By Tracy Phua, Singapore
Street evangelism was never really my kind of thing. I simply could not understand how a stranger can pray to receive Christ with another stranger, within minutes of his sharing. Thus, when the camp that I was attending devoted an entire afternoon to street evangelism, I was not excited.
When the time came for us to hit the streets, I trudged along with my partner, looking for a ‘suitable’ person to share my faith with. I noticed an old man sitting alone on a flight of steps. Since the ground was wet, he was sitting on a piece of newspaper. With my heart in my hands, my partner and I went forward and introduced ourselves. We started off by asking him about his New Year wishes, which we hoped could transit into a spiritual conversation, however God seemed to have other plans.
The old man seemed wary at first, but warmed up more when we assured him that we were students and sat beside him. His new year’s wish was simply for his family to be happy. That was it, no striking of lottery or for his son to get a promotion. He only wanted everyone to be happy. At that point, I felt compelled to ask him if we could pray for him, but he refused and left soon after.
The experience left me pondering about the condition of the old man’s heart, as well as mine. It dawned upon me that there are people out there who are seeking joy; a joy that they do not know where to find. We, however, have the joy in our hearts because God gave it to us when He sent His only Son to die for our sins and we accepted His gift.
At that moment, my perspective of street evangelism changed! It was not just a time for us to meet with random strangers and to convey the good news of His Gift of Salvation. It is for us to meet with strangers and be encouraged by them. This time round, I was helped by a non-believer, a mere chance acquaintance, with the simple and irrefutable reminder of what is in-store for all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ—real joy! This opportunity for street evangelism has been indeed an unexpected blessing to me!
Luke 10: 1-3 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
