by Zacharias Carlens, A-Team
During our outreach in Cape Town we went for three days to Betty’s Bay, mostly to get some rest but also to do some street evangelism. I enjoy street evangelism and find I don’t have problems speaking with people on the street or giving them tracts.
But this time I wanted to do it differently. Instead of approaching random people, I just wanted to allow the Holy Spirit to guide me, work through me and bring specific people come to me. I went out together with Max and Susan. As we walked through the streets of the small town we prayed silently.
We stopped to help one man unload a bakkie (pickup truck) then spoke with him and prayed. After this we continued but everything was very quiet. I concluded nothing was going to happen that day and it was okay with me if that was part of God’s plan.
As we waited for our lift to fetch us, a black guy with his dog came walking in our direction. As he passed, he gave us a friendly smile and said hi. We started talking with him and it turned out he was living on the streets. He was from another city but had felt compelled to come to walk to Betty’s Bay, not knowing why.
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His name was Dave and he was forty-three. He asked us if we had something to eat for his dog. Susan gave the dog all we had which was some chocolate. When I asked Dave if he was also hungry, he said he hadn’t eaten for some while. Susan went to a nearby shop to buy some groceries for him and suddenly he started to cry very hard. He was very emotional and asked us why we were so nice to him. I told him it was because of Jesus and that Jesus loved him very much. That made him cried even harder.
He was saying he was also a Christian when Susan returned. Then we all prayed for him and explained how he could get to the nearest church. Before we left, we took a picture with him. What really struck me was that he insisted that his dog should be in the photo. The dog was like his child. I realized how lonely Dave must have been because his closest companion was his dog. I also wondered how long had it been that he had spoken with someone as openly as he was speaking with us now. As a result of our conversation and prayer, he felt like he was valued because some strangers acknowledged his existence.
I learned from this encounter that, as we go out on the streets, we need to be led by the Holy Spirit and not by our own enthusiasm, otherwise we may miss the chance to speak with a person who really needs to be encouraged and told how much Jesus loves them.
During our outreach in Cape Town we went for three days to Betty’s Bay, mostly to get some rest but also to do some street evangelism. I enjoy street evangelism and find I don’t have problems speaking with people on the street or giving them tracts.
But this time I wanted to do it differently. Instead of approaching random people, I just wanted to allow the Holy Spirit to guide me, work through me and bring specific people come to me. I went out together with Max and Susan. As we walked through the streets of the small town we prayed silently.
We stopped to help one man unload a bakkie (pickup truck) then spoke with him and prayed. After this we continued but everything was very quiet. I concluded nothing was going to happen that day and it was okay with me if that was part of God’s plan.
As we waited for our lift to fetch us, a black guy with his dog came walking in our direction. As he passed, he gave us a friendly smile and said hi. We started talking with him and it turned out he was living on the streets. He was from another city but had felt compelled to come to walk to Betty’s Bay, not knowing why.
.JPG)
His name was Dave and he was forty-three. He asked us if we had something to eat for his dog. Susan gave the dog all we had which was some chocolate. When I asked Dave if he was also hungry, he said he hadn’t eaten for some while. Susan went to a nearby shop to buy some groceries for him and suddenly he started to cry very hard. He was very emotional and asked us why we were so nice to him. I told him it was because of Jesus and that Jesus loved him very much. That made him cried even harder.He was saying he was also a Christian when Susan returned. Then we all prayed for him and explained how he could get to the nearest church. Before we left, we took a picture with him. What really struck me was that he insisted that his dog should be in the photo. The dog was like his child. I realized how lonely Dave must have been because his closest companion was his dog. I also wondered how long had it been that he had spoken with someone as openly as he was speaking with us now. As a result of our conversation and prayer, he felt like he was valued because some strangers acknowledged his existence.
I learned from this encounter that, as we go out on the streets, we need to be led by the Holy Spirit and not by our own enthusiasm, otherwise we may miss the chance to speak with a person who really needs to be encouraged and told how much Jesus loves them.
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