Yesterday I had the 'God-op' to of meeting a 23 year old Chinese woman who came into Rescue Mission's Secondhand looking for books. She was intrigued that I spoke English and wanted to practice hers. We got to talking and she seemed very interested that I'm in Sweden to do ministry work and admitted to reading some of the bible back in her homeland in her own language. I invited her to church on Sunday and she was very excited to hear that it's English-speaking. She was timid about coming.
"Would they mind that I'm not Christian, but Buddhist?" she asked.
I assured her that she would be totally welcome and we'd love to have her stay for a meal after and feel free to just hang with us.
And I'm excited again about the way the Secondhand exists to bring people in through the social system, yes, but also to bring customers to us with all their questions and their needs and give opportunity to build relationship. Evangelizing can be so off-putting when Christians go out of their way to find people to preach to. I am all about relationship-building, drawing people into conversation through simply caring about them and being friendly, and sharing His love naturally. I love that aspect of running a Secondhand out of our ministry-- hundreds of people troop through a day, and I have the added position of being a bit of a novelty to people; this young, cheery American who's interested in them and their stories.
And Oh! How He loves them all!
Please pray for my new friend, Lei. Making connections like this is what it's all about!
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