Beth Moore Living Proof Live

An Important Message from Beth Moore from LWEvents on Vimeo.

The Color Green

If you have ever gone on a foreign mission trip you will undoubtly know that there is usually one very large barrier…Language.

As I began to prepare for this trip we were given a list of phrases that would help with our presentation. Five phrases, one in Arabic and four in French was the basis of our communication with our target people group.
These phrases were: (in English)
Peace be to you
This is a new testament
This is a gift
It is free
Have a safe trip

The longer we stayed the more we would pick up a few more phrases but our original five were used very often. So often I would wake up saying them, go to bed saying them, even saying them in my dreams. To this day, the phrases will jump into my mind. The funny thing is you can’t say just one, they always demand you go through all five at the same time. Maybe it is just me but I get tickled when they appear in my thoughts at the most random times.

Anyway, you can see that our French and Arabic was VERY limited to say the least. The neatest thing was to step out on faith, approach someone, let the phrases roll off our tongue (ok maybe that was stutter off our tongue) and watch God do the rest. It totally amazed me when God would take our bumbling of the language and still open the door for people to receive the packets we were giving.

There were times, however, that something more than those five phrases were needed to break down the barriers. I’ll share with you how God used the color green to open a door.

As I had shared earlier my mother was on this trip with me. One morning she was at the walk on gate (this is where people boarding the ferry would have to carry all their luggage for a while without the use of cars).
As she was offering the packet to those walking up she noticed an older lady dressed in a burqa laboring with her belongings in the distance. My mother shared with her partner at the gate that she was going to start praying that by the time this lady got to the gate she would be prepared to receive a packet.
As the lady drew near, my mother’s partner told my mother that she would approach every one else and my mother’s attention should be directed only to that lady.

My mother walked towards the lady and begins with the five phrases that we had studied but to her dismay the lady refused and kept pressing onward to the ferry. A little discouraged but still feeling she was to continue to offer the packet to this lady. She quickly realized that the five phrases were not enough and she began to seek God’s help. Then she realized that the lady’s burqa was the exact shade of green as the shirt she was wearing. As my mother walked beside the lady she pointed to the burqa and then to her shirt. The lady realized that they were both the same in color and looked my mother in the eyes. At this time, my mother again used the phrases and the lady graciously accepted the packet.

We learned that day that words are not the only thing that God uses to get His Word into the hands of others. It can be many things even a color that He will use to open doors. I encourage you to seek God to show you how to reach those that are rejecting Him.

His,

Cynthia

Playing in Traffic

If you haven’t read the prior post I would like to invite you to do so before continuing. If time doesn’t allow please scroll down to the definition of successful witnessing.

All my life I remember hearing someone tell me, “Stay out of the traffic” or “Don’t play in the street”. As a mother I have stressed these same points to my children over time BUT on the first training day we heard just the opposite.

As we sat in that room listening to the speaker we hear these words come from his mouth, “We WANT you to go play in the traffic!” As we giggled and joked, his face showed that he wasn’t joking. He really did want us to take the initiative and step out into traffic. That was enough to send anyone back to their room to hid under the pillow especially after the cab ride we had from the airport.

The next morning as we met our team and headed to the port the thought of playing in the traffic was a little unnerving. As we approached the gate, cars were well into the process of proceeding through to board. Some were slowly maneuvering the fully loaded cars (a sight in itself to see) past the authorities and others were zipping right on by. Most of the time it wasn’t one car at a time but rather two wide and very much with an agenda.

Our crew leader led us to the small concrete island at the port entrance. She showed us where our materials were, placed a packet in our hands, turned with a smile and said, “Let’s do it”. Oh how this girl from the south wanted to do what she has done best over the course of her life…step to the farthest point of action, fade into the background and hope no one sees her. But God…God would see. God didn’t allow me to travel this far to hide. God called me to this port. God set these materials in place for a people to freely receive.

I started quickly reviewing my 5 phrases and praying for God to empower me to do this task. Just then a thought ran across my thoughts. My husband has always had a quick little phrase that he spouts when someone steps into the line of traffic, “Go ahead, step out there and meet Jesus”. With that thought it hit me what I was doing, (taking the initiative alert here) I was to go ahead, step out there so someone else could meet Jesus. Once that was settled in my own mind, I quickly felt the need to get these materials into the hands of those passing through.

As the days passed, I found myself excited to go to this gate. Although the other two gates were much slower paced and less likely to have my toes smashed by a tire, I found an excitement at the car gate. I witness God soften the hearts of some passing through, I watched in amazement as God took my jumbled phrases and spoke to the people and they accepted a packet. All the things I saw and experienced was because through God He asked us to take the initiative to share Christ's love through the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to Him!

Are you ready to play in traffic? Ok don’t literally go into the streets and step out into an intersection. But are you ready to play in the traffic of life and step out there so someone else can meet Jesus? I would love to hear how you are "playing in traffic".

His,

Cynthia