Waffle House

One of the things I wanted to grow in going on the World Race was evangelism. The thing I was also most scared of when it came to the race was evangelism. Before the race, the only thing I really did to evangelize was that I invited a few people to come to church with me. That only happened three or four times. I wanted to be able to fulfill the Great Commission and learn to do it well. 

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

It has been a very slow process growing in this, on the race. The first time I did evangelize it was not my choice. It was back in Romania when I was with my host. I wrote about it briefly in this blog. Ana had me start a conversation with a young man who was just sitting on a bench. But I was a nervous wreck during that time and if I wasn’t praying so fervently in my head during that encounter I would have had a panic attack. God provided in that situation and all I did was share a few Scriptures God provided me at that moment to share. Ana and my teammate did the rest of the talking. 

At the end of our time in Kosovo we passed out papers that had verses in Albanian and we were going to all go out individually but I couldn’t bring myself to do it by myself and I was barely able to do it with someone else. Those are some of the times I did street evangelism. In most encounters with sharing the gospel, I would let my teammate take the lead and maybe say one or two things.

The Lord has been listening to my prayers and has been slowly but surely, working in my heart to get me to a place where I can share the Gospel. 

This next story is one of the biggest praises for what God has done on the race. I went to a small little restaurant called Waffle House. Definitely not like the Waffle House in the US. After I went there the first time I felt the Lord telling me to keep going back. So I did. 

Here’s a picture of Waffle House

The fourth and last time I went, as of right now anyway, I went there alone and as I was waiting on my food I was reading Mark 10 and 11. As I was reading I was asking God what He wanted to do here and He said, “Share the gospel with the woman right here in front of you.” She looked like she was in her 50s and she didn’t speak any English.

When He said this I wasn’t shocked or started panicking like I normally would have but I had total peace that could only come from Him. I typed something up in google translate which basically said “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and He wants to have a relationship with you.” I told God if He wanted me to share anything else with her He better tell me what to say because I had nothing to offer this lady myself. But He told me that was enough. So I paid for my food and then I showed her what I wrote on my phone. She read it and just smiled and nodded her head. That was it, I left after that and headed home. I was overjoyed that I got to share the Gospel by myself and that God gave me the courage and boldness to do so. 

I can’t wait to continue to grow in this and to not have fear in doing it. I’m praying that by the time I’m heading back home I’ll be completely unafraid to share the gospel. That I’d be willing and unafraid to talk to the person next to me on the flight back to Detroit about Jesus. 

I’ve been praying Ephesians 6:18-20 which is  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

As Christians, our main job is to share the gospel with everyone. How can you be sharing the gospel today?