This week, hear from Semesters by World Race participant Hanna Smith about her time serving with Impact Africa in South Africa. Hanna and her team were able to join in home visits, serving with locals, and sharing the Good News of the gospel. Check it out!
LETS GOOOO! Day one of ministry is complete and let me tell you, it was a huge success! The Lord really went before us and moved mountains in this community.
Adventures in Missions has a wide range of ministry partners all over Africa and this time, my squad has the opportunity to partner with Impact Africa and a ministry they do called Community Outreach.
Community Outreach is simply evangelism. But here at Impact, the ministry takes the extra steps to follow up with those they meet and disciples those who give their lives to the Lord.
We loaded the van at 8:30am and made our way to a community called Eskom. Before we began ministry in Eskom, KB (our translator) gathered us and told us about the community we were going into and encouraged us with a reminder of God’s power and authority. In Eskom, there are many people who come from all over to find work in Johannesburg but unfortunately, they’ve either struggled to find jobs or recently lost their jobs.
After KB shared, Chiara (one of our Racers) opened us up in prayer and then we broke off into our groups and tended to the harvest set before us.
The first house my group went to, we were able to plant seeds in both a mother and child, then pray over them as they shared their hearts with us! While half of our team shared their faith with the mother, I found myself a little friend to talk to. She spoke little English but just enough that we were able to play and laugh together. We began to ask this little girl if she and her family went to church or knew Jesus. When she told us “no”, we asked if we could pray for her and she lit up with excitement and said, “YES”.
That stop was a sweet way to enter into the community and by the end of our time with our new friend, we were all feeling filled and encouraged to keep going deeper into Eskom to share the gospel.
The next family we met, we had the chance to help a mother hand wash her family’s laundry while leading her to Christ! Two of our girls were pushed out of their comfort zones yet the Lord showed up and we got to welcome a sister to our heavenly family! (AMENNNN!)
It was incredible to watch the Lord soften her heart and fill her with more joy as the conversation continued. And, it was sweet to watch two of our girls experience the Lord show up for them when they felt like they weren’t capable of doing the task set before them!
The thing about evangelism is that we oftentimes get too intimidated by the thought of what to say or not really knowing how to answer the questions people ask us about the Bible or even God Himself. But the reality of it is that we are talking to people we don’t necessarily know about a God whom we love that changed our life in a dramatic way.
That’s it. That’s all evangelism is.
It’s actually very simple but the enemy tries to plant lies in our minds that we have to worry about what to say, what’s not acceptable to say, what’s appropriate to ask, what’s culturally respectful, that we can’t answer questions because we don’t have the whole Bible memorized, or that we’re going to trip up on our words while praying therefore we can’t pray right, and the list goes on and on.
But the truth is, we don’t have to worry about any of that. The Holy Spirit is the One who does all the work, we simply get to be there for it. The Lord softens hearts, the Lord sets the harvest before us, and the Lord is already working in each life we encounter. But instead of being a God who is power hungry and does it all on His own, He invites us to be a part of his movement in the very thing He created in His image.
The last house I want to share with you was simply a sweet time of rejoicing with a fellow sister in Christ. A woman we called Momma immediately welcomed us into her home and when we asked her who the Lord is to her, she began to share her life story and all the ways the Lord protected, provided, and blessed her throughout her whole life.
Momma was a picture of hope for us. Walking through this community, we at times began to feel overwhelmed by the spiritual needs and the reality that we can’t help everyone. But it was Momma who reminded us that there are believers IN this community, sharing the Lord’s story and goodness even after we’re gone.
In the midst of brokenness in a lost world, there’s hope. There’s more hope than we can even see or comprehend, and that’s the beauty of the Lord and His authority over all things… Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is hope!
Do you want to serve with strategic ministry partners to share the love of God around the world? Do you believe that there is MORE to your relationship with God? Come join us!
