A journey of a thousand li begins...
I used this poster to introduce my account of an attempt at one to one, face to face evangelism: At the top right you see an icon to remind me that Pastor asked us to set a target....
Church camp at Melaka was great:
Pastor Daniel Ho lead us through four powerful sessions
1) Transformed by Jesus
2) Transforming our family
3) Transforming our church
4) Transforming the nation and beyond
The best thing to happen to us is to know Jesus
Therefore we should urgently want to share the good news with others
Pastor Daniel Ho encouraged us to be Proactive & Creative
Because evangelism works anywhere and everywhere.
He gave us several examples of his simple strategy for one on one witnessing.
Find some one new, ask for their name.
Introduce yourself: " I am Pastor Daniel Ho, minister at DUMC, Malaysia"
Say "[Name] you must be someone special.
"Of all the 8 billion people in the world, I get to meet you today."
Have a friendly chat
Ask about family
Work
Religion
End with "[Name] may I pray with you"
If appropriate, share the new believers prayer.
Sorry (Confess sins)
Thank you (Acknowledge Jesus as Saviour, thank him for dying for us)
Please (Invite) Come into my life, take control
We were challenged to set an annual target of how many people to share good news with:
We discussed this challenge amongst our Church Camp Senior Citizen small group
And I said that the number that came to my mind was just one.
Start small
Start with one person
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step
One participant quipped that even one step was too much for him:
"Start with half a step" I encourage.
"Let that half step be a practice here"
"Say to Rosie, 'What is your name'"
And he did
Rosie repled, "My name is Rosie"
And then I said," Tell her 'My name is Daniel Ho from DUMC' " (my tiny joke)
and he did!
Then say "Rosie you must be someone very special.
Of all the 8 billion people in the world I get to meet you today"
And he did.
so that was his first half step!
It was Lau Tze who said
千里之行，始於足下;
pinyin: Qiān lĭ zhī xíng, shĭ yú zú xià;
literally: "A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one's feet = where one stands
The quotation is from Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching.
Commonly rendered "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"
And so my journey into face to face evangelism was to begin with victim number one....., one small step...
We were in the vicinity of Jonker Street to buy Nyonya curry powder.
A home business: we had been there before.
A single bottle of Nyonya curry powder is placed on a rack inside the chained and locked collapsable iron gate.
You ring the door and they come to unlock the door.
Mdm Ong's son came to serve us:
Mdm Ong came out soon, and we started chatting.
"My Nyonya curry powder is original" she proudly says
"Made with 15 spices
The other people who sell 'nyonya curry powder' sell indian curry powder made with only 7 spices!"
On the wall above her was a poster with Psalm 27:1
"Are you Christian?" we asked
"Yes" was the reply
"So are we."
Then we asked for a good chendol stall recommendation.
Without hesitation Mr Ong said
"Number one Chendol at the beginning of Jonker Street"
We got there soon and this chappie served us very nice in metal bowl,
shaved ice, palm sugar, coconut milk and slick smooth green cendol worms.
I went outside to sketch the building. I came back inside to sketch the cendol man : I coloured my sketch with watercolours. They all admired my painting
What's your name, I asked the cendol man
"Anuar" he replied
[At this point in my sharing I threw in this corny joke:
"My name is Daniel Ho: I am pastor from DUMC " I said.
"Anuar you must be a very special person. Of all the 8 billion people here on earth, I get to meet you today "
Anwar said "Wah, Pastor I was there at DUMC last week.
Within one week you pout on 20 kilogram, aged 20 years and grew a jangut:
You Methodist pastors very wonderful"
my joke was rewarded with roars of laughter!
No lag just joking... then I reprised ]
"My name is Su Min " I said.
"Anuar you must be a very special person. Of all the 8 billion people here on earth, I get to meet you today "
Anuar seemed to have a special interest in my sketch: he told me his mother was from Melaka, his father from KL, and his family lives in KL. Anuar came to Melaka 3 months ago to look for a job and found work at this cendol shop
Then Anuar got ready to leave: "Finished work already?" I asked.
Anuar looked sheepish " No lah just going for cigarette break"
"How any cigarettes do you smoke a day?" I asked:
"one pack of twenty in three days" he answered
"So about 6 or seven a day?" I asked
" yes" he confirmed
"You should cut down" I suggested
"Yes" he said , "especially since Ramadan is coming"
Then Anuar left for his cigarette break.
Anuar went out to smoke; I sketched and painted this postcard for him
I gave it to Anuar when he came back from cigarette break: he was very happy
Three named I wrote there: ANUAR, ISA, SU MIN
(Isa is Jesus name in Koran)
Anuar pointed to the name Isa.
"I believe Isa" Anuar said!
So Anuar is smoking Muslim who believes in Isa/Jesus!
"May I pray with you" I asked softly.
So I prayed that Jesus would help Anuar stop smoking completely for Ramadan.
Pleased to pose.
Pleased as punch with his sketch.
Poster I did to share my story with Church camp.
But the story does not finish:
After that I crossed the bridge and went to draw some of the red buildings in Red Square: Church of Melaka and Clock Tower. I penciled and inked and painted my sketch with water colours:
But as I sketched, for one full hour my heart was not at ease. I felt dark. Anger and frustration seethed inside me but I did not know why.
Then I walked by a church: Gereja St. Francis Xavier. It was Catholic Church. There was Chinese language singing going on. I was prompted to enter. I went inside and knelt down for 10 minutes: from my kneeling point I sketched the sanctuary, with the crucifix as central, and high vaulted ceilings, and arched window. :
Then I felt peace...
So I went back to hotel
-
As I walked I figured out that part of my "Black" feeling was spiritual attack.
And part of my miserable feeling was because I was disappointed that I did not feel excited after praying for Anuar.
Then I seem to sense God say "Yes it is all part of spiritual warfare"
And God says, "You don't need me to make you feel good:
just know that God is pleased because you were obedient".
Then at 2 am I woke with a sense of shalom, I jumped up to paint my sketch blue: different tones of blue, blue to represent peace.
Poster I used to share my story at Church Camp
My study in blue, postcard size.
So that is my long story and my attempt at intentional evangelizing, my first step in a long journey.
