Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... oh wait wrong blog!
Just kidding. Hey! I wanted to talk a little about day 2 from my P.O.V. (my last post actually was about saturday but i hit the post button around 1215am so, sorry for the mix up. it WILL happen again) monday we did alot of door to door witnessing in the neighborhood surrounding a church we're aiding in construction. we split our team up in two's and partnered with two bolivians per group.
it was good. we saw alot of people very curious about Christ and what it meant to have a relationship with God. I had a chance to talk to two guy on the side of the road we were walking down. I'll be honest, i was a little intimidated but why not access that spirit of power i've got right? right! Turns out they were both drunk and reeked of alcohol. weird, i actually wanted to talk to them more than some other people who we met at their doorsteps. good experience. one guy didn't really pay attention but the other really wanted to understand me. He asked alot of questions and made comments that pointed to an actual concern about his future. He didn't choose Christ that day, but i know his life was impacted.
One of the things that i'm noticing though in people (both in our city and in Santa cruz) is that yes, they want Christ as Lord and they ask Him to come into their life but, the valid life-transformation isn't occurring. I think, personally, that that is an issue we need to address when we witness. Sometimes we meet a person who says: yes, i prayed to receive Christ a month go, a year ago or an even longer time ago but, when you ask them "now how is your life different than before?" they don't really have much to say in support of the decision. We spoke to a lady and her whole family sunday night. Funny thing... right as we walk up to the house, they bring out a statue of a saint and light candles all around it. So we talk to her and she says: yes i need Jesus, I want to receive Christ. So one of the Bolivians pray with her, she repeats, she's saved.
really?
is that it. but here's where i felt i missed it. she said she wants to do anything to stop being apart from God. but she never outed that candle or put that old statue away. as we walked away i thought to myself: why do you still need that dusty old doll? what's she gonna do for you?" How are you gonna offer your WHOLE life to Christ but still pray to this -idol- to answer a few prayers every once in a while. God should be our everything. My challenge is to always challenge those i witness to; to truly give up the old ways.
dealing with the issues of man the sinner
-Berch