Mini-buses.
Just one of the many banes of my existence on the World Race.
Picture this:
You have a 12 seater van used to transport people in.
Instead of 12 people you decide to squeeze in 18, nahh 21 people.
That is 6-9 ore people than the van was designed for.
So you are paying for the most uncomfortable ride of your life.
On my second day in Lusaka, Zambia, I was shoved into a mini-bus along with my team as we headed into town to see Pitch Perfect 2 for our off day.
Usually mini-buses involve either a lot of silence or laughing (the laughter takes place at our expense….I imagine it is pretty hilarious seeing 6 Americans shoved into a clown car).
On this particular ride, there was mostly silence.
I was pretty excited.
That is until the guy next to me nudged me and began to blast me with questions.
I had two options:
- Answer and be polite.
- Ignore him and he might be quiet (It was my off day for crying out loud!)
But, I chose option 1.
My fellow squished mini-bus companion introduced himself as Matthew.
I went along with introductions and told him my name was Kate (I have been going by Kate on the race btw).
He asked where we were from, where we were staying, and finally what we were doing in Zambia.
“We’re from all over the United States. We are staying with some friends in Lusaka (no specifics) and we are missionaries here to share the gospel.”
Matthew: “Wow. Tell me more.”
“………………………..”
But even in my frustration and irritation, I hear God say to me, “Do you love me?”
I responded, “Lord, you know that I love you.”
God responded to me, “Feed my sheep.”
[Yes, this is the convo I had with God and I do know it’s like Peter and Jesus in John 21:15-19]
So, I stopped being a pain in the butt and as Jesus said in vs. 19, I followed Him.
I told Matthew exactly why I was here.
I explained my purpose as a follower of Christ.
Then I felt directed to explain to him what it meant to be a follower of Christ. I told him that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.
That through Jesus’s death on the cross, we are saved from our sins, both past, and future.
I told Matthew, that even before we were born, thousands of years ago, Jesus knew us. He knew us by name and knew of our sins.
He knew we would need this ultimate sacrifice to pay for our transgressions.
So He died for us.
And through this sacrifice made on our behalf, we can choose eternal life. We can choose redemption.
I told Matthew that in this world, we will experience pain, trials, and eventually death.
There is no other hope, besides Jesus.
Matthew asked me why He would choose to save us. He said no one could ever be worthy of that cost.
I opened my bible and shared from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal light.” and also from John 12:46, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”
Matthew was quiet. He was looking straight forward out at the road.
Eventually I asked him what he thought of everything I had said to him.
He looked at me and said that he wanted forgiveness and wanted Jesus.
So right there with 15 Zambians and 5 other Americans, I helped him pray a prayer asking for forgiveness, and asking for Jesus to come into his life.
Matthew had tears running down his face by the time we had finished praying.
It was our stop so as I got out of the mini-bus, I shook his hand and told him Jesus loved him and that I was so happy to have him as my brother in Christ.
It was a remarkable lesson of what truly following Jesus looks like.
Jesus clearly tells Peter in John 21 to, “Feed my sheep.”
And He told me to do so also. I don’t get to choose when and where I want to do this, I am called to follow Him daily.
