“Give me a street, not a church”. A quote we heard often last month in Oceanview, South Africa. Last month was “manistry” month, which means all of the men on the squad are on the same team for the month. Our ministry consisted of sports with local kids, prayer walking, and just street ministry. We also had the best possible host for a month that was meant for us to grow and sharpen each other as men of God. He told us from the beginning to “give him a street, not a church”, and by that he meant that we need to try and be like Jesus and meet people right where they’re at, on the streets. Ocean view is a pretty rough part of Cape Town, with a lot of gangs, drug dealers, and just flat out lost people with the majority of the religious beliefs being Rastafarian. I’m sure I can speak for all the guys when I say that all of our eyes were opened when we saw how much God moved when we didn’t even attempt to throw scripture down these peoples throats. We simply met them where they were at and talked life with them. Now don’t think we didn’t attempt to share Jesus with them just because we didn’t quote scripture left and right. When you just sit down and discuss life with people, the opportunity to share Jesus’ love is brought up naturally.
We got to meet so many beautiful and interesting people just by letting the spirit lead us each morning in our prayer walks. From fellow believers who are struggling and slipping away from God to drug dealin, gang bangin rastafarians, we were able to bring absolute light into dark places.
One thing that I took away from that month and will keep with me the rest of my life is the simple concept of making my own streets of Pennsylvania, or wherever I end up living, a ministry field. It is very easy to try and reach people when your church does a big group trip to the city to evangelize, or even on mission trips such as this one, but we are called to be disciples of Christ, and to me that means a daily duty to go out and win people for His kingdom. Who’s to say that a person living three houses up from you isn’t struggling with life, questioning their faith, or even thinking of harming themselves. We are called to LOVE our neighbors (everybody), and if that means just taking a walk each day and letting God lead me to have a conversation with someone on my street then I say, give me that street! It is amazing how much people are willing to share with you when you just talk with them and stay genuinely interested. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, go out and take the streets and fill those churches that we all so desire for their friends, neighbors, relatives to be in. Another quote that I heard last month that impacted me was from a teammate: “God loves us enough to meet us where we’re at, but he also loves enough to not leave us there”. So go out and be fishers of men. The streets are filled with fish, so put on your armor, grab your nets and build that kingdom.
Thank you Bradley for such an amazing month of growth and realization. I will never forget Ocean view, the strangers we got to meet and pray with, and especially the amazing children you minister to daily.
