I thought my life would finally begin when I got on the World Race. I thought ministry would finally start when I could just get on foreign soil. I thought life would totally change for me and that it would be the best thing that’s every happened.
Although these things are true in many ways, my life for the past three months has looked nothing like the grueling and long days of ministry under the blazing sun that I thought I had signed up for. Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of laborious workdays in Guatemala as I did construction, taught crazy kids, and painted houses.
In Malaysia I had some incredible moments of preaching sermons, being pushed out of my comfort zone to lead worship and dance, and learning patience as I worked with special needs patients. But if we’re going to be honest, for the most part, I made incredible friends that turned into the best family a girl could ask for.
We went on long drives that turned into all-nighters, ate roti canai at 3am, packed into the church van to go on day trips to Penang, spent long nights on the beach, played soccer, went to movies, and had endless amounts of jam sessions. Although I was having three of the best months of my life, I almost became discouraged. Was I really doing ministry? I felt a little useless and maybe even guilty for living such a good life while others on my squad were struggling. I felt like I might as well be at home the way I was living and I thought to myself that I had left home for a reason.
But the Lord in his infinite wisdom had other things planned for my team and me. Our ministry contact’s brother has a college friend named G. On Christmas day we met G and discovered his weird and quirky personality. He is incredibly smart and has ridiculously good English. We found out later that he is also Hindu. This didn’t stop us from immensely enjoying him though.
Because he had a full-time job in Penang, about an hour from our house, we couldn’t see him very often. The more we did see him though, the deeper our relationship could go. After around a month of knowing him, we broached the subject of religion on a long car ride. Instead of trying to preach at him, we just asked to know a little more about Hinduism because we had some other friends that were also Hindu, and we knew G could explain it the best because of his English. As he cleared up our misconceptions about Hinduism we were able to turn the tables and clear up his misconceptions about Christianity. There was absolutely no animosity or debating in this conversation, just a sharing of views and beliefs. In these conversations G always used words such as “the god” or “gods” or “your God” and “your Jesus.”
Through these conversations with him we also laughed (a lot.) G has one of those rare laughs that make everyone laugh harder when he joins in. We talked about what he wants to do in his future and the hard moments that defined his past shaped who he is now. Every Sunday when he would leave for the work week I would beg him to come back. After a while, he started coming back regularly.
We of course also prayed for G a lot in those days, and a couple days before we left for KL, the Lord gave us a window. Six Indians and six Americans piled into the church van for a crazy day of playing lazer tag, getting fish pedicures, and lounging on the beach. It sounds like a perfect, carefree day, but it turned into an enternity-changing day.
When we split up at the night market G went with two of my teammates, Cass and Darby, to shop. When they stopped for some juice and snacks, Darby and Cass bowed their heads to pray before they ate. Perhaps a little belligerently G asked, “Why do you pray? Have you ever thought about it?”
In that moment, Cass knew she didn’t have the words to change G’s heart, so she started to pray. She prayed for two things. 1.) that the Holy Spirit would speak through Darby and 2.) that G would be able to understand Christianity in a way that he never has before.
Long story short, the Lord answered both of those prayers. G even said, “I have never had someone explain to me the way you have and I understood every word.” What an incredible testimony. When we left on Tuesday morning for KL, G took off work to see us off at the bus station, and before we left, Darby handed G her most prized possession. That day, Darby gave G her study bible so he would have a way to find Jesus on his own.
At the hostel in KL I sent G a facebook message telling him about the difference between the four gospels so he had some idea of where to start. I sent a pretty long message myself, but G’s was 4 times longer. I will copy and paste part of his message directly to you. He said, “Yes. Darby, the most awesome and wonderful soul I have ever met, gave me something of her precious, which is her study bible. How can I ever truly express my feelings and gratitude to her?” He went on to say how inspiring her actions were to him and how special they made him feel.
After a promise that he would read his new bible every weekend, he turned his gratitude back on me. G wrote, “Lastly, I would like to say thanks in a million to you Rose Zaffiro. You’re one of the reasons why I always come back to Sungai Petani and meet the 6 of you. Your words at times made me touch deep down my heart. You are one of the most beautiful souls I have ever met.”
Our friend finished this beautiful letter by writing, “I will definitely pray for you and the rest 5 of you all reach Africa safely and stay safe, happy and healthy for another 3 more months. May Jesus always will be guiding, protecting, blessing, and shower a tremendous love towards 6 strong, great and beautiful heart woman. Be safe and I will gonnnnnaaa miss y’all.”
How could this man I had known to say “the gods” suddenly be proclaiming the name and power of my Jesus? I am so amazed, so thankful, and so in wonder of God as I sit in the airport writing this. I share this story with you for two reasons. 1.) to show Jesus’ power in bringing his children back to his side and 2.) to show that you do not have to be halfway around the world to be doing ministry.
For so long I felt like I was doing a lack of ministry because I wasn’t busy all the time, but there is going to be a party in heaven soon when my friend G gives his life over to the Lord.I write this to encourage you guys that ministering to people is just about genuinely loving them for who they are where they’re at. No matter what religion or background, every person matters and deserves to be shown God’s unconditional love.
My flight leaves in a couple hours and tomorrow I’ll be seeing my parents in South Africa! I praise God for everything I’ve experienced and the love I’ve found in a place so far from where I was born. Although there is a hole left in my heart from my Indian family, my joy is unspeakable.
Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and encouragement. Love God and love people, friends. We don’t know much about our new ministry location, but we know it will be a little off the beaten path so no wifi for awhile. God bless and I’ll update as soon as I get wifi.
With love, Carissa
