Saturday, July 2, 2016

A Sparked Interest!

Throughout the summer, teaching English has been and will be the main thing we do during the week, but our weekends look a lot different. On Saturday evenings, we hold “hangouts” and invite all of the students who attend classes at the place we teach along with other university students from the area. So far, we have had a craft night and a movie night. These hangouts are used to minister to students and grow relationships with them. Typically, we have these from 5-7PM with one hour devoted to the fun activity and the other devoted to group discussions. The goal of these discussions is to share God’s love and discuss the gospel in some form or fashion.
One of the discussions I was a part of during the movie night was both encouraging and humbling. During that conversation, one student in particular showed such a genuine interest in the topic of discussion and the gospel itself. We had watched Despicable Me with the students and were talking about what causes a change of heart in someone and what effects that change of heart may have on that person’s life as well as those around him. As you could guess, many conversations around the room led directly into the gospel; we were so excited!

In my group, I was able to present the gospel as I shared the change that took place in my heart when I became a follower of Christ. I mentioned earlier that this conversation was particularly humbling to me. That is due to the fact that one of the students in my group began asking questions about the gospel while the others leaned in so that they could hear every word. They were all so interested in what was being shared!

I had never really experienced an instance in which so much interest was shown while the gospel was being shared. I think, because I and most people I know grew up with such immediate access to the Bible and the Good News, that we probably take the knowledge we have of Christ and His gift of grace for granted more than we realize. Seeing these students show that they truly wanted to learn more about God and His love is proof that God is moving in big ways here. I am excited to continue this journey and witness the knowledge of Christ spread throughout this place.

Please pray specifically for the student who was asking so many questions and showing such interest in the gospel.
Please also pray for our team to be filled with boldness for Christ as we seek opportunities to share the Gospel.
Finally, please pray that these Saturday hangouts would lead to growth in relationships among the team and students so that more and more students can hear about God’s love for them.

Thank you for your prayers,
-Bethany