Witness

It's really funny sometimes how God works in ways we don't expect. Following the intensity of Cresciendo last weekend, I was completely wiped. Yet each time that I was starting to feel a little pressed for time, my schedule managed to open up. In fact, all told this has been by far the most laid back week of the semester; I ended up with so much free time that I almost didn't know what do to with it! It's great having God work things out.

A couple cool opportunities happened this week as well. On Thursday at our Large Group meeting, we had a woman come in from East Central Ministries to talk about her testimony and how God has used her to work for His kingdom. East Central Ministries works right in the middle of the "War Zone" in Albuquerque doing incarnational ministry. The people there live and work amongst some of the worst neighborhoods in the city, sharing the Gospel through relationships with others and providing ways to care for the community. The speaker talked about how she had felt the call when she was about to graduate not to seek a "mountaintop experience" with God, but to descend to the inner city and share His love amongst the poor. It was a really cool look at how we can follow God's missional heart.

Then, as a kind of follow-up to her talk, we actually got to take a group out to ECM on Saturday to help work there as a service outreach. There we took on different jobs to help the ministry including helping construct a new greenhouse they will use to provide work for the needy in the area and labeling the planters made by the ministry as a source of income. While there was no strictly evangelistic element to the outing (we were working completely with Christians), it was great to see firsthand how the organization is reaching out to the community and to witness their hearts for the poor around them. We had gone to ECM last semester as well to help out, and I really hope that we'll be able to continue this partnership and help however we can in the spread of the Gospel through their work.

I had another great opportunity this week as well. My church runs an AWANAS program, and this Friday was their annual Grand Prix. The kids get to make cars out of blocks of wood and then race them down a track, with the winners taking home trophies. Anyway, since many parents take their kids to AWANAS as a kind of free child care rather than as a way to teach them about the Bible, and since the Grand Prix is one of the few times that both parents and kids from AWANAS gather, it is also a good time to share a bit about the Gospel to those who otherwise might not get a chance to hear about it. I was invited to give a short Gospel presentation this year, and while I was a little skeptical about how such a message would go over with a group who just wants to watch some races, I thought it could also be a fun opportunity and accepted the invitation.

I talked about my own time in AWANAS: how I had loved the fun of things like the Grand Prix and really got to know a lot about God, but I also shared what a difference actually having a relationship with God (rather than just learning about one) has meant to me and my life. I invited anyone who wanted to know more about a relationship with Jesus to come talk to me or one of the leaders, but the vibe I was getting seemed more in line with just wanting to get on to the awards ceremony. That pretty much met my expectations; I had been told earlier that no one had made a commitment to Christ as a result of one of these presentations. The night ended, and I went home glad to have at least practiced a bit of evangelism. But just today I got an email; apparently one of the first grade girls at the event talked with her parents later that night and asked Jesus into her heart! I hadn't really expected anything to come of the night, but I'm so glad that God was able to use what little faith I had to further His work. Please pray for the girl, Emma, that this would be the start of a long and beautiful relationship with the Lord.

I've also been thinking about evangelism in general, and one thing that keeps sticking out for me is the almost complete lack of any contact with non-Christians in my life. Ironically, by being in ministry I have almost no relationships to invest in evangelically. Honestly, this is a bit of a stretch for me spiritually, but I have decided to start praying for God to put some non-Christians in my life so I can share God's love with them. I ask that you would join me in this prayer. Though I don't know what it will look like, please pray that I would begin to build relationships with non believers for the sake of the Gospel. Thanks so much!

"I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free."
- Psalm 119:32