#sharehim

On June 2015, I went to Mexico as part of a Share Him mission trip, which was an amazing experience. We met up with 20 other Aussies, 3 New Zealanders and 6 Finnish ladies in Southern Mexico in a city called Tuxtla Guitierrez to each preach an evangelistic series. Most of us arrived there as strangers to each other, but we left with a shared sense of mission and friendships to last a lifetime.

This trip impacted my approach to sharing the Gospel and really challenged my understanding of “soul-winning.” It is all God’s work! The following story is a snippet of God’s might and ability to save souls.

One day, I did visitation with my church in Tuxtla. We had a meeting about how to get people to come to the meetings (since they did not advertise the meetings and the church didn’t know much about the program we were running), so they left it till the last minute to advertise (Mexican timing). On the Monday night we met and discussed how to reach out to the community and I said I was able to go with them to do visitation, of which the elders agreed to do.

Two days later on the Wednesday, we visited some people who had attended a previous campaign the church ran and we came to a poor side of town and met a man and his family. As they talked in Spanish, I sat there wondering what they were saying. Later another man joined us who was in a wheelchair. He also lived in their home and we sat in a circle in their backyard. All of a sudden my translator asked me if I had something to share with them from the Bible. I didn’t prepare anything to share, but from the beginning of the trip I had been reading Psalms 23, which had been very comforting for me as I was really struggling with fear about doing evangelism.

After reading this text, the man in the wheelchair started talking to my translator. He spoke for 5 minutes then my translator began to tell me what the man in the wheelchair was saying...

His name is Francisco, and he used to be healthy. Before he became sick, he was married, however he contracted a paralyzing disease, which crippled his body. His wife left him and he lost his job. When he became sick, the doctors told him he only had 4 days to live and the only way he could live was if he could get 20 injections, with each one costing $700 each (total amount $14k for injections). Of course he did not have the money, but he went to stay in the hospital anyway. While he was in the hospital, another younger man was in the hospital at the same time and had the same disease. This man had purchased the 20 injections, but he died before receiving the medicine. The doctors decided to give them to Francisco, since they had already been paid for. Francisco received the injections and lived. Even though he is still in a wheelchair, his life was spared because someone paid the price for the medicine that he couldn’t afford.

As I thought about this story and how Francisco shared his experience after we read Psalm 23, a verse from that passage stood out: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (23:4). Connecting this verse to Francisco’s story, he realised God had been with Him during that time when he was near death and God spared his life. As he continued to talk to my translator during our visitation, Francisco shared how he wanted to come back to God and he decided to join us at the evangelism meetings that night. The elder of the church continued to pick up Francisco and his friend from their home and brought them to church every night of the meetings. The following Wednesday, Francisco made a decision to be baptised. God was working in a mighty way in this man’s life.

After meeting Francisco, I realised that God had spared his life. God provided the medicine that Francisco needed in order to live. There was an even greater story within Francisco’s story, which is the story of the Gospel.

Sin is a disease that leads to eternal death and we all suffer from it. However there is only one cure, and that is through Jesus dying in our place and paying the price for sin that we can never afford. Jesus offered His life in place of ours so that we might live. God invested the whole of heaven, which was the life of His Son, hoping for a return, which is us responding to His love by giving our lives to Him. Francisco made a decision to give His life to the One who gave His life to him. Though my friend is still wheelchair-bound and our only form of communication was by smiling and hand gestures, we both look to the hope of Jesus’ return. Francisco will be given a new body (as it says in 1 Cor. 15:53) that is incorruptible and we will speak in a language where we can understand each other. As Francisco gave his life to Christ, he made a decision that has eternal consequences. The decisions we make in this life affect our eternal lives.

When we reflect on what Christ has done for us, how do you respond to heaven’s greatest investment--the Son of God giving His life for you? All men have been bought with an infinite price. Ellen White says in Christ Object Lessons, “By pouring the whole treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven, God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every human being. (COL 326.1).”

Will you invest in the One who gave us the “whole treasury of heaven?” Have you committed your life to the One who bought you with an infinite price? Your response today has eternal consequences, so what is your decision? Is God worth your time, your energy, your life?

- Hannah