Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Service Evangelism

A missionary in New Guinea returned after several years of service. His friend said to him, "Jones, tell me what you found at your station in New Guinea?"

"Found! I found something that looked more hopeless than if I had been sent into the jungle to a lot of tigers."

"What do you mean?"

"Why those people were so degraded that they seemed utterly devoid of moral sense. They were worse than beasts. If a mother were carrying her little baby, and the baby began to cry, she would throw it into the ditch and let it die. If a man saw his father break his leg, he would leave him upon the roadside to die. They had no compassion whatever. They did not know what it meant."

"Well, what did you do for people like that? Did you preach to them?"

"Preach? No! I lived."
"Lived? How did you live?"

"When I saw a baby crying, I picked it up and comforted it. When I saw a man with a broken leg, I mended it. When I saw people in distress, I took them in and pitied them. I took care of them. I lived that way.

And those people began to come to me and say: 'What does this mean? What are you doing this for?' Then I had my chance and I preached the gospel." "Did you succeed?" "When I left, I left a church!"

2 comments:

SamanthaOwens said...

Lord,there are those moments when I see and hear things about others,and consequently,I become a witness to the circumstance. I am then placed in a position to speak on behalf of that person's character.The situation,however, may be very sensitive, because I have to put my character and my own self on the line.I pray that I
will not sacrifice truth in order to save myself, my position,or my reputation.This is easier said than done,because the risk factor could be very high.I have watched others twist the truth to save their necks,which,in turn,caused the victim to suffer needlessly.This stand for being a truthful witness requires courage,justice,and righteousness.I want to br righteous,I want to be just,Lord;and I want to be true witness for someone who is being falsely accused.

Rev. Barney said...

"Preach Jesus everywhere you go, and if you have to use words."