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by Pamela Enderby"I can't begin to evangelize my neighbors. I don't have enough time to save my own kids." As this spiritually respected mother of five defended her case, the evangelistic aura seemed to scatter from our outreach-planning meeting. Deep inside I agreed with her, but felt too cowardly to admit it.
For years, I clung to a plethora of "legitimate excuses" for ignoring the Great Commission. "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Math. 28:18-20.
Excuse # 1. My quiet nature could not compete with Billy Graham's resonate voice and his eloquent personality. How could God use me to bring anyone to repentance?
Excuse # 2. I believed only designated missionaries assigned to foreign countries evangelized. I had forgotten that an insurance salesman, in a small Wisconsin farming community, shared the gospel with my husband and me.
Excuse # 3. I believed God graciously gives the gift of evangelism to a select group. Since my spiritual gift inventory revealed my strengths as a teacher, I closed the door to any evangelistic outreach.
Excuse # 4. Living a consistent lifestyle of kindness and unconditional love toward unbelievers (known as lifestyle evangelism) seemed beyond my ability. Reaching out to one more person in addition to caring for my five children and a husband squelched the idea of winning souls.
But God's wisdom and power reached beyond my excuses. He accosted me and set me on a joy ride with evangelism. It all began with Jamie, my friend's future daughter-in-law.
Jamie and her high school sweetheart fell in love and during her senior year in high school, and she became pregnant. Since my teenage promiscuous days caused so much emotional pain, I felt empathy for Jamie although we had never met. I asked God to guide her against abortion and instead, choose adoption or single parenting. I also prayed for her salvation. Six months later, I met Jamie and her healthy baby girl at a potluck.
Then one evening, in my bedroom, God apprehended me. I sensed his familiar nudge so I crawled out of bed and into my recliner to pray. Little did I know, I would soon be on stage before an audience of angelic hosts acting out one significant scene in the drama of Jamie's life.
As I closed my eyes to pray, the heavenly curtain rose and the scene unfolded. Spontaneously, Jamie's name came to mind. With a heavy heart, fervently, I prayed, "God, please bring Jamie to salvation." Suddenly, I pictured us sitting in a booth at my favorite Italian restaurant conversing intimately about the Lord. The scene ended; the curtain closed. I slipped back into bed anticipating a lunch date with Jamie.
Then fear gripped me. With its accusing finger, its lofty accusations intimidated me -"you're going to make a fool out of yourself," and "you're just imagining all of this." While trying to dismiss the whole idea, strength and confidence seized me and won my emotional tug-of-war. My hesitation turned into excitement.
The next morning I called Jamie. "Do you like Italian food?" Her response reassured me and fueled more enthusiasm. "It's my favorite. My mother is Italian."
The waiter seated us at the same table I pictured during my prayer time. This is like playing follow the leader, I thought. God leads me, I follow. It seemed too easy. With each little step I took forward, God unfolded the next.
After eating, I shared my testimony with Jamie. My religious background and search for God as a teenager were common to hers. I saw emptiness and confusion in Jamie's deep brown eyes and a wave of compassion flooded me. "God knows you and cares for you, Jamie." With tears in her eyes, she confessed, "I've recently been thinking about God and want to know him better. This is what I need."
In the parking lot of the restaurant, I offered her a tract. She eagerly reached for it and assured me she would read it. I felt certain, the Good News like cold water would quench her thirsty soul.
I drove home feeling exhilarated as if I had plunged out of an airplane on my first sky diving jump. God used me, an inexperienced stay-at-home mom with five kids to share the gospel. He unraveled my "legitimate excuses" and whet my appetite for more.
The next day, Jamie told me she prayed to receive Christ and she called her friend to share her good news. All this occurred because God unlocked the door of my heart. His compassion conquered my resistance.
In weakness, I am learning what to pray so that I might taste more ecstasy that comes with leading others to Christ. You, too, might experience a few evangelistic joy rides if you begin praying for the following:
Pray God will enlarge your heart for the lost.
Mothering five children and being married to a minister can be overwhelming. Oftentimes, I'm consumed with schedules, appointments, chauffeuring, and a flurry of other activity. Unintentionally, I became apathetic toward the lost. So, I began asking God to lift me from the deep waters of self-introspection and set my heart ablaze for the helplessness of others.
