So another area that I had a huge perspective shift on during my ATL (Ask the Lord) month in Novi Pazar, Serbia was my ability to share the gospel. This is an area where I have struggled for my entire Christian life. I remember being in high school and because I was know as a Christian not just in title but also in the way I lived, I somehow became a sounding board for people wrestling with their faith. On multiple occasions people would come to me with these questions about proving God is real. Some people even read me specific scriptures and asked questions like “If God is good why does the bible say this? Or how do you explain what this scripture means?” I was 16,17, or 18 years old and I didn’t have the answers to their questions.
Some questions I still don’t know the answers to. At least one of those people who used to asked me questions about God all the time soon there after walked away from God completely. For years I carried the burden that maybe that happened because of me. Maybe if I had known all the right answers they would still believe. I remember being a leader in campus ministry in college and being completely paralyzed with fear anytime the opportunity came up to evangelize. I was afraid my words would bring more doubt than understanding. As a result I always avoided sharing my faith.Carrying this fear with me is one of the reasons I never wanted to do ATL.
In full disclosure The World Race is my first mission trip. I remember telling one of my friends that I wanted to do the race and her reaction was WOW you don’t want to warm up with something smaller first.” Nope, no warm up for me. But because I didn’t “warm up” evangelism is an area where I had no experience because I had very intentionally avoided it in the past. Welp, there was no avoiding it now.
When our ATL month started I was pretty scared because I didn’t know what to expect. But usually that feeling of fear of the unknown precedes a great move of God. Because we were ATL we didn’t have a specific tasks to do or places to volunteer like we have in every other month for me to hide behind. I love specifics. Schedules, lists, and all things task oriented give me life and that is NOT at all how ATL works. However, ATL month has been my favorite month on the race so far.
ATL was not about how many people can I tell about Jesus. It was about how many people can I genuinely get to know. Once I got to know people I was able to share the gospel on multiple occasions quite easily. It was easy because when the time came, the people I was talking to were my friends. They were people I laughed with, shared meals with, went on adventures with, and more. There was no strategy in trying to insert God into the conversation, it just happened. Most times we didn’t even bring up God, they did. We were different and the people we met could tell that and they wanted to know why. Because Jesus is so much a part of who I am and how I live my life it is only natural that He comes out in my conversations. The talks that transpired were as natural as any other conversation that I would have with a friend.
ATL month taught me how to do life. I may not have all the answers but I won’t let fear stop me from sharing what truth I do know. I don’t have to be an apologist to tell someone what I KNOW God has done in and through me. I am not C.S. Lewis and there are still a great many things I don’t understand, but the things I do understand are things that I won’t let go of or be ashamed of. For anyone out there struggling with evangelism I have this encouragement. First, people are not projects or things on a to do list in the faith. People are people so see them that way. If you live you life in such a way that reflects the radicle love of God He will inevitably come up in conversation.
To every person I had the honor of getting to know and love in Novi Pazar:
I am so grateful for every single one of you. I will never forget the amazing time I had there. I pray that the laughs, the chili in the coffee pots, the countless hours at Med Café, the ping pong games, the squeezing 8 people into the car adventures, the coffee shops, the spoon feeding (don’t ask), the doners, the Ted Talks, the ice cream cones, the prayers and the conversations forever have a place in your heart because they will forever have a place in mine.
