Do you ever wonder how to share your faith? Have you ever wondered how you may share your faith in a place where you maybe aren’t supposed to or it’s frowned upon if you do? Here’s a real life story from one of our staff members of what living among the unreached looks like and the opportunities that come to share the story of Jesus where it’s never been heard.
My wife met Shey through a cooking class that we found online. She spent 3 days with her, and made a very deep impression. After their cooking class, I began taking language classes from her. Our class is 2 hours long, but we have a 30-minute tea break where we discuss anything from politics to religion.
One day, she and another student were talking about the perils of religion, and how all religions are dangerous. I piped up and shared the importance of differentiating religion and relationship. Shey was intrigued, so I went on to talk about how religion is all about Man’s Pursuit of God, but that I am in a relationship with God because He pursued me through Jesus.
I could see that she was perplexed, but she posed a really challenging question. She is Hindu and said, “Christians are so merciful, kind, and compassionate. So I am so confused by their choice in eating meat.”
I asked her if she would like to hear the origins of animal sacrifice, to which she said yes. So I stood up at the white board, as she sat down in my desk. I started in Genesis and walked through the intention of God’s creation, the subsequent fall, God’s provision for forgiveness through sacrifice due to the wages of sin being death, then God’s provision of a perfect sacrifice in Christ.
She was so hungry to hear more. So I went on about how most religions are followed to due birth – “my parents are Hindu so I am a Hindu, Muslim, Jew, etc.”… but with Christianity it’s different. Each individual and each household makes the choice for themselves, because to follow Jesus is to part ways with any other form of worship. So, I shared my personal testimony and about the transformation that has occurred in my life now that I follow Jesus.
She then said, “Everything you are saying makes so much sense to me… but what about all the good people who aren’t Christian?”
We went on to discuss the definition of good as God and God’s standards. We discussed the importance of motive and not just behavior – lust, greed, contempt, etc. I shared the story of Jesus and the Pharisees. Then I simply posed the question, “Can going to the Temple cleanse a man’s heart? Can praying 5 times a day? What about giving to the poor?” She then began to catch on, and emphatically stated NO, none of those things can clean the inside. So, I shared about the miracle of Christ’s substitution and the provision of the Holy Spirit to cleanse our hearts.
We ended after about 30 minutes and continued our class. But as she kept teaching she stopped, and said, “I have to just cut class short today, because everything you said is greatly affecting me.” She then went into her anxieties over her son’s health, to which one of my classmates, a follower of Jesus, said, “There is peace and hope for you in Jesus.”
A day later I had the opportunity of a 30-minute 1-on-1 language session with her. She started by saying, “Can I use some of this time to ask you questions.” To which I responded, “Of course.”
“What is it that is so different about your wife? She has such an aura and such strong vibes coming off of her. I can only describe it as warmth and light. It makes me want her affection.”
I told her my wife’s testimony, and the power of Christ in her life. The truth is, Shey is seeing and responding to Jesus slowly but surely. We’ve hung out with their family a few times outside of class since then. We celebrated a local holiday together and they even babysat our son for us one afternoon so that we could have a date. We see God working, we just need intercession on their behalf.
