Mission:
Mission for Karin Brown: flight from Istanbul to Kigali, Rwanda, 3:40 am, establish contact with Swedish traveller, share the gospel.
Have you ever seen a clear direct appointment from the Lord? I had one of those recently. It caused me to be full of gratitude. I got to be th(i)nkful!!
David and I travel a good bit. It is part of our job. It is wonderful being in these places, mixing with God’s people, and doing ministry. But traveling here and there as we grow older is challenging, with jet lag, lost luggage, cancelled flights, headaches, contracting illness from a few hundred other people flying in the silver tube, and so on. My husband teaches Ethics and Apologetics and we have as a value that, as much as possible, we like to serve together as a couple. We can experience the joys and trials together and it binds us closer. We also get the privilege of exemplifying what a godly marriage should look like although we are far from perfect and rely heavily on our precious Saviour’s help.
On one Turkish Airlines flight over Saharan Africa, in the early morning hours, we were cruising along in a packed plane. The African gentleman next to me had been quiet the whole trip, wearing earphones most of the time. I want to be ready to share the gospel whenever the opportunity arises, but not push when it doesn’t seem to fit. In fact, I was struggling with a pretty bad headache and some nausea and trying to choose profitable thoughts over grumbling.
Well, all of a sudden it was time! The man next to me began with a question. “Are you getting off in Kigali, Rwanda, or continuing on to Entebbe, Uganda?” I stated that we were going to Uganda and that my husband David was planning to teach a block course in Ethics close to Kampala.
This led to more questions and in time he revealed that he lived in Sweden, but was originally from the Congo. His family had been refugees from the Congo when he was young and had to flee to north Uganda bordering South Sudan. Both of his parents had passed away. They were brought as refugees to Sweden. He now was a Swedish citizen and lives outside Stockholm.
Well, I began to speak Swedish since I am fluent in that language. How sweet and odd to converse with this Congolese man in Swedish! He shared that he had heard about Jesus in the refugee camp and trusted in Christ. He is now married to a lady from the Congo, and they are part of a church called Livets Ord (The Word of Life) in Sweden.
We talked about the gospel and that the only hope for every human is to have a renewed personal relationship with God through the saving work of Jesus. I even got to mention I write this blog and gave him a card to check it out.
Prepared and Ready
A man once said, “When you put a believer and unbeliever together, the only thing you need to do to put both on edge is to mention the word ‘gospel.'” Years ago, I used to be terrified to share the gospel. Would I do it right? Would I leave something important out? If they trusted Christ based on what I told them, would it be a still birth?
Now, many years later, I have had lots of practice, and as with music and sports, it gets much easier with practice. It’s still a little nerve-wracking as I move through a gospel exchange, but it’s God who saves, not me. He opens eyes and hearts. My job is just to listen and to share truth with grace.
Afterward, you feel thankful for whatever truth you were able to speak, even if the Lord uses it to only move them a tiny step closer to saving faith. God gives us grace to think and speak; God gives them grace to see and believe. God gives us more grace to pray for them and be thankful for the encounter. It’s all about grace.
Part of the trick to being thankful about a gospel encounter is to do your preparation before God’s appointments arise. Do I have a list of “What to do if’s”?
- Do I know the worldview and beliefs of the person to whom I am speaking?
- Do they need relationship more than truth right now, or truth more than relationship?
- Can I share the gospel points clearly with confidence?
- Do I have on my phone verses that could help?
- Do I have an awareness that there are no mistakes in what God brings into my life and at what time He does this?
- Do I diligently pray for and look for appointments to reflect Christ?
Do You Have Appointments?
Of course you do! The Lord is shaping you for the work He has prepared for you to do.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
Be quick to sense His leading and obey. You only see a limited view.
Thank you, Father, that You do see the full picture and can be trusted. Help me remember that my job here on earth is to be Your ambassador and reflect Jesus to a needy world.
The Tebow Missionaries
Did you know that Tim Tebow, the American football player, grew up as a missionary kid in the Philippines? I came across this book lately, and have received blessing and challenges from it! Some of the stories and challenges sound familiar.
Pam Tebow shares how she was given multiple appointments to reflect Christ and share the gospel through difficult and challenging times. In fact, the level of difficulty of what she endured turned up the volume on what she was saying. Pick up a copy!
Future Appointments
Next October, Lord willing, we will be in Norway for a conference. David is teaching on developing a Biblical Worldview. I mentioned this to my new contact in the plane flying over Africa. Who knows! Maybe David and I will see him again!
My job is to show gratitude to my Saviour by being available to testify for Him whenever He asks. The fruit is His business.
Be ready! You may have divine appointments coming up.
th(i)nkful 