We started our day with breakfast, worship, and team time, during which Sarah taught us a conversational tool for sharing the gospel using a Bible story about Jesus. She asked us to fold a sheet of paper in fourths and told us the story from Luke 7:36-50, broken into four parts. Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner at his home, where a sinful woman entered, weeping and washing Jesus’ feet with her tears. Jesus challenges Simon to think about forgiveness in the story he tells Simon about the canceled debt of two men. Jesus says to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Finally, Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
We created a simple illustration as Sarah told us each part of the story. After we had our four-part story illustrated, we practiced with another person (my lovely partner for this activity was Beverly Beldock!) using the illustrations we drew to retell the story.
We all prayed for an opportunity to use storytelling to share something about Jesus with someone we met during our time out in the community today. After our team time, we prayer walked, ending at a Persian restaurant for lunch. We returned to Sarah’s house to make coffee for the coffee table outreach and cookies for the park outreach time.
While at the park, I met a mother of two small children named Heba (Hey-ee-bah). She was so kind and open to conversation and had excellent English. She mentioned to me that she appreciated how kind and friendly our group of Americans were (something we specifically prayed to be seen as to the community), which led me to share that we are all Christians who love Jesus, and God has given us a love for all people. She told me that she was a Muslim and believes that Jesus is a good prophet. The Lord gave me a perfect opportunity to say, “Can I tell you a story about Jesus from God’s Word?”
I shared with Heba the story we illustrated this morning of the sinful woman, the canceled debt, and the forgiveness Jesus extends to the woman. I asked Heba who forgives sin, and she replied, “God.” Then I asked if Jesus forgave her sin and who this story says Jesus is, and after thinking about it, she replied, “God.” After asking her if there was anywhere else in the world where we could find forgiveness like this, we both agreed that Jesus is the only place to find true forgiveness. My prayer for Heba is that she continues to think on this truth of who the Bible says that Jesus is. Please pray for Heba that this seed will take root in her heart.
– Jen Kendall
Posted in Missions