uneloquent evangelism

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to go to sleep even after an exhausting twelve hour shift. It wasn’t because I was worried or anxious, but rather because I had something on my heart. I don’t think the Lord was going to allow me to sleep until I resolved it. 

For the last few months, even during my time in the United States, the Lord has been building on a theme in my life. Personal evangelism. As the weeks have gone by, God has done nothing but build and build on this until feel like the prophet Jeremiah who said the word of God was like a fire in his bones. 

I’ve prayed for God to send me to an unreached people group, and I now find myself in a primarily Muslim community. I work in mission hospital, and I can’t help but wonder if God beings people to us just so they can hear the gospel. 

Yet another voice counteracts this passion of mine for personal evangelism, like it’s trying to fling water on my fire, and I hear it fizzling as I say to myself, Just do your job and leave the evangelism to the chaplains. Or the long term missionaries. You could offend someone. You might not do it right. 

And it’s true, you do have to know the people, understand the culture, and establish trust in relationships with people, especially Muslims, in order to sincerely and appropriately shar the gospel. 

But sometimes I think we make it too complicated. 

It’s in times like these that I have to remind myself that the power to save doesn’t come from my extraordinary ability to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The power is in the message itself, not in my eloquent expression of it. Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. He desired to not share “lofty speech” but to “know nothing except Christ and him crucified.” He said, “My speech and my words were not in eloquent words of wisdom.” The Corinthians belief and faith was not a result of his gifted preaching, but rather because of the “demonstration of the Spirit and his power.” 

And ultimately the power to save is in the hands of God Almighty and his son Jesus Christ. Our responsibility? To tell. To share. To let people know. “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone telling them?” (Romans 10:14) The rest - the actually turning of hearts, opening of eyes, and aging of souls - that is God’s work, and he does it well. 

So I stayed awake in bed brainstorming ways to not only be an ordinary nurse working four shifts a week, but how to demonstrate and proclaim Jesus in the work he has given me and on my off days. I had four specific ideas, but I kept wrestling with feelings of inadequacy until I finally sat up and said, Lord, I think you are calling me to just do these things. And I’m deciding now to obey.

With that, I fell fast asleep. 

The next day, God opened the door for conversation with my Muslim guard, and even talked for over thirty minutes about faith, the New Testament, and Jesus. 

The following shift at the hospital, after receiving report, I asked the nurses, aides, and doctors if we could pray to start the day. They accepted and received it well, and the next day, they asked me to pray again before I even had the chance to offer. 

I desired to pray with one of my postpartum patients, but she didn’t speak French. About thirty minutes later, a chaplain came up to me and said, “I heard you wanted me to translate for your postpartum patient.” I hadn’t asked anyone to translate, but I smiled as I realized God had sent her, so I took her offer. Together we talked and prayed with her, encouraging her to put her faith in God. 

I was also taking care of a premature baby, and every time I gave her feeds, I sang worship songs. One time, her mother and grandmother heard me and came over, so I placed the baby in the grandmothers arms and kept singing about Jesus as I gave the feeding. The mother and grandmother listened and nodded, giving an occasional “amen” and thanking me afterwards. 

I went home singing myself, for God had given me opportunities to obey all four ideas for evangelism that I had previously tossed and turned over. And I was feeling the blessings of obedience. 

And you know, none of those four things were a super big deal. Just singing, praying, talking, and sharing. And making sure Jesus’ name is spoken as I seek to show his love. 

My prayer at the end of every day here is that God would take my feeble efforts like tiny mustard seeds, and that he would send his rain and make these gospel seeds grow and produce fruit for the world to see. 

May he continue to increase our boldness, fan into flame the fire of evangelism in our hearts, and keep teaching us to be witnesses to his salvation available for all. Don’t just leave it to the chaplains or the long term missionaries, my friends. God uses ordinary people like you and me in ournordianry jobs and activities to be salt and light, fragrant aromas, and ambassadors for his glorious kingdom. Remember that the message itself contains the power to save, and Jesus goes before and behind us, preparing hearts and working his salvation. We just get to be the messengers who aren’t ashamed of the message. Let’s obey.