God said go be a tourist.
Sometimes we over think what it means to share the gospel.
Today is ATL day.. which means ask the Lord. We are given the entire day just to ask God for a word, or phrase, or just go out on the streets and evangelize. I asked God where he wanted me and he said, “go be a tourist and shop.”
I thought for sure that wasn’t God. He doesn’t want me to shop for ministry. That’s just me. So I asked again…
“Go be a tourist and shop,” he said.
Okay God. I will go treat myself to a cute top if that’s really what you want.
I walked to a cute shop I have been wanting to look at and tried to get to know the owner, but her English was bad. Surely this isn’t what God meant to do…
Then a woman from California asked if the dress she tried on was cute?
I see you moving God. I put my missionary pants on, and thought, “let’s tell her about Jesus.”
I get to talking with this wonderful woman and she had so much life in her eyes. She was a joy to get to know. We stood in this small store for a good 20 minutes just talking about life. I got to share what I was doing for the next year and we swapped blogs. Hopefully she is reading this one!
I left the store feeling great and thanking God for a new sweet friend. As I walked passed a smoothie store he said, “grab a smoothie.”
“God… is evangelizing really this fun?”
I walked past the store, then walked back, then walked past again, then God screamed, “get a smoothie!” So I went back and walked in. A cute Thai woman named Fin welcomed me. She was eating herself so I asked if I could sit down at her table. Her face lit up and she sat me down and made me a mango smoothie (it was delicious). We got to talking and I got to share what I was doing with her and tell her about Jesus, a man she had NEVER heard of.
I left her with a little pamphlet that shared the gospel in Thai. She was so excited to read it and asked if I would come back to see her again.
The last thing I got to do was sit and chat with a homeless woman on the street. She stared at me with lost eyes as I walked by… but when I stopped and said hello, life came into her eyes. Her English was super limited, but God was proud of my obedience. He calls us to love the least of these. And I believe fruit will come from my obedience. We set with each other for about 10 minutes not saying a word, but laughing and giggling and drawing things in the dirt around her. I left her with a pamphlet and gave her a big hug. (I actually went back to her the next day and she had the pamphlet in her hand and asked me for another!)
The point of all this is that sharing the gospel doesn’t have to be this extravagant plan that we train for. It’s just sharing life with people in the everyday mundane things we do. Everyday we go to work, sit in a classroom or even go to a workout class. Whatever it is you love to do, bring Jesus along with you and make yourself available for Holy Spirit to interrupt.
