Last Sunday I went to go and meet one of my girls on campus. Her name is Hannah and she is amazing! I met her a few weeks ago and learned she grew up in a Christian home (which is unusual). I was blessed to witness the rededication of her life to Christ and have been honored to teach her more about Jesus and what it means to live the Christian life.
I met her outside (the weather has been awesome lately) and we had just opened our Bibles and I took out the lesson for that day. Not two seconds after we pull out our materials, these two East Asian people walk up and sit down right next to us. In a moment of panic, I quickly (and attempt to gracefully) close my Bible and put the follow up material out of sight. I look up, surprised I'm sure, and wait for them to speak first. He does in English:
EA man: "We are also Christians."
Me: "Um...huh. Really?"
EA man: "Yes, we saw your friend sitting here earlier and so we came over and tried to evangelize to her. She told us she was already a Christian and that her teacher would come soon to teach her the Bible. Are you her teacher?"
Me: "Uh....yeah. I guess so." (I'm wondering how much more she told them)
EA man: "She was telling us about how she feels bad because last week she was sick and her phone was broken and she couldn't meet you, but she had no way of telling you. She said you waited for her for 30 minutes. She feels very bad about this."
Me: "Oh, well we've already talked about it. It's no big deal"
At this point he pauses and seems to be pondering something. It's a period of awkward silence before he continues.
EA man: "It's good to know there are other evangelists out here."
Me (trying to cover my tracks): "Well, I'm just a foreign student here studying language."
EA man: "Yes, but the work of an evangelist is hard. It's nice to know we are not alone."
Me (trying to change the subject): "Are you from *city name*?"
EA man: "No, I am from *other city name*, but I come here every weekend to tell *city name* students about Jesus. My friend here (points to the girl sitting next to him who has said nothing this entire time) is from *city name*."
Me: "Oh, that's interesting. Well, I hope you have a good day."
EA man (taking the hint): "You too, I hope to see you again soon. What is your name?"
Me: "Jessica. What is your name?"
EA man: "Well, my East Asian name is *something I can't remember*, but you can call me Joseph."
EA girl (in broken English): "My name is *some EA name I can't tell you*."
Me: "Well, if I ever see you again I will say hi. God bless you for what you are doing"
EA man: "You too. Goodbye."
After they left I watched them as they wandered around trying to talk to students and then walked off towards the other side of campus. So strange. I have never met other "evangelists" on campus before. And how random that they talked to Hannah and tried to tell her about Jesus. As unnerving as it was, it was encouraging also to know we are not alone out here. God has many laborers in this city, I just wish we could have more freedom to fellowship openly with others without putting ourselves at risk of getting caught. Later, I told my teammates about this encounter. They also thought it was strange. Jason told me, "Well, they're either Christians, cult members or spies for the government." Uh...let's hope they're in the first group.
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1 comment:
I think this is a great story, Jess. This is exactly the sort of thing we have been praying for at our home town there. It's nice to be bumping in to other evangelists. I don't think a cult person or a gvt official would have backed off so easily. Just my two cents.
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