Last night, my team went into one of the slums around here. We usually go to a different slum every night, and we visit various houses to share and pray for the families. One of us usually shares a short message, another a testimony, we have some worship songs, and then we pray for the family. We had done this as usual in a few houses. Then one of our translators came over to me and told us to follow him, that he had a couple that he wanted us to talk to and pray for. As I got nearer, I see an older couple, probably in their 70’s and very ragged, sitting in the dirt in the middle of the slum. The old man was hard of hearing and had been crippled in his legs, but had some movement now. The woman was the sole bread winner of the family as a plastic collector (meaning she collected plastic out of the garbage). They had no children to care for them, and they only had a house because others in the slum gathered their money together to build them a 1 room tin-siding house.
Our translator looked at me and the team and said to ask them questions. See what they believe. See if you can share the gospel with them. I looked around at my team and asked if anyone had a sense that they were supposed to share with the couple. They all looked at me dumbfounded. Ok, guess it was gonna be me. So I sat in the dirt and started asking them questions. They believed in all gods, and believed there was one supreme god. I asked if they knew about Jesus. What did they know about him? Could I share with them about who Jesus was? They agreed. So I now had the task of trying to convince a Hindu couple who believes in all gods that there is only one true God, and Jesus is the only way to Him. Where do I even start? What do I do? I was praying for wisdom the whole time.
As this was going on, I realized I had never before shared the gospel with someone who didn’t really know anything about Jesus already. It seems anytime I’ve shared the gospel, it’s always with believers or people who have heard it before in some way shape or form. How is that possible? I’ve been a believer all my life, and this is the first time I’m sharing the gospel with someone of a different religion. This seems appalling to me. I don’t know how this is the first time. But regardless, I was super excited to be sharing with them.
I start from the very beginning, sharing about the Ultimate, Creator God. And I took it on down to Jesus and explained how he was the way, the truth and the life. They said they believed. This is amazing! But then they said they still believed in all gods. They believe in Jesus and all the other gods. Crap. So they wanted prayer for blessing, but there was no declaration of Jesus as their Savior. I was a little bummed, but the seed has been planted. God says in Isaiah that His word does not return void. So I am believing that he will do the watering and the growing of that seed in the right time.
Afterwards, I talked with our translator about sharing with Hindus and how difficult it is. It’s completely different when you talk with an atheist, or even a Muslim. But it’s hard to talk with someone who believes in all gods. How do you convince someone like that that your God is the Supreme God, when they believe that their god is also a supreme god? I’m definitely being challenged in this place.
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