Int’l (MNN) – The Gospel is not tied to church buildings or revival gatherings. God uses willing hearts who obey His call every single day to bring people to faith.
A Call to Disciple in Everyday Life
Recently, InterVarsity hosted Matthew Brima, the General Secretary of SLEFES, an IFES movement, and he shared that witnessing should be a constant.
“God’s call to us was to express faith in all we do, in all of life. So our witness for the Gospel was not tied to a certain time, a certain place, doing certain activities. Witnessing for Christ entails all of life. Sitting at the dinner table with my kids, should reflect my faith. Talking to my wife when nobody is there, should reflect that. So, it is a greater awareness of what is the Gospel.”
Brima continues to say that he sees this awareness growing in the Church. Many people are coming to know Christ through a coworker or a friend or a neighbor. Christians aren’t so much planning for witnessing, they just are living out their faith.
Brima himself came to faith through someone living out their faith where God placed them.
Setting the Stage
Matthew Brima grew up in Sierra Leone during the eleven year civil war. Unrest and violence ravaged the country from 1991 to 2002.
He was raised Catholic and loved being a part of the Catholic Church. His goal was to be a Roman Catholic priest. However, the war was hard for him to reconcile.
His mother was a police officer and he says that whenever he visited the station, there would be dead bodies all over from the conflict. He became angry with God and confesses that he did not have a relationship with God at that time. However, he was still going to Church every day.
A Surprising Witness
One day on the way home from church, a Nigerian peacekeeper from the UN asked if he would like to come into his home and talk.
Brima agreed, and says it was the first time he heard and understood the Gospel.
(Courtesy of DFID on Flickr https://bit.ly/2YrXQg0)
“The miracle about that story,” Brima explains, “is the fact that two days after that, this UN peace keeper was transferred from that base. So I never got to meet him again. But that seed of the Gospel that was planted in my heart grew and started to help me understand my personal walk with Christ.”
From Death to Life
Soon after that encounter, Brima became a part of InterVarsity. He was discipled and came to have a personal relationship with Christ for the first time.
He says, “I define my life as when the enemy was taking lives, God gave me life. So in the midst of killing, in the midst of death, I received life. And that has really transformed my view of the marketplace. That has really transformed my view of the fact that if Christians become witnesses in our everyday lives, there is so much power in that.”
Through One Person
Because of that one person who invited Brima into a conversation, God saved a life. Since then, Brima became a national leader of IFES in Sierra Leone and has had the opportunity to impact hundreds of lives.
“All of that came through the foundation of one person who was ready to say, ‘yes’ to Jesus, wherever he was.”
The Gospel is not something for just missionaries to share. A UN peacekeeper, someone with a clear job to do in a stressful situation, took the time to offer the Gospel to a stranger.
Make God the center of your interactions with others. The Good News should impact everyday life and every action. Consider who God is calling you to witness to in your everyday life, and trust in His strength enough to begin the conversation.
Header photo courtesy of AMISOM Public Information via Flickr.
