For my 10th month of the Race I spent my time in Malaysia. Before we even arrived we got word from out contact that we were not to talk about our faith, not talk about God or Jesus, and certainly not to share the Gospel with strangers.
For those of you who do not know, Malaysia is really a quite diverse country in certain area. The area we were in was a good mix between the Malay, Chinese and Muslims. The country itself is under strong Muslim influence, and it is against the law to share our faith with anyone in the Muslim community.
So you may be asking, much like I was, what would ministry look like then? Well, we would teach English, love our students, and let our love of Christ shine through us. We would use our actions, and no words, to share Christ with that community.
Going into the month I took that as a challenge, and tried to make the most of it. However, if I’m completely honest, by the end of the month I was losing the excitement. Satan loves to take times like that and make us believe that our time, efforts, and hard work were not enough.
But that is when I thank God for His goodness, and the amazing Godly contact he placed us with. Our contact, along with his family, worked nonstop to love the people in the area, and they did it all without sharing the name of Christ. Because of that, people saw something different about them, and in connection us. They were curious. Who wouldn’t be?
In this county so full of darkness, they wondered what it was that gave us such joy. Because of the way we loved, God opened doors for us to have conversations with certain individuals about our Lord and Savior. We did not have to pursue others to share the Gospel, we simply loved – and through that the Gospel is being spread.
As we met with our contact and his family for the last time he left us with a word of encouragement. It helped change my perspective for my month there, and this coming month in China, and ultimately forever. He reminded us that it’s not what we say that matters, but what we do. He encouraged us in the fact that we may leave places feeling like we’ve done nothing for the Kingdom or left no mark of Christ, but God can use any situation and turn it to His good.
He had so many stories of people coming to know the Lord years after an encounter with a missionary, or even a believer in the area. Why do we feel like the only way we can be a witness with our words? In the Bible it even tells us, “Let us not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth.” (1 John 3:18-19)
So I would like to challenge you all to be more aware of your actions. Do your actions point to Christ, or someone / something else? What can you DO to share the love of Christ? You don’t have to go around the world to share the Gospel. There is need in your home, family, work, school, neighborhood, and community. Be bold and courageous, and never forget that the Lord can use your love to reach someone not yet reached.
XoXoX -Bri
