Galations 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set up free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Rebecca and the 3 guys took us into an area of the campus where they thought a lot of students might be hanging out so we can make some friends and talk to them about Jesus : )
Our 2 teams decided to sit in a circle to pray quickly before we started encountering students, ya know, to prepare spiritually and everything. But before we knew it Rebecca was bringing over a ton of students she just met and they were eager to meet us.
I started chit-chatting with 3 girls named Elizabeth, Sophia, and Helen (again, their American names. No way could I even pronounce their Chinese names haha).
We talked briefly about ourselves, just getting to know each other, and then I switched the conversation to God. I told them I was a Christian and was here working with a church and asked what they believed about God, if at all. They were all very attentive and open in our conversing.
Helen said she believes in God and that he’s here to give us happiness. We went with that and talked about happiness, joy, and sadness and how that all relates back to God and faith.
This was like an hour and a half conversation. And while every minute of it was good I’ll try super hard to spare you every single detail (because you know I will… but if you really want to know just message me and I’d love to share).
So skip skip skip.
I told them about how God loves and created each of them and wants a personal relationship with them. I explained the message of Jesus the cross and salvation then took out my bible and walked them through the “Romans Road” (for you churchy people).
As I turned to each passage, I turned my bible to them and had THEM read it out loud and explain back to me what it meant; all the while taking breaks asking them “Do you understand? Do you have any questions?”
They were super interested. And guys, it was the most amazing thing getting to witness my 3 new friends gather around and read the bible for the first time. Reading the words of Jesus I saw a change in their hearts as they asked questions and repeated every new verse of Truth with understanding (they were especially interested when I explained that the “red lettering” was Jesus’ actual words. They thought that was pretty cool. Because it is).
Helen and Elizabeth were attentive and interested in having the burden and guilt of their sin lifted by Jesus. I mean, they read the verses, they understood. So I was basically like, “Well, you can ask God right now!”
So we bowed our heads, they confessed that Jesus is Lord prayed and asked God to forgive them.
BAM.
GLORY GOD!
This entire scene still just blows my mind and I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it. And I literally say none of this to benefit me but to tell of how awesome God is.
This morning my team met before we started our day. I shared my heart for this country and my fears and expectations. I’ve been praying for this country for 10 years so one part of me was expecting to see God show up big time and blow my mind. The other part was scared that I wouldn’t see anything exceptional happen. More times than not God works in mysterious ways to us but we just have to trust Him in faith as we simply say yes, obey, and let Him take care of the rest.
My prayer for this month, and one of my favorite verses, is Philippians 1:20, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
I praise God for graciously giving me the courage that I expected and hoped for to not be ashamed but to just love. I literally love these people and I can’t wait to get to know them more.
For all who read, please pray for Helen and Elizabeth who accepted Jesus as Savior. Pray for continued enlightenment from the Spirit and for a hunger to know Him more. I can put them in contact with Rebecca to get them connected with a church and Bible.
Today was officially day 1 of ministry in month 1 on The World Race.
God, thanks for blowing my mind.
