MY MISSION

y story may encourage others who find being on mission to be such a challenge.

First of all, on those rare occasions when I actually have led a non-believer into a personal relationship with Christ my joy has been enormous. But I'm not doing it for the blessing to myself--that's just a happy by-product. I'm doing it out of obedience to the Lord who saved me at the age of 20.

Yet sometimes it's hard to keep on trying with people who seem so non-responsive. I'll share an anecdote to illustrate.

I met a woman at a parenting class at my daughter's school. She complained bitterly about having a poor relationship with her father and how that had affected her own parenting skills. I was touched by her story. And I recognized it as an opening for me to share Christ--but in a setting away from school.

I called her and discovered she lived only a few blocks away. I thought: "Aha, God is even making it convenient!" We agreed for me to come over. I told her I wanted to talk to her about what she'd said in class.

Well, we communicated fine--up to a point. I could tell she was a little ill at ease, because her house showed all the trappings of family life--sticky fingerprints on the dining room table, little spills here and there. It was obvious she was busy raising a young, active family. But she also needed to talk.

This was to be the first of several visits. The first time I was all primed to explain how our Heavenly Father is always the perfect Father and how she could depend on Him entirely. But the transition from her complaining about her earthly dad to such talk of God seemed too jarring, and so I waited.

At the second visit I considered talking about my relationship with my dad--which was a good one--as a way to refocus the conversation on something positive, but somehow that didn't seem right either. It became obvious that this woman had a lot of hurt and disappointment to work through. So I decided to hold my tongue and listen.

Finally, one meeting seemed to be the right time to talk about God. Gingerly, I broached the subject. She didn't send me away! I felt encouraged and set up a time to come back again.

By now she knew I was a Christian and that I felt I had an answer for her sorrow, but she was still reluctant to let me talk about it as much as I longed to. Her anger toward her earthly father had to subside, and her trust in me and in our Heavenly Father had to grow.

After quite a few visits, I'd invested a lot of time in this woman. The relationship had grown to the point where I thought I could ask whether she wanted to pray to receive Christ--something I had explained to her in detail. I was absolutely crushed when she declined.

I have no explanation for why this happened. Why did God allow me to spend so much time with her, only to come to what seemed like nothing? Of course, I had made a new friend, but I hoped she would also become a sister in Christ. My husband, a strong pastor, picked up on my discouragement. He hugged me tightly one night as we stood gazing out the patio doors. He knows I'm tenderhearted, and he's more pragmatic. He wouldn't leave me in that low emotional spot without reminding me that God is always in total control and that He knew my time with the woman had not been wasted.

So she went on my prayer list (I pray daily--calling each by name--for all 1,152 people I've ever talked to about a personal relationship with the Lord). It takes me about an hour.

Now I'll give an example of a victory--while I was present, that is. I was helping at Youth Camp in South Dakota. Two Sioux girls, ages 10 and 11, drew a mural showing a great chasm between God and us. It represented a concept they had been taught in their Native American culture. Since this was a drawing, I suggested they add a bridge. And then I explained how Jesus is that bridge between us and God. They understood immediately and began to ask questions. The conversation led to their prayer to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Who knows what made the difference? Perhaps, as I found out later, it was because of their aunt whom God had delivered from alcoholism. She had been praying for the girls. So their hearts were fertile.

And that's why I continue to talk to people about Jesus--and to pray for them daily. I have learned over the years that I am not responsible for how people respond to Christ. I am only responsible for sharing His good news with them.