He was lost and he knew it.
He was confused because of the world.
People came, they spoke words that seemed like the truth but were merely lies covered in appeal.
It’s not that he believed these words but that so many had been spoken he began to lose sight of his own beliefs.
He was lost and he knew it but he didn’t know how to be found.
This month my team is working with a local church, spending our days evangelizing in the streets of Sunyani, Ghana.
You’re probably wondering what is evangelism and what does it look like?
Great question!
Evangelizing is when you share with people who Jesus is. It takes many forms but the message is the same, Jesus loves you and wants a relationship with you, no matter who you are, what you’ve done, He loves you.
Evangelizing looks like going up to random strangers and starting a conversation with them. You ask how they are, what their name is, etc. Eventually, you end up sharing how you landed in a small town like Sunyani, which ultimately leads to telling them about Jesus.
Evangelizing has easily turned into one of my favorite things to do on the race.
Why?
Because it’s simply getting to talk to people. What I’ve learned is that people just want to be heard. Through all the clatter and bs of the world, they just want to be noticed. Evangelizing gives that to people in the rawest of forms.
Something beautiful happens when you just sit and listen.
His name was Francis.
He was kind and curious.
He was lost in the words of others, trying, attempting to find truth in the loudness of it all.
But he was being defeated, one word at a time.
The world was claiming victory over a prize already won.
But he didn’t know he was the prize so he continued to take hits, blow joints and live in a world where he was the defeated.
That is until Jesus came along.
Evangelizing leads you to many different people in many different places but each person and place are never a mistake. Instead it’s a scheduled appointment made by the Father of time and opportunity. You only need to be waiting and listening.
This day my team and I came upon a house where 2 men quickly emerged.
Both young in age and bulky in build.
Both rough around the edges and intimidating as hell.
But still we talked to them.
Why?
Because Jesus had a plan for them.
I imagine if Jesus were here today these were the men He would have been talking to.
There were 2 men who came from the house.
One of who was lost and didn’t care and the other who was lost and wanted to be found.
The first man tried to convince us that weed was good and he would be a great option for a husband.
Stimulating conversation I tell.
Every attempt he made to convince us that his way of living was best failed…miserably.
I want to say he knew that too because he eventually left and didn’t come back.
Which left us standing alone with man #2.
Francis.
He asked a lot of questions.
Not to challenge us or try to get us to think differently.
No.
He was a man who was simply and utterly confused on who Jesus was, what He did and why he should believe.
The world is twisted. Fact. The sad part is it tries to twist us too.
It had twisted Francis and what he believed.
So what we got was a man trying to figure it all out but had no idea where to start.
This day I got to share with Francis who Jesus is, why I believe in Him and why he should too.
One question he asked was, “how do we know Jesus is real?”
Hard question because for me questioning whether Jesus was real wasn’t ever a thing. He existed. It wasn’t something I ever debated about. I never had to explain why I believed.
Until now.
I told him that I could be completely wrong and Jesus in fact didn’t die on a cross for my sins. That at the end of this life you die and that’s it. There is no heaven or hell. It’s just life and death. I could be completely wrong but my faith tells me I’m not.
I told him faith is believing in something you cannot see or tangibly feel.
The bible tells you to have faith and my faith tells me Jesus came down to earth to save me from sin. He did this by dying on a cross and taking on the sins of the world. He did this because He loves me,
loves us,
loves you.
My faith is what holds me to Jesus.
My dear Francis looked at me and said, “okay I’ll try out your church.”
I asked him, “could we pray with you?”
He said, “yes of course.”
But then I heard Jesus say, ” ask him if he wants to receive me into his life.”
I was nervous and for a brief moment thought against asking because if Francis wanted that he would have asked, right? I didn’t want him to feel pressured.
But Jesus knew what His son needed.
I asked, “Francis, do you want to accept Jesus into your life as your personal Lord and Savior?”
With no hesitation my sweet brother said YES.
Jesus knew what His son needed.
Francis needed people to listen and to care so Jesus sent my team to be the caregivers.
That day we witnessed Francis proclaiming that Jesus is his Father and his Savior.
It was beautiful.
It was raw.
It was exactly what Jesus had planned for that day.
One thing I’ve learned on the race is that it doesn’t matter where you live, people are people and what we all want more than anything is to be noticed.
Are you noticing people?
