Evangelism. Pretty heavy word, eh? The word itself evokes images of street preachers with signs walking around college campuses, fiery sermons delivered by a tall bearded, Abraham Lincoln looking fella behind a wooden pulpit, or even people
walking around with tracts trying to convince you to believe what they believe. People see “evangelists” as outsiders or as someone who is doing something that “I could never do”. There is a certain stigma attached to the word, and when we hear it all we can think of is how uncomfortable we would be going out on the streets sharing about Christ to complete strangers. We are comfortable with keeping what we believe to ourself, and leaving evangelism to others. Evangelism is just too scary and requires us to get in people’s faces and “bring the heat!” and force the gospel on people. Or so we
think.
I want to refute this popular misconception. Evangelism is as simple as just talking to people and sharing about your life with them and it doesn’t have to look a certain way or take a certain shape. This week at the beach has been the perfect opportunity for our team to evangelize, without realizing we are evangelizing. Huanchaco is a surfer and backpacker town with lots of Europeans, Australians, and even Americans traveling alone or in small groups of two. Everyone here is looking to meet someone and make friends during their stay and it’s not easy to miss the six gangly gringos patrolling the beach or the local coffee shops at all hours of the day. Conversation comes easily, generally staring with where we are from (at the same time determining that we speak the same language) and eventually, without fail, leads to “why the heck are you hanging out on the beach in Peru, thousands of miles from home, in the middle winter (Peru’s winter)?” Not a single person fails to ask why we are here and what we are doing. We don’t have to walk up to them and say, “hey we are missionaries here’s the gospel!”, but rather all we have to do is be willing to talk and share about ourselves.
The talk inevitably leads to us telling them about the World Race and what we are doing for the next 11 months. Once again, not a single person has said, “oh, that’s pretty lame, 11 countries in 11 months…get a life.” No, everyone, regardless of beliefs, lack of beliefs, background, reasons for traveling, or whatever, have been intrigued or even excited, and even more so, curious, about what we are doing. We often forget that this is the experience of a lifetime, and that very few people have heard of anything like this. And then we get a chance to share about Jesus, and what He has done for us, and why we want to share that with the whole world. Even if the conversation never gets to that point, we have been able to be real with someone and to make a connection. It’s that simple.
For me, this week at the beach has been as simple as learning that the smallest conversation can have the biggest impact, that I may never see that impact or even talk the person again, and being ok with that. It’s been a lot of fifteen minute conversations, a few more lengthy ones, and a lot of time spent talking to a local restaurant/café owner, Barry. Barry is from the Netherlands and moved to Peru and got married to a local girl, and now runs a vegetarian restaurant and coffee shop a short walk down from our hostel. Barry is the absolute nicest guy you will ever meet, always smiling and looking for ways to go above and beyond in serving others. The first night we hung out at his restaurant, Otra Cosa, we were watching a movie as closing time neared. Barry came down to the tv room and said, “I am closing up, but you guys can stay as late as you
want and watch the movie, let me show you how to lock up later when you leave. Oh, and take whatever you want from the fridge and just pay me in the morning.” Seriously, this is unheard of back home. A couple days later I came in and asked for a coffee togo, and he just gave me one of his mugs and said, “just bring it back later and pay me then.” Such hospitality has drawn us to Barry and his restaurant, and we have been able to get to know him pretty well this week, and him us. Sometimes the conversation is as short as, “How is your day going?”; other times we talk about the World Cup and how the Netherlands were in the final last year, or about church and what we believe and how he feels like the Catholic church lacks freedom and that he wishes he could go more often (it’s what his parents would have wanted). The conversation is never lacking and it is always enjoyable
I have looked forward to talking daily with Barry and drinking his delicious coffee and eating his homemade crepe pancakes. Even though we may never know if we made an impact on him, I am content with just being real and and sharing a part of myself with him. The rest is up to God. This is evangelism.
