“I really don’t want to be doing this…”
That’s what I thought as our translator and friend, Quique, led my team and I through downtown San José.
It was cool to see the city, but that’s not what I was worried about. I was worried about what we were there to do: evangelism.
Evangelism is just when we go out and tell people about Jesus and offer to pray for them. All while keeping our distance and wearing our masks. Simple, right? Except I was so nervous and so uncomfortable. I really didn’t want to be doing it.
I was mostly worried about what the people we went up to would think of me. I admit it, I didn’t want to be the weird white person randomly talking about Jesus when she didn’t even know how to speak the native language. I thought that everyone we talked to was just as uncomfortable as I was. I thought they didn’t want us to be there, and they’d rather we just leave them alone.
But off we went anyway. Quique told us we could go up to anyone we felt the Lord was highlighting to us. I just stayed off to the side, letting my doubts and insecurities dictate my actions. We talked to a couple people and got to pray for them, which was cool. But I still wasn’t expecting God to do anything big.
Then Quique led us across the city plaza. That’s when one of my teammates noticed a girl sitting on the edge the plaza who kept glancing over at us. I had noticed her to, which I thought was interesting, because there was a ton of people around and she could’ve been easy to miss.
We went over to her and introduced ourselves. She was only a few years older than us, and told us she was in the city visiting a friend. We told her we only knew a little Spanish, but we were trying to learn. She said that was great because she only knew a little English but wanted to learn as well. She then said that she had seen us walking through the plaza and thought that there was something special about us. We told her we were Christians and wanted to pray for her if she’d let us. She smiled wide and said, “I need that”.
That’s when a man pulled Quique aside and told him we couldn’t be doing religious things in the plaza. I was so disappointed. This girl was actually hoping we’d come up and talk to her and now we had to leave. But then Quique asked her if she’d walk with us to the street, and she was happy to. That’s how much she wanted us to pray for her.
We talked with her for a while. She told us she was a Christian, but that she had been feeling far from the Lord. She asked us to pray for a revival in her life. Quique told her about The Hope Project and churches she could plug into. Then we all prayed for her. I prayed that God would light a fire for Him inside of her that couldn’t go out. She asked to take a picture with us and told us that she thought it was so cool what we we’re doing for the Lord and that she wanted to do something like it to. I asked Quique to tell her that we would continue to pray for her by name.
I’m so thankful for that experience. I thought no one would like it when we walked up to them. But not only did this girl not mind it, she wanted us to go up to her. God used us to be exactly what she needed in her life in that moment. She needed encouragement and confirmation, and we were the answer to that prayer! I also needed her in that moment. God used her to show me why He asked me to do this thing that I was so uncomfortable doing, and to show me how He can move even in ways I least expected.
As always, thanks for following my journey through my blog! Much more to come 🙂
God bless!
