I’ve heard a saying that we never really go anywhere where the Holy Spirit isn’t already at work. Often times in our evangelism efforts we meet people in whom God has been clearly and powerfully working so that they would be ready and receptive to us when at the right time when we share the Gospel with them.

I have been going out on Friday, Saturday evenings to evangelize at bars. During my sabbatical from ministry, I’ve frequented bars in order to meet new people and socialize. I’ve found that this is where the people of the world come together to relax and let their guards down. It’s a perfect place to build relationships and shine our light. I’ve been having wonderful conversations there. One I will share here. I met an out of state visiter named Jeffrey (changed to protect privacy). As I started to share my testimony of how I had gone to 4 funerals one year and how that woke me up spiritually to become serious about my faith, he mentioned that recently he had gone to three funerals within a few months time. They were close relatives of his. He also opened up about how he never got over the death of his dad. When asked if he ever felt there was an unseen force or a higher power that was helping him or guiding him, he said he thought perhaps his dad was helping him and watching over him. He expressed that one day he would be able to see his dad. He told me that he had wished him and his dad were closer while he was alive. I felt the Holy Spirit gave me wisdom and I told him that he will be able to see him one day because of the hope we have in Christ. I proceeded to share the Gospel. When I asked him if he was ready to receive Christ, he said that he would. I encouraged him to go home and pray to receive Christ and commit his life to Him.

The Lord’s also opened up opportunities to share the Gospel with some of my Memphis friends in the arts. During my sabbatical time here in Memphis, God has opened a way for me to befriend several musicians, artists, filmmakers. One of them, Wade (changed to protect privacy) is an acclaimed filmmaker who’s worked with top Hollywood actors and directors. We’ve been meeting up periodically for coffee. But until recently our conversation had been kinda dry. When I first met him, he told me he was an atheist, so I didn’t bring up faith in our conversations for some time. As I felt recently the Lord’s call to evangelize again, I felt it was proper time to talk to him about spiritual matters. So about a month ago I met him and shared my testimony about how God had been with me through the toughest trials and hardships and how He had recently brought me through one of the most difficult traumas; I sensed him listening keenly. When I shared my testimony about attending four funerals (mentioned above) he opened up to me and said that since last December till June he had gone to 8 funerals, all of people who were mentors or very close to him. I could see that this had had a deep impact on him and that he was emotionally shaken up by the events. He was teary eyed as he shared how he half kiddingly and half seriously said to his friend, “Maybe I need Jesus.” He told me that he had never opened up about what he was going through except to one other closest friend and that I was the only other person with whom he shared his vulnerability with. I think he really appreciated me opening up to him and sharing my experiences and faith with him. He even mentioned that he wanted to get together once a week to chat.

In both of these encounters, I sensed that God had already been working powerfully in their lives, through circumstances and events, to open their hearts to the Gospel. We often think the burden of saving the person is all up to us, from fasting for them, to praying, to toiling the soil, to planting the seed. But the reality is that through our obedience we are merely partnering with God already at work in the lives of others and we find that He places us in the right place at the right moment to nudge people closer to Jesus. This is the privilege of evangelizing, we get to see God at work in the lives of others, moving people’s hearts closer to Him and we get to partner with Him. What a glorious calling.