Going into the race, I was wrong about one thing: the missions, the evangelism, spreading God’s love, etc. doesn’t start when I begin my assigned ministry in South Africa. “Living Missionally” is supposed to be a daily thing. I learned this lesson at 5:00 in the morning at a bus station in Richmond, VA when I got the opportunity to meet and evangelize to a woman. (for the purpose of honoring her story, I’m not gonna use her name)
So this is how it went..
She came up to me and asked where my group was traveling to. We got to talking and before you knew it, our conversation was shifting to more personal topics. She started telling me a lot about herself. She wished she could go to far places like us. In her words, traveling is “good for the soul.” But she felt like she needed to travel in order to find herself, get away, free her mind, find rest and feel fulfilled. Being at home, too many “things” were in her way and overwhelming her. So I told her I agree that travel is a great thing, but there’s also other ways to find yourself, find rest and feel fulfilled. I told her that for me, knowing God and having a relationship with Him daily is what gives me rest and He is who I find my identity in. There’s peace in His presence.
She was pretty interested.
We continued talking. She told me she was on her way to see family in Philadelphia but there’s always been problems between them. She tries to forgive them but never can because they have such negative attitudes. I understood that forgiveness is not always an easy thing to do. But I told her that I believe no matter how hard it is, we should forgive others even when they don’t forgive us or if they treat us wrong in return. I explained that my reasoning for this was because Jesus came and died to forgive my sins, and I don’t deserve that one bit. And I continuously don’t deserve His forgiveness because I keep messing up, but nonetheless He still forgives me. Therefore, I should try to do the same for others here on Earth.
By now this woman seem into this Jesus stuff I was talking about. She even kept saying “I really need to get into this.. I should be more spiritual..”
So I asked her if she ever reads the Bible. “No.” She didn’t own one. And it was hitting me that all of these things she was seeking… forgiveness, rest, peace, an identity… it can all be found in the Bible. And I had access to it, but she didn’t. In this moment, I felt the Holy Spirit moving me to give her my Bible. So I told her, “I have a Bible with me, and I can always get a new one, so if I gave you mine would you be interested?” She gave a big YES with a smile. It felt like the right thing to do. And when the Holy Spirit tells you to do something, you DO IT.
So at 6 AM in the Richmond, VA bus station, I found myself praying with a stranger who I had just told Jesus about and gave my Bible to. It was a very new feeling. I’m not used to this whole evangelizing thing.. because I honestly don’t go out of my way to tell people at home about Jesus.. but now I’m realizing that it feels really nice to talk about Him with people, and I should do it more often— anywhere, with anyone, at anytime.
I’m praying and hoping that this woman will read my little gift of a pocket sized Bible filled with highlighter, ink, and sticky tabs. I’ll leave it up to the Holy Spirit to intervene in her life now. I was just honored that the Lord placed her in front of me that morning at the bus station. And honestly I’m very proud of myself for being obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit telling me to spread the message of Jesus to this woman. It’s a thing I’m trying to grow in, so here’s to my first evangelism experience of the race.
I hope anyone who has read this blog is inspired as well to dig into the word of God more. I know I am! And if you’ve read this far, thank you and GOD BLESS YOU <3
P.s. Another cool part of this encounter is that it wouldn’t have even happened if our bus driver wasn’t 3 hours late.. so, hey, good things can always come out of bad situations.
HERE’S SOME PICTURES:
In the bus station, giving my Bible away.
But don’t worry, I got a new one in the D.C. Airport!
MORE PICTURES FROM OUR TRAVEL DAYS!
We took busses, trains, planes, shuttles, and just about everything.
Hauling our packs around was HEAVY and very challenging! But we can do hard things!
Some of the girls on my squad!!
This is what it looks like for us to have a 12 hour layover in Johannesburg, South Africa and be completely jet lag…haha
We got to South Africa just in time for the sunrise!!! Thank you Jesus!!
