Jao is one of those athletes that you want on your team. When I first saw him on the basketball court, I knew before he ever even played that he would be a tough one for us to handle. Over the next few weeks, Jao was one of the key players in every game against us and we came out about even. Despite the “natural height” of the Filipinos, Jao was actually one of the tallest. Even though he was still a few inches shorter than us, he out jumped each of us for the tip offs. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I expected.
As the weeks rolled on, Jao and the guys got a lot more comfortable with us. There was one point where our girls were cheering so loud that he flagged me over to teach them some American cheers. Within a couple of minutes, they were going back and forth across the court and I tried not to be labeled as the traitor. As the guys began to get comfortable with us, they started to ask more about why we were there. Sometimes it just takes a little patience, and then all you have to do is just tell your story. Before we knew it, each of us were getting the chance to share our stories with other players.
Sometimes I try to fit things into a formula. There are times where I walk up to strangers and just get right into my testimony within five minutes. On the other hand, it takes weeks until my new friend will actually ask for my story. I’ve never understood why God works the way he does. If life is so relational, then sharing our lives and our stories should come natural. However, presenting the Gospel in the first conversation doesn’t seem like the smartest relational move to make. But somehow God still uses both and uses them well.
As I talked with Jao, I didn’t really have a plan or agenda. He just asked one question at a time and I responded. Then I asked his thoughts. Sometimes we ended up talking about Jesus and other times we ended up talking about… well… something else. It didn’t really matter what the subject was because Jao was getting to the question I love to be asked. “So why do you do this?” I can’t help but have the joy of the Lord come over me because I’m not only getting to share the Gospel, but someone is asking for it. As much as I love the random conversations with strangers, nothing beats a relational moment like this one…
