Evangelism can happen when we least expect it
Author Sam Chan offers some great practical examples of how to be a witness in the normal everyday situations of life.
Here is a story that he tells about his wife, Steph, visiting a shopping mall. These are the types of moments we all experience, so hopefully you can relate to them and spot the ‘learnings’ in this story.
An excerpt from the book, How to talk about Jesus (without being that guy)
Often, we go out looking for opportunities to evangelise, but they just don’t happen. Instead, we should just go out there and be Jesus to the community – and the opportunities will find us.
A few years ago, my wife Steph was in a busy shopping mall with our three young boys – who at that time were aged three, five and seven. The mall was crowded. The boys were tired and hungry after a school day.
But Steph noticed a young Asian woman holding her baby daughter and looking extremely distressed. Steph learned that the woman’s name was Jenna, and Steph asked if everything was okay. Jenna replied that she couldn’t find her elderly mother, who was not able to speak English and had the baby carriage – along with Jenna’s purse, money, mobile phone and food for the baby.
Steph spent the next few hours helping Jenna look for her mother. They walked up and down the mall, visited shops outside the mall, and even called the police to report her mother was missing. Steph offered food to Jenna so she could feed her hungry baby. Finally, they found her mother.
Jenna thanked Steph profusely for her time, and Steph seized the opportunity to invite Jenna to the playgroup at our church. From there we invited Jenna to come to our church. When Jenna’s husband, Nelson, saw all the happy families worshipping at the church, he said to Jenna, ‘Whatever these people believe, we have to believe the same thing!’
We invited Jenna to come to our adult small group, which meets at our home for lunch after our Sunday church service. That day we had a large BBQ. Jenna was intrigued. Being a new immigrant to Australia, she also wanted to learn how to host a BBQ at her own place. So, we offered to help her and supplied her with our grill.
Jenna hosted a BBQ at her place. She invited families from our church’s playgroup and families from a different (non-church) playgroup that she also attended, where most of the families were non-believers. The two groups mingled and formed new friendships. One of the non-Christian couples we met there has become our friend and is now attending a local church.
Read the story again, and see if you can spot the key moments when Steph cooperated with the Holy Spirit (I have highlighted some and added some comments at the end):
A few years ago, my wife Steph, was in a busy shopping mall with our three young boys – who at that time were aged three, five and seven. The mall was crowded. The boys were tired and hungry after a school day.
But Steph noticed1 a young Asian woman holding her baby daughter and looking extremely distressed. Steph learned that the woman’s name was Jenna, and Steph asked if everything was okay.2 Jenna replied that she couldn’t find her elderly mother, who was not able to speak English and had the baby carriage – along with Jenna’s purse, money, mobile phone and food for the baby.
Steph spent the next few hours helping Jenna3 look for her mother. They walked up and down the mall, visited shops outside the mall, and even called the police to report her mother was missing. Steph offered food to Jenna so she could feed her hungry baby. Finally, they found her mother.
Jenna thanked Steph profusely for her time, and Steph seized the opportunity to invite Jenna4 to the playgroup at our church. From there, we invited Jenna to come to our church5. When Jenna’s husband, Nelson, saw all the happy families worshipping at the church, he said to Jenna, ‘Whatever these people believe, we have to believe the same thing!’
We invited Jenna to come to our adult small group6, which meets at our home for lunch after our Sunday church service. That day we had a large BBQ. Jenna was intrigued. Being a new immigrant to Australia, she also wanted to learn how to host a BBQ at her own place. So, we offered to help her7 and supplied her with our grill.
Jenna hosted a BBQ at her place. She invited families from our church’s playgroup and families from a different (non-church) playgroup that she also attended, where most of the families were non-believers. The two groups mingled and formed new friendships. One of the non-Christian couples we met there has become our friend and is now attending a local church.
1. But Steph noticed …
Steph was busy (and probably a bit stressed), but she obviously has developed the habit to keep one eye open for moments to be a blessing to strangers – she has faith to believe that the Lord is working and may ‘tap’ her on the shoulder at any moment.
2. She asked if everything was okay.
We can all relate to this moment when we could look the other way (I’m too busy etc), but we move towards the situation without knowing how much it might ‘cost’ us. In the split second we engage, Jesus meets us with the capacity to help, and he carries us.
3. Steph spent the next few hours helping Jenna.
The grace of God obviously kicked in here. Steph began to ‘love’ this stranger and overcame the inconvenience of walking all over the place with her three fractious children in tow – she had crossed over and wasn’t going to stop while Jenna was in crisis. This was the gospel writ large!
When we enter into God’s love for a stranger, it is very uplifting!
4. Steph seized the opportunity to invite Jenna to the playgroup.
Jenna’s heart was so moved by experiencing ‘unusual’ love that she trusted Steph enough to respond to an invitation. When we have ‘cared’ for someone in their moment of need, we can be bold at this moment.
In this case, Steph had a ready-made activity attached to the church (the playgroup) that was ideal for Jenna to experience more. We should think about how to add these things (like Mainly Music) for just this type of situation – a place for inquirers to journey with us. If Steph didn’t have an option like this, she probably could have invited Jenna to her home for a coffee (or something similar).
5. We invited Jenna to come to our church
6. and to our home for lunch.
Steph and Sam just continue to offer relationship and hospitality to a family new to the country. Others of their church family join in, so Jenna and Nelson find a home and community. The important thing here is that they were offering relationship rather than just an opportunity to attend a meeting.
7. So, we offered to help her and supplied her with our grill.
Here is another example of Steph and Sam actively building relationship. They note that Jenna has a longing to connect and show hospitality herself, and they see an opportunity to ‘dignify’ her. This even extends to lending their ‘grill’. Blessings keep flowing so that Jenna’s other friends are woven into the picture and also start coming into the kingdom.
Conclusion
Steph responded to the Lord’s prompt that day (when it wasn’t particularly convenient) and asked a distressed young woman ‘Are you okay?’
Grace flowed, and further doors opened until ‘Jenna and her whole household was saved’.
There were a series of faith steps that we take:
- to love sacrificially (trusting the Lord will give the ability)
- risk offering an invitation to a deeper relationship (trusting the Lord is softening the heart)
- we share about Jesus (trusting that we will have the right words when we need).
The ‘mission’ is the Lord’s – he is constantly working and (amazingly), he wants us to be part of the outcomes.
