Last week I had such a fascinating conversation, I have to share it with you. The last three weeks I was with a church in Los Andes, Chile. We partnered with this church, lived with the pastor, evangelized in three local communities, and met with church small groups.
First, here is some background into my month. Honestly, this month I’ve had trouble with feeling overwhelmed and anxious consistently. It wasn’t one thing in particular that led me to feel this way. It was a combination of a lot of things. As I noticed these feelings come up the first week, I realized my need to sit and process with the Lord. I wondered why these feelings kept coming up? I didn’t feel like myself, and I didn’t feel at peace.
As I sat with the Lord, I wrote down all the different things I felt uneasy about and worked through each one as I listened to worship music. Following this, I decided to make a list of all the ways I’ve seen God move this year. Spending time with the Lord, soaking in his truth, and resting in gratitude changed how I felt. I felt lighter and content. I didn’t have answers or solutions to all my questions, but I chose to give it all to God and just rest with him. The next two weeks I learned to ask myself what I needed and choose to come to the Lord each time anxiousness or overwhelmed feelings came. (I also started running in this time, and it has been so good for my mind and body!)
Back to this past week, I went to our last evangelism time at the center park of Los Andes, and I felt anxious. I thought about bringing the cajon drum to sit and play, but then I couldn’t find it. I thought about singing with the guitar player to stand out of the way. I knew God can move past the language barrier. I had seen him do it before at another evangelism time where I talked to a woman all in Spanish and invited her to church. But I was scared.
As we prayed as a group, our team leader prayed for bravery and boldness. When I opened my eyes, my eyes were directly drawn to a man selling goods on the sidewalk. As I turned to get ready to sing, a teammate turned to me and asked if I noticed that man and if I wanted to go talk to him. Everything in me said yes. I needed and wanted to talk to this guy- I chose to be courageous and trust the Lord in this time – to set aside fear and step into faith.
When my friend and I walked over to this man, we introduced ourselves and learned he was from Brazil. He had been here for twenty years and had no family around. While talking, two of our friends came over and one began to translate our conversation as it expanded into other areas. The man asked what we were doing there in Los Andes. We shared about being with a church in the area and wanting to share the love of Jesus with people here.
This led us into hearing all about the man’s beliefs and thoughts about the world, God, and religions. It was SO fascinating! We talked to this man for at least an hour, listened to his stories, and asked questions to learn more.
He talked about his life and journey of learning through all the different world religions. He said Jesus was his first master and teacher, and he believes that all of the religions pray and worship the same god. He talked about how he is currently learning through mediation, yoga, and nature. We talked about the differences between heart, soul, and mind. He shared his beliefs on the heart being pure, good, and all about what you know. Then, he shared about the mind, how it puts up barriers, is changeable, and is what you believe. He continued by talking about layers of consciousness and his thoughts on death.
This conversation was so interesting. There were many connections I found to Christian beliefs and my personal values, & it was such a great opportunity to hear about his man’s story and be present to listen through the similarities and differences.
I was encouraged by the connections made to things I’d learned in classes at Messiah such as psychology, philosophy, and religious concepts. This looked like talking about our innate desires such as connection and love. He shared about his values of love, listening, and learning – all of which are some of my top values. We have so much to learn from one another if we choose to take time to love and listen. We are made for connection with one another. What does it look like to take those few extra minutes to talk and learn from one another? To ask questions? To follow up when a friend needs help or prayer or encouragement? To celebrate one another and settle our differences? It’s so worth it!
