Missions Field: Everywhere.

Over the past six months here with the Leadership Track in Kona, every Wednesday I have been going into downtown Kona to do street evangelism. I have such a heart for evangelism, and as Christians; we all should. Jesus' final words to us was the Great Commission, telling us to “Go”. It is our privilege and duty as followers of Christ to share this good news with everyone around us. We must realize the urgency of the time that we live in; people are dying every day without having excepted the true love of Jesus. There are still entire people groups in unreached nations that have never heard the name of Jesus, let alone seen a Bible in their lifetime or have one translated into their language. There is no doubt that the need is great, and that the world is ripe. Sadly, it's a common belief that you have to go to a remote nation to find people that have never heard the Gospel before. In the past few years of doing missions and intentionally walking with the Lord, I have found that to be completely inaccurate. Don't misunderstand me, it is definitely true that every nation needs to hear the Gospel; some needs being more urgent than others. However, we must not forget that there are people everywhere that have not accepted the Lord and some even that have never had the chance to hear the Gospel; even in America.

A few weeks ago I was downtown on a Wednesday for street evangelism handing out pizza to the homeless with a few friends from campus. As we sat down on the sea wall I noticed a woman sitting a few feet away from us. I offered her a water and began talking to her, asking about her family and why she was on the island; clearly not being a local. She told me that she was staying at a motel down the road and was only here for a few weeks to settle a court case. I told her about my involvement with YWAM and she was familiar with us because she had been to a few free dinner events at the university last summer. I asked her if she was religious at all and she said that her father baptized her as a mormon when she was a young girl and she followed the “rules” of being a mormon, but basically was not actively practicing. I then asked if she had ever heard of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she said no. I proceeded to share the Gospel with her and tell her about the freedom that comes with giving your life to Christ, and the eternal promise that comes with it. As I am explaining this to her she tells me about demonic dreams that she has been having about her children being killed and that she was taking medication to calm her anxiety, as well as that she lied about the motel: she was actually homeless. I was amazed at how much she opened up to me as I was telling her about my love for the Lord. She then allowed me and my other friend to pray for and with her, casting out anything not of the Lord and also inviting the Lord into her heart. It was incredible, and extremely eye opening.

I am not sure if she truly accepted Jesus as her Savior that day; but I do know that she heard the true Gospel of Christ possibly for the first time in her life. It astounded me to actually meet a person in my nation that is, “founded under God” and primarily Christian, that had never heard the Gospel before. It challenged and inspired me, and now I hope to challenge and inspire you. It is our honor to get to lead people to the Lord, if that doesn't excite your heart I would suggest reading the Word and learning how Jesus did ministry and His life. I want to model my life after Jesus, I find that there is no better purpose. No matter where I go or what I am doing, I want to be aware that it's never by mistake. If you're a follower of Christ, He is going to allow you endless opportunities to share that same love and good news with whoever you find yourself around. So, I want to challenge you; not because anything that I did or do is incredibly amazing, but because Jesus is worthy. He is worthy of our time and devotion, and definitely worthy of the person standing next to you.