Journal Entry – October 4, 2013 – World Race Month 2 – Malaysia
I’m so excited about what God did in my heart yesterday. Throughout my time at the mall, God began to ignite a desire in me to grow in my ability to evangelize in one-time encounters. At home, I rely on relational evangelism, but my time here is so limited that I need boldness and power to make a difference in one-time encounters– just like Jesus and Paul. This is something I want to take back to the US with me as well. This is the first WR goal God has laid on my heart, and I am eager to see Him grow me in this area.
———
[Fast forward six months]
April 18, 2014 – Parent Vision Trip Day 2 – Month 8 (My Final Month) – Ireland
Mom, Dad, and I head out to the park to do “Ask the Lord” ministry. Basically, I am looking for someone God may want me to talk to, pray with, and encourage. As my eyes scan everyone lounging in the grass, my soul whispers a prayer, “God, show me who you want me to talk to today.”
My eyes land on a beautiful woman with long dark hair, sitting in the grass with her eyes on her cell phone. I walk over to her and, at the last second, I get the urge to ask if she speaks English.
“No, not really.”
“Where are you from?”
“Mexico.”
“Ah! Hablo Español un poco!”
Off we go, stumbling through a mixture of English and Spanish as we get to know each other. Before long, she tells me that the reason she wandered into the park was because she was lonely. Three weeks ago, she left home for the first time to study English for a year in Ireland, and she was missing her family over the Easter holidays.
Can you imagine a story I could better relate to? I was able to tell her about my own experiences away from home and how, though it was difficult at the beginning, God was faithful and brought me through it to a place of joy. I prayed for her and encouraged her that even though she felt lonely, she was never alone, that God loved her fiercely and was with her every moment of every day.
As I prayed with her, tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled at me. It meant so much to her that someone had sat down with her and spent time talking to her and encouraging her.
———
Over the next few days, God continued to bring that encounter to mind. He showed me how the simple act of talking to someone and offering to pray for them can touch them in the intimate places of their soul. He showed me how when I step out in courage to talk or pray with someone, it invites him or her to personally encounter Jesus right where they are. My part it in it all is very simple– a conversation, a few words– but God can use that small act to touch hearts and change lives!
In the five or six days since I met that beautiful girl, God has faithfully brought one or more people into my path each day for me to speak to and pray with. I am developing a habit of looking for opportunities to pray for people and, although there have been some very difficult and awkward moments along the way, I have found a lot of joy in connecting with people and inviting them to connect with Jesus. Today, God brought not one or two but five different people into my path whom I could pray for!
As I come up on my last few days of the race, it is such a blessing to look back at how God saw that desire in my heart back in Malaysia and brought me to a place where I could truly grow and step out in that as I head home.
My race may be only eight months instead of eleven, but God has faithfully used our time on this adventure to change my heart and life forever. I am so thankful for every moment of this difficult, stretching, exhilarating, empowering journey and the way God has used it all to make me a teensy bit less like me and a teensy bit more like Him.
I’m a thankful daughter.
