Getting a Good Start

I do not know how to be a missionary.

Is that too honest?  To the ones who support us, is that too truthful?  Does that make you consider withdrawing your support?

Hopefully you knew me well enough to know that before I wrote this.  That you knew (even before I did) that this would be a process.  That this is like starting at a first job, and it would take me a while to grab on to the things that it takes to go out and share Jesus with people and help in whatever way I can.

For the last three weeks we have been traveling down to the border of Texas where will meet up with people we are working with and go into Mexico and then Guatemala.  Along the way, we’ve been visiting with family and friends before leaving the country.  It has been a very fruitful time

I have been looking for opportunities to minister to people, but it was hard. Anytime I saw someone that I thought looked good to minister to, people were around and I was not sure how they would react. I kept praying for a moment to minister, because that is my job now – right?  To minister to people’s needs?  Isn’t that why people are supporting us?  Why should I wait for Guatemala?  That is where I am called to go, but there are plenty of people to tag along the way, so to speak.

 

So, on our way down to Brownsville on Wednesday night, we had to stop to repair the Jeep again.  The seal around the windshield was coming out and we needed to stop for a potty break and to get tape to hold it together until I could get it fixed the next day.

While I was putting the tape on, a man came up and started talking to me.  He was saying how he was waiting for his job to start, and that he could wash our vehicle while we waited.  His accent was very thick and it was hard for me to catch everything he said.  I knew that the Lord has set this situation up, so I could get my start in ministering, and bless this man who was definitely on hard times.

Here is the problem - I had no idea what to do.  Do I give him money?  Offer him a Bible?  Ask if he is saved?  Pray for him?  So I did what any intelligent man would do: I waited for backup.  Luckily she came out while this man and I engaged in small talk.

See, unlike myself, Andrea has experience talking with people about these things. She has been in these situations way more often.  So as she came up I said to her quietly “help”, and then we were a team.  I told him I did not need my vehicle cleaned but could I give him some money to help him out. Andrea asked if he wanted a bible, which he took, and then we prayed for him, with Andrea leading the prayer.  We shook hands with him and left, but when we got in the car, we prayed more for him.

Thank goodness for a good wife and a good God to lead to a situation to bless someone in His name.

This may seem small, but I will not despise small beginnings (Zech. 4:10).  I have big dreams of what I want to do for Christ, but I have to start somewhere.   

I am just excited for the next opportunity to help.