We have been in Malawi for 12 days now, and it is the 70th day on the world race, wow! I still have to remind myself from time to time that I am on the race, and this is not just a quick trip. When that reality sets in I have mixed emotions. I get so excited for the numerous opportunities ahead of us to be a part of God’s work all around the world, but I also feel a little sadness that I still have so much time away from friends and family.
It is days like yesterday that keeps me going. Right after worship our new friend Jane walked into church with her daughter Angel. This was Jane’s first church service as a born again Christian. Last week during our afternoon of evangelism, my group was having trouble finding a house that was free and willing to have us come in and share the good news. Three people turned us away before we stumbled upon Jane’s home. With a little hesitation she greeted us and agreed to allow us in.
We learned that Jane knew about Jesus and that she was raised as a Roman Catholic. She believed that she was in a good place with God because she was a good person. She prayed and asked forgiveness of her sins when she did wrong. However, when we asked if she had ever asked Jesus into her heart as her Lord and savior, she was not so confident. She desired to have a relationship with Jesus, but she did not know how to go about finding one. My teammate Nettie was able to explain to her the gospel and that having Jesus in your life was as easy as Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Within the next ten minutes Jane was confessing with her mouth that Jesus was Lord, and she began a new relationship with him. Praise God! We invited Jane to church and encouraged her to start reading the gospels. On Saturday we visited her again and went through the first three chapters of the book of John.
Jane expressed how much she wanted and needed a good community to encourage her in her faith, so we were all overjoyed to see Jane walk into church yesterday. She met the pastor and his wife and was informed on the ways she could get involved.
Our friend Rabson, who is a pastor and has been leading us on our evangelism afternoons, shared an important insight. If we had been invited into the homes of the first three people, we may not have had time to visit Jane. So instead of feeling rejected and disappointed when people say no, we must have confidence that there is still something down the road.
That makes me think of life as well. Sometimes things do not go as planned, and we can get paralyzed in our disappointment. When in reality, God is closing a door so he can lead us to even greater things that we cannot yet see.
All in all, God had been working on Jane’s heart long before we walked in the door. She knew she was missing something in her life, and all she needed was an invitation to ask for something more. A relationship that would change everything.
