Yesterday I sat in a coffee shop in Saigon, Vietnam across from a 44-year-old man who wanted to work on his English. We spent a while talking about his family, his job, and eventually, Jesus. This might sound like a normal coffee shop conversation, but it was far from that.
When I asked Phamg if I could tell him about Jesus, he stopped me because he didn’t know who “Jesus” was. In the blink of an eye I had become the first person in his entire life to tell him of Jesus.
My mind was blown.
How can someone go 44 years without ever hearing the name Jesus? In the United States we take for granted the ability to share the Gospel and speak the name of Jesus freely. There are so many people in this world who have never even heard the name of
the Great I Am, the Most High Priest, the Savior of the World
It was about an hour into the conversation and we were still talking about Jesus. I was sharing stories from the Bible, and he was reading Scripture. He sat mesmerized as I explained how this one Man had changed my life radically.
This is the reality in countries like Vietnam. There are unreached people here and they yearn to hear of something greater than themselves.
In the past two days, I have shared the Gospel and the name of Jesus with two unreached people. It has been humbling to know that God chose me to be that person. It has also lit a fire in my heart to learn and know Scripture on a deeper level.
Christ died for us.
He loves us and He wants to live in each one of us.
The Gospel at its core is simple.
It is a gift, and nothing we can do will make the Lord love us any more or any less.
But there is SO MUCH MORE!
Speaking with these people has made me realize that I want a deeper understanding of the Bible and the things I believe. I want to be able to walk someone through the life of Jesus and clearly articulate the greatest gift we have ever received– Him!
After I spoke with Phamg I had several conversations with my friends and squadmates. We talked about how it is really important that we spend time focused introspectively on our relationship with Christ, but we have to find a balance between studying the Word for ourselves and sharing what we know with others.
I realized this week that sharing the Gospel has been easy in the past. Most of the people that I have talked to already had their own opinions about Jesus and Christianity. Those conversations were intentional and specific in our discussion. When someone is a blank slate and you are the first to carve their knowledge of Jesus, things are radically different. I want…no, I need to know more. I need to know and be bold in how I share about the greatest thing in my life so that others may experience the same love, grace, mercy, hope, and joy that I see everyday!
loving in a radical way,
sam