A women's group I attend gathered to pray at a community clubhouse. A hacking cough in the background arrested my attention. It came from Bill, the old, gray-bearded maintenance man with leathery skin. Our "friendship" was confined to casual greetings we exchanged as he changed light bulbs and did other odd jobs. He meant nothing more to me than a scruffy old man.
As the women prayed, the spirit of God impressed me, "You must pray for Bill's salvation." As I reflected upon Bill, God cleared my clouded image of him and gave me a glimpse of how he viewed Bill. Tears of compassion flowed as I prayed for him.
After that encounter, I brought Bill cookies, homemade bread and notes of encouragement to show him I cared. A trusting friendship began to evolve.
Several months later, at the clubhouse, Bill complained about his battle with dizziness. "Would you like me to pray for you?" Bill hunched over the kitchen countertop weak in spirit and body, willing to receive from God. While I prayed, God wrapped him in a blanket of love. Bill quietly began to cry and prayed to receive Jesus that morning.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you . . . to go and bear fruit that will last. Then the Father will give whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other" (John 15:16,17). God chose me to love an old man, uncomely and poor. Because God is no respecter of persons, His unconditional love reached into Bill's heart and offered him the gift of eternal life.
Pray for sensitivity and boldness when God-appointed opportunities arise.
I live in an affluent white suburban neighborhood. Any chance of impacting the inner city seemed inconceivable. Then one summer Saturday afternoon, something extraordinary happened.
A teenage girl from the inner city appeared in our neighborhood. She plopped her over priced candy at my feet and her depressed stories about poverty-stricken children on my heart.
After purchasing a bag of candy from her, I felt another divine nudge. "Share the Gospel with her." I argued. "I don't even know her. She's a complete stranger." "Do it now," whispered the command. Carefully, I chose my words. "Do you go to church?" "I used to" she replied, "but since I got this job, I don't have time anymore." Our conversation evolved from church going to knowing God personally. With my leading, on my doorstep, she prayed to invite Christ into her heart.
Paul states "as God's fellow workers . . . I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).
Who knows, there may be multitudes of hungry souls in our very own backyard.
Pray to creatively evangelize.
Embracing evangelism from a strictly traditional point of view, such as inviting friends to church, may greatly limit our impact for reaching the lost. There is no right way or wrong way to evangelize. We are assigned, with God's authority, to share the Good News and that is sufficient.
One creative way to reach the lost is through telemarketing. Rather than allowing the telemarketing calls to get the best of me, I consent to their phone interview only if they agree to reciprocate. After I satisfy their questions, I proceed with a few simple, yet direct questions like, "Do you consider yourself a Christian?" "If so, why?" "If you were to die on your way home from work today, do you know for sure where you'd spend eternity?" One woman I conversed with had been searching for spiritual fulfillment in Mormonism. I gently informed her of its false doctrine and steered her to the truth that " Jesus is the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
My friend Debbie has also stepped over the boundaries of traditional evangelism. At McDonald's drive through, she occasionally pays for the meals of the people in the car behind hers. She extends a written, "Jesus loves you" message to the cashier, who, in turn, gives it to the customer with their food. With this approach, seeds of God's love are deliberately and actively sown in their hearts. Unconventional evangelism often feels risky, but the results are surprisingly favorable.
Evangelism has turned out to be "divine entertainment" for me. God equips me to carry out what he calls me to do (Heb. 13:21). He provides time, wisdom, courage and a heart seasoned with compassion and love for the lost.
Because God's Word is "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword," He uses it in the hearts of the hungry no matter who we are, where we live, or how many kids we have.
Pamela Enderby resides in Lenexa, Kansas, in the United States. Her articles have appeared in many publications including NABC Courtside, Light and Life, Standard, Domestique and Kansas City Family. She is the wife of a pastor and mother of five.
For comments or questions or if you would like to order evangelistic cards entitled, "Journey of Joy," to use as an evangelistic tool, please contact us at editor@christianwomentoday.com
These cards point to Jesus Christ on the Internet. Check out the site at www.journeyofjoy.com
