About halfway through my Discipleship Training School outreach, my team spent a week in a Cambodian village (during Khmer New Year). It’s a week I won’t forget. In the mornings, we usually walked to houses in the village, visiting and talking with people. If we visited with Christians, we prayed and encouraged them. If we visited with those who didn’t know Jesus, we asked if we could share about Him. Sharing Jesus is where I struggled.
Perfection complicates sharing the gospel, and I’m still learning to let go and replace it with trust in God. Through outreach, Jesus was teaching me to trust Him and His Holy Spirit in everything I do. A verse that He highlighted to me was Romans 11:36 which says, “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
I forgot that He saved me through His grace – not anything I did – and He saves others the same way.
Before my DTS, sharing the gospel was a terrifying idea. I told myself that it needed to be perfect because if I missed something, or made a mistake, I would prevent the person from accepting Christ. When given the opportunity to share the gospel, I held back and allowed others to step forward. I mistakenly thought that my human flaws were too great for God to overcome. I forgot that He saved me through His grace – not anything I did – and He saves others the same way.
One day, we visited with a woman who was a believer, and her mother-in-law, who was not a believer. Her mother-in-law was very sick, so we prayed for her. Afterwards, one of my teammates shared the gospel and asked if she wanted to accept Christ. She said yes, and we led her in a simple prayer. It was incredible! Jesus saved someone and I got to be a part of it! Yet…I walked away skeptical. Was her prayer genuine? Did she understand what she was doing?
We continued on to the house of another believer. After encouraging her, we shared the gospel with her sister-in-law, who also decided to accept Christ. We celebrated and praised Jesus for using us in two salvations in one day! But, I continued to struggle with doubt. The enemy spoke lies and said things like, “it’s not that simple…there must be more than saying yes and a prayer.”
I might not know how Jesus has worked or will work in a person’s life, but I am blessed to have a part in their salvation!
After a morning of feeling challenged with evangelism, Jesus reminded me that the gospel is simple; it can change a person’s life in five minutes. I might not know how Jesus has worked or will work in a person’s life, but I am blessed to have a part in their salvation!
Thankfully, God is greater than my mistakes and grace and salvation come from Him. He is the One who saves, not me. I still struggle with sharing the gospel, but the more I share the easier it becomes as I learn to rely on God more. Each time I listen to and obey Jesus, sharing the gospel brings joy and freedom to me and to those around me.
*Editor’s note: We believe salvation is the beginning of the process of following God. When we send our outreach teams out, we always make sure to serve alongside long-term workers so anyone our teams lead to the Lord will be followed up with and discipled.
