3.17.2009

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I hope you wore green and if you didn't that you got pinched!

Today was my first day on campus since a week before our Nicaragua trip so it was great to finally be back. I went sharing for the first time this semester and realized again how much these students need to hear the Gospel, to be told the Truth, and to be offered a relationship with their Creator. Two of the three girls that my friend and I talked with were not spiritual and had no desire to consider any spiritual issues at this point in their lives. Understandable when they're having to work and go to school full time and haven't faced any major challenges in life.

The third girl that we talked to was Muslim. I knew this walking up to her as she was wearing a hijab. I think it was one of the most genuine conversations I've had in a long time. We learned about her background, her culture, and her religious beliefs. I appreciated her openness but at the same time, my heart was breaking at her contentedness with Islam. So as we left we prayed that the Lord would bring many more people into her life to share the love of Christ with her, especially while she's here in North America and it's legal!

I spent a while reflecting on my time sharing in the morning before I had to lead my Bible study. I've been discouraged with my Bible study so far because for the first few weeks only one or two girls were coming, and not consistently. I felt like my time was not being spent in the best way, like I was wasting my time driving to Burnaby and the girls' time was being wasted because they weren't putting in any effort. But today was definitely encouraging. We got through a lesson--but more than that, we connected on a deep level as we discussed the significance of the Deity of Christ. This basic fact is so important and yet so simple that it's often overlooked or minimized. The whole day was a good reminder for me of the power I have in Christ.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Understandable when they're having to work and go to school full time and haven't faced any major challenges in life."

I think it's sad that work, school, busyness and relative security/prosperity keep people from recognizing their desperate need for Jesus.

In the IFC a couple weeks ago, I was talking to a Mauritian Muslim girl and she mentioned that she can't speak Arabic and so I asked if she could understand the prayers and she said no, she can't at all. She just trusts that what they're saying is right. I was like, "What?!?"

mellamovaca said...

Yeah, it made me realize that even though I talked with a Caucasian, an Asian, and a Saudi, none of them had a relationship with a believer that caused them to even think about spiritual things in a new way! And they're all living in Canada where we can freely talk about it (as opposed to two of the girls' cultures).