You know how your parents always told you that you shouldn’t talk to strangers? Well, here at STP it’s recommended, especially on Wednesday afternoons.
You may be wondering why that is...because it sounds kind of strange.
A big part of what we do here at STP is work to develop our personal relationships with the Lord, but a natural result of getting to know God better is to be moved to share Him with others. Wednesdays’ Ministry Training meeting is the time set aside to equip us with tools to share the Gospel effectively with those around us, as well as to have time to practice what we’ve learned.
What we do
Ministry Training meetings consist of two parts, a talk and a workshop. This past week, Nirmal Mekala spoke on “Abridged Revelation,” and walked us through how to share the Gospel using a simple diagram called the Bridge. It revolves around Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” After that, he discussed two kinds of fears we might face in evangelism, insecurity (fear of awkwardness, rejection or a loss of reputation) and inadequacy (we may not have the right answers).
In the workshop, students paired up and practiced sharing the Bridge with one another as if they were sharing it with an unbeliever. Then, we actually went out onto the beach and talked with tourists and locals about what we believe, and when we come back, we shared stories of conversations we had.
Why it matters
The amazing thing about being a Christian is that we get to be a part of God spreading His name and fame throughout the world. God didn’t have to use us to share the Gospel, but He chose to because it both develops our faith and gives us joy in seeing His work up close.
Undoubtedly, Ministry Training is the meeting that students dread the most, because it’s scary walking up to complete strangers and asking to talk about deep, heart-level issues. But the beauty of it is that, despite our insecurities and inadequacies, there’s no way we can fail if we step out in faith. God doesn’t call us to save those we approach on the beach; He simply calls us to be faithful to share the best news in the world.
Even though “cold turkey evangelism” isn’t our normal modus operandi, I think Ministry Training is one of the most valuable times of the STP week because it’s our chance to vocalize and live out what we profess the rest of the week: that God’s free gift of eternal life through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the most important thing in our lives, and we want the world to know it.