Because who knows

I once played video games with a kid named Orrin. Orrin Parker. He's from middle-of-nowhere Nevada known as Walker Lake. I was in the area for a week, helping out with Vacation Bible School, and I was blessed to spend my first evening in town having dinner with his family. You should have seen how wide his eyes got when I told him my mom worked for GameStop.

For some reason, he didn't think you could be a Christian and play video games. To this day, I don't know where he got that reasoning, but I said that as long as video games doesn't come before God in his life, then it was okay. And sure, you gotta be careful what kind of games you play, but that was another conversation for another day.

So we spent the next hour playing Halo (the original), and he continued to be blown away at the fact a girl knew how to play this game. I guess it was too much for his 12 year old self to handle. I took some time to tell him what Jesus meant to me after we played. I spent the weeks after praying for his heart.

I tell this story because my heart was rejuvenated with the necessity of evangelism in all sorts of forms. This past Sunday, two women gave their stories about noticing God in their lives. They are former Muslims. Their stories reveal the tragedy of the Islamic faith as it does not allow women to be who God created them to be. Instead, they are oppressed, and forced into decisions that ruin their lives.

These women told of the long journey to come to an understanding of who Jesus really was. After all, Muslims believe that Jesus was only a good prophet, and that in his place, another man, most likely Judas, was murdered on the cross.

And during their stories, I could not help but think of Shaheen. Tears fell from my eyes as I thought about how she does not know the Lord, but that it didn't mean He was not pursuing her. I prayed for another dream, but also for a person. A real life person to come to her and tell her about Jesus!

A few weeks after I returned from Nevada, I got a home-made card in the mail from Orrin's mom. She thanked me for spending time with Orrin, and wanted to let me know that He decided to put his faith in Jesus a couple weeks after I had left.

As if that weren't enough, I think it was about a year later I got an email from someone who was praying for my trip to Nevada. Apparently, he had been forwarding my prayer request emails to his father, who wasn't a believer. He emailed me to let me know that because of my experiences, as well as present circumstances, his father had decided to believe as well!

I am not meant to change the world. That is God's business. As Mother Theresa said, "I can do no great thing, only small things with great love." Who knows what your words and your actions mean to a person. I don't think it's an accident that you ran into her, or sat next to him. I can't do it all, but I have been given the chance to pray to the God who can. I'm also not there right now with Orrin, or Shaheen, or my friend's dad. He is.

Please, pray with me.