In September of this past year, I had the privilege of going on a missions trip to Trujillo, Peru with Calvary Young Adults. During our ten days there, I got to see with my own eyes so many amazing God moments and hear so many testimonies of God’s faithfulness.
One moment in particular stuck out to me and has been something that I have continued to think about for the past several months.
We were all gathering at the front gate of the church to go and do a Vacation Bible School in a village called El Milagro. Many of you have heard stories about our time there.
I happened to tune into a conversation at just the right moment. One of our team members was confirming with another that they were saying the words “Jesus Loves You” correctly in Spanish. “Jesús te ama?” They asked.
The moment has always stuck out to me because it made me come to a realization: we most likely weren’t going to see these kids ever again. This is a harsh reality that I often struggle to come to terms with when going on a missions trip.
At that moment my team member knew that we only had a few short hours, or even just a few minutes with these children. That, combined with the language barrier forced us to cut out all the fancy Christian words and get right to the point.
I think that this is something that can be applied to our everyday lives. There might not always be times when we can sit and have a long conversation and explain the gospel in its entirety. Sometimes we might only have a few minutes or even a few seconds to tell people that they are loved.
How many more people would be hearing the Gospel and coming to know the Lord if we without shame and hesitation told them that Jesus loves them?
The truth is that we are all deeply and radically loved by the creator of the universe who desires a personal relationship with each one of us. It’s not enough for us to simply know that in our hearts. We are called to go and tell the world.
