Africa definitely has taken us out of our comfort zones. On day one with our ministry host he drove us to a village and told us we would be evangelizing. I didn’t know exactly what that was going to look like. I’ve never gone out and street evangelized before. I was grouped with my friends Clayton and Ryann. We didn’t know what we were doing since it was only the first day. We got to a spot in front of this sweet old man’s house and as we sat down they started yelling to call people over to hear the message. Little did we know, we were the ones speaking. After calling everyone over he asked us who would be speaking the message, though we all ended up speaking at some point that day. I can tell you I’ve never spoken so spontaneously before. It could only have been God’s words speaking through me because I was not prepared. I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life and I love it. We can’t grow in our comfort zones, so trust me: I’m definitely growing.
Street evangelizing with Harvesters is mainly what we’ve been doing. We might end up planting a church in one of the villages. It looks different each time. The second time we went, I was with my friend Tara and we went house to house to speak to the people, though most of those we spoke to needed encouragement because they were already Christians. Another time we went and spoke to a huge crowd of people and a little over half of them got saved. The Lord has big plans here. That’s what we’ll be doing the rest of our time here. It’s crazy to see the many ways the Lord uses us. I’m starting to enjoy going places and having no idea what we’ll be doing. It’s definitely different from the U.S. It’s so refreshing. People naturally assume ministering is mostly for the people that are being spoken to but its just as life-changing (if not more) for the missionary. God is changing my life. I’ve been reading this book called Tortured for Christ and in it the author says that the Communist persecution created some of the most dedicated Christians. They wonder how anyone can be Christian and not want to win every soul they meet. That should be our mindset every time we leave the house.
I’ve noticed while doing street evangelizing that I can try and be as prepared as possible for when I speak but the Lord will probably give me a different message. Which is oh so good because I want His words to come out of my mouth, not mine. It’s amazing to see the Lord provide in that way. I can get up in front of everyone with no idea what I’m going to talk about and He’ll give me an abundance of words. There’s so much the Lord is already doing here and we’ve only had 4 days of ministry. How’s 3 months going to look? Communication here is way easier than it was in El Salvador. Who would have guessed that? They speak Chichewa but English is their second language and thank the Lord for that because most people speak it here. We’re all having a great time. Everyone is so sweet and welcoming. It’s great experiencing different cultures like this. We’re all so excited for the days to come.
Prayer Requests:
- That the Lord keeps stretching us each day.
- He’ll keep giving us the words to speak and be able to experience Him in new/different ways.
- That wherever we go, people will see Him through our actions and words.
- For the Lord to provide Bibles in Chichewa for these people.
- For Him to keep filling us up with His joy and love.
Love you all so much! Thank for everything you do for us!
