Many times. I have talked with many missionaries.” We both looked at each other and laughed. We told him that Jesus was clearly pursuing him. He laughed and disagreed.
We continued to share with Him. I shared about relationship with the Lord. How he desires that intimacy with us. Chuck in turn said “well He found both of you at 22 and 23. I am clearly past redemption.”
I gave that a big CANCEL because no one is ever past redemption. What Jesus did on the cross covered ALL sin no matter how old or young you are. He still wants you and wants relationship with you. Not to condemn you but to rescue you.
As we were leaving the restaurant I hugged Chuck and he kept saying that he was past redemption. I kept shaking my head no and smiling at him, telling him the whole time God was pursuing him. He kept laughing and saying no. I finally looked at him and said “you know that it’s the truth because you keep smiling and laughing.” He just smiled and we parted.
I walked away from that dinner with a genuine joy and excitement that only God could give. There is something about telling people about the name of Jesus that overwhelms you with hope and joy.
A couple of days after this exchange my teammate and I were sitting in Starbucks chatting over a cup of coffee. I sat on one end of the couch in the lounge area. A few moments into our conversation a Scottish gentlemen approached us and asked if he could sit on the other end of the couch.
After he was seated we continued talking. Laura stopped the conversation and said I think he wants to talk to us. So I said ok. We turned and started talking with the gentleman. He asked what we were doing in Bangkok. We shared we were missionaries and the gospel went forth.
He could only focus on religion. He never once would address God only the fact of religion. We tried to explain relationship. He wasn’t wanting to hear a word that was spoken. As the conversation came to a close we asked if he had spoken with any Christian’s before. He said it didn’t matter if he did or not. He left there saying that the conversation was very upsetting. Jesus was clearly pursuing this man.
All three times I went into sharing about Jesus not knowing what to say or how to answer questions. No they didn’t accept Jesus, but I trusted the Holy Spirit and that He would speak for me. I didn’t have to know everything or have all this knowledge. I just had to trust and obey when He asked me to step out.
All that we have to do is simply trust and obey. All we did was trust and obey when the Holy Spirit nudged our hearts to share. I have struggled with stepping out in boldness but those last two encounters with the Lord in Siem Reap and the one in Bangkok changed that for me. I’m still learning to trust and obey the Lords nudge out of the boat. I’m still learning to walk by faith and not by sight.
