The command that Jesus gives us to make disciples of all nations is something that we can't separate ourselves from if we call ourselves Christians. As Christians it is a never ending cycle of being a disciple, making disciples, and discipling disciples.
Today I had the opportunity of planting the seeds of the gospel in the efforts of making disciples. We had to go out and practice having intentional Spirit-filled conversations. Which in the beginning scared the daylights out of me because we were suppose to go out, talk with people that we didn't know, in a language that we hadn't mastered, and all in the hopes of having an opportunity to share the Gospel. After our "Sharing the Gospel 101" workshop (It wasn't really called that ;) ), we divided ourselves into pairs, boarded the metro to Bellas Artes and went to hopefully have a chance to share the Gospel.
When we were in the metro, I was sweating bullets and this time it wasn't because it was hot and there were a lot of people! The whole ride over to Bellas Artes, I was praying and praying. "Dios, dame las palabras que tu quieres que yo diga." God, give me the words that you want me to say!"
Arriving at Bellas Artes (a very beautiful park area in Mexico City), I felt a sense of peace as my partner and I roamed the park, going as the Spirit led us. I believe that this peace came from the fact that at that point, I had completely emptied myself out. I had completely emptied myself of my fears, expectations, worries, and hopes and was praying that God would fill me up with Himself. I was praying that God would give me His eyes to see who we needed to talk to, His words to speak of the amazing love that He has for us, and a taste of His never ending love that He had for the people that we were going to talk to. I honestly believe that God answered my prayers that day in such a beautiful way.
As my partner and I were walking around the park, we happened to be almost caught up in a political march. "Aha!" we thought, "These people would be perfect to talk to!" So we decided to strike up a conversation with this older man with a plethora of flags and very impressive 5 gallon cowboy hat. However, by the end of that conversation, we discovered that the man didn't know any more than we did about the political march he was supporting. He was really only marching because of his mujer, his woman, and he had no idea why they were "United for a Better Mexico," or what a better Mexico would look like or how to bring about a better Mexico for that matter. He was quite a guy, but at least we got some pretty cool flags to support a cause that we have no idea about!
After that interesting conversation with cowboy hat man, we decided to sit down next to a girl that appeared to be our age and I am so glad that we did! We were able to have such a wonderful conversation with this young woman. We were able to talk about life, Christ, and about the culture of Mexico. We found out that she didn't believe in God, but that also that she didn't have a lot of Christian friends. So we exchanged information of course so that she could have two more Christian friends! I really hope that there will be a moment this summer where we can meet up and hopefully have more conversations about Jesus!
Right after we finished speaking with her, a man who, to be honest had been very, very interested in our previous conversation, asked us in English where we were from. So we began to speak with him as well! In this conversation, we found out that this man had recently been released from prison (4 months ago) and was basically starting his life all over again. However, while he was in prison, he read the Bible and prayed every single day to God. It was awesome to see how God works even in the darkest places. I say this due to the fact that the prisons here in Mexico are like hell itself. However, in prison, this man was able to find God. God is incredible. Nearing the end of this conversation, we prayed for him and then gave him the information of our director so that he could surround himself with more Christians and find a mentor.
After we parted ways with him, we found ourselves caught in another political march! I was really excited because I thought it was the same march as the one before. However, it wasn't. Yep, I was that crazy gringa emphatically waving my flag for the wrong cause.
When my partner and I met up with the larger group again, I found myself having yet another conversation about Jesus with this woman who came asking for money for food. My roommate jokes that she gave her earthly food and that I gave her spiritual food.
From what I could gather from what she was telling me, she use to be a social worker in the US, but due to just the unfortunateness of life she lost everything in an instant. However we were able to have an amazing conversation where we agreed that in Christ we have everything even if in this world we have nothing. I was able to pray with her before we parted ways and it was truly beautiful to see her faith shine through the trials she was going through.
Today God really blessed me to have some amazing conversations and to experience Him in a new way.
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