Today at ministry, I met a lady named Olivia. Olivia loves to cook, clean, care for her grandkids, praise the Lord, and make mosquito nets. According to her, her granddaughter makes the best mosquitos nets ever. She’s ten years old.
Olivia is a lively little sprite. How she has so much energy in this blazing heat is beyond me, but she claims it’s all Jesus. What I love about Olivia is that she’s not afraid to be interruptible and not afraid to interrupt you. While playing with the kids, she pulled me aside and started asking me all kinds of questions about home, family, how old I am, and my dreams for my future. She then started sharing with me about herself. This was total vulnerability to a complete stranger and I loved it!
She loves going into Airbnb’s and cooking and cleaning for people, because she gets to meet all kinds of people and experience their way of life for a bit. She’s learned a little German, French, Spanish, and a lot of English from it; a jack of all trades. But what she really loves doing is creating mosquito nets with her grandkids, and then, going on the train to sell them. She says that it doesn’t matter how many she sells, as long as she gets to sit next to a total stranger to share the Gospel and how good God has been to her.
What an incredible faith! While talking, she started looking around and said, “I need a Bible. I’ve got some things to share with you”. Done. I turned to my teammate and asked to borrow her’s, because she always has it on her. She started spouting off random books and verses, so I started flipping pages. She took me to books I’d never read (lol whoops) and broke down passages to me in ways that just made it simple. Nothing religious or hypocritical, just simple and straight to the point.
“Duetoronomy 28, the first part is all the blessings received for obedience. The second half is the product of disobedience. I’m not sure how you feel, but I want to blessed”
Simple right? Her obedience is simple too. It’s just taking a skill that she’s been given, making something tangible with it, then using it as a reason to get out and love people.
Heck, I got the gospel shared to me today. She shared the gospel by her seeking me out, wanting to know me a little more, and sharing a part of her life with me that she found important enough to share. Wow. It’s just that simple.
You don’t need loud Christian music, a building with a cross on it, or any of the things we just get so wrapped up in in our western world. We need some free time, common ground, maybe some food, and an open mind. That’s the making for a delicious time wrapped in the love of Jesus.
I felt known. I felt loved. I felt appreciated. Taking time to see people does that. Love does that. All we need is a little umph to get our rears in gear to get out there and be the love that looks different. That’s the Gospel. That’s the sacrifice. Love.
Olivia is a quirky, strange woman who I now get to call my friend. I’m the type of person who really values authenticity, and that goes for what I believe in too. If it can’t be authentic, I don’t want to be a part of it. Olivia is a perfect example of an authentic Christ follower. She’s a breath of fresh air and a beautiful reminder of what I’m aspiring to be as human being.
Xx M.E
