Thanksgiving sharing

During my quiet time before the week of thanksgiving I had the idea to share my thanksgiving tradition with my close friends in Mekhe. So I took the morning to write personal notes that said, “God has given us a lot to be thankful for. He has given us health, life, love, and family. I thank God for you, my friend.” Along with that I wrote out John 3:16. All of this was on the simple note that I would plan to give each of my close friends.
I was able to share with many. There were some that I shared with one-on-one. There were some that I shared with as a group setting. And there were some that I had just met that day that wanted to know what I was doing. So these three dynamics I was able to experience as I shared.
Not only that, but as I shared, I used the opportunity to introduce the Gospel. Through each of these conversations I talked about God’s love for each of us. I could tell them that we have sinned and because of our sin we cannot have a relationship with God. But God comes to us to start the relationship over, and he came to us as Jesus. Jesus wants us to have faith in him so that we will always have a relationship with him. And this was my elementary gospel presentation.
It had some victories. I had one woman who heard this as I shared with her family. She said she wanted to become a Christian! So I will follow up with that when I return to town. I was able to see a few friends that I have not seen in awhile, and because of this letter and these words our friendship became more positive/was restored.
I also had some defeats. I felt that in a few situations I could have visited longer, and wished for more time. I shared a lot. I gave out 20 notes in 2 days. I also did not get the chance to see everyone that I wanted to see. And I had the chance to see a big defeat. In sharing with one of my friends in the market, he asked me to leave his shop. He did not want to hear the message of Jesus because he was a Muslim.
In spite of the defeats I was grateful for the sharing opportunities. This was very successful in organizing something to say, and gave me an idea of what volunteer teams can come and do in Mekhe. They can easily write a prayer letter and go to various shops or gatherings of people to talk about prayer, then offer to pray for those people. Or if the group comes at a particular holiday such as Easter or Christmas could discuss the significance of that season with others.