Every Wednesday night Josh and I go to Miles park. Our friend David has a ministry called “The Narrow Door” that helps feed hungry people in our area, and they hold a night of fellowship for homeless people every Wednesday. We have dinner, a time of worship, and my friend’s Dad usually speaks. We really love going. I have always had a heart for people in need, especially those that “most people” wouldn’t want to help, or even talk to, but sometimes I don’t feel like I have anything to offer these people, or more so, I don’t feel like I have a connecting point with them.
I became a Christian when I was 4. I have never done drugs, never gotten drunk, I’ve never had to sleep on the street. I truly thank the Lord that I have not done those things. But when I’m going to minister to people, I have a hard time relating to them when I don’t know what they’ve been through.
Wednesday night at the park I started talking with two women, Sandra and Meryl. I was so glad that we had bottles of water to pass out, so I was able to hand them something—sort of an ice breaker. They were very sweet, but I couldn’t think of anything to talk about. We talked about the weather, and we ended up talking about the work that she’s doing. A new volunteer and his wife came up to our table, and the man started, what seemed like immediately, to tell Meryl his testimony, and I listened in. He hitchhiked out to the desert almost 25 years ago with “a monkey on his back.” (I had no idea what that meant. He was speaking figuratively I’m sure, but innocent me was clueless.) A man that he met told him that there was a house full of women that he should go check out. He went looking for sex, but the women ended up being missionaries. They shared the Lord with him, what they said made sense, and he accepted Christ right then. He stopped using drugs, (heroin was the “monkey on his back” he was referring to-Meryl knew exactly what he meant) found a place to live, etc. Meryl was asking him how he stayed clean, and he pointed at his Bible. They talked about the rescue mission, how people still deal drugs right next store to it (like they did in “his time”). They related on a level that I will never understand. They struck up meaningful conversation instantly, and I was only able to talk about the weather.
The week before I was talking to a man who has been in jail most of his life. He could be in jail for the rest of his life if he gets one more “strike.” He almost beat up a man earlier that day, and he was drunk while he was talking to me. He said “David is the man. He knows what we’ve been through because he’s been there.” David started following Christ later in life, and has done things that these guys will relate with. I really just listened to this guy as he talked about where he had lived, how he almost got in a fight at food-4-less the day before, how he loved to drink. Nothing that I have experienced.
I know there are plenty of Christians out there who are in the same boat. We’ve been Christians most of our lives, and seem to say that our testimony is “boring.” We don’t have the great stories that some people can tell about how the Lord saved them from a horrible life, filled with drugs and alcohol. We are very thankful that we didn’t have to experience such things, but we’re not the ones who get asked to share our testimony at an event. We know that God can use us, but it’s hard to not feel like the innocent little kid who doesn’t know anything. I guess it comes down to who I am and what I know. Even though I can’t understand where these homeless people are coming from or what they’re going through, I care about them, and can that be all that matters? Even though I don’t know how bad drugs really are, I do know how good God really is. Maybe all I need is the boldness to share that with them—with anybody for that matter. I think a good “evangelist” is someone who really knows God, and really believes in his transforming power. If you really believed that God is good, you would want to tell everyone about it, right? Regardless of whether or not you can directly relate to the people who are put before you.
But really, I don’t know how I expect to be able to relate to anyone that God wants me to minister to. If I could only minister to people who I really related to, then I could hardly minster to anyone. That would be like me saying that I could only minister to twenty-four year old first-time stay at home Moms who have been married for four years. That would be so silly. I think that God will put people who I have a lot in common with in my life (I hope anyway!), but I can’t limit myself, or more over, limit God to that.
Even though I’ve never done drugs, gotten drunk, or been homeless, I can still show the love of Christ to people who have done those things. God’s love is so much bigger than that. I am thankful for people like David, and the new volunteer who have “been there” and are willing to share their testimonies with people who will really relate to them. I pray that I will be willing to let God use me, that I can come to the park with an open heart for what he has to show me, and that I will come expecting him to do things through me. It really is about me being confident in who he is and what he can do, regardless of what I have personally been through.
Please God, use me. Help me to be confident in who you are.
forward.motion 