Africa Cup Football (Soccer) championship

Watching Africa cup finals with a bunch of friends

A good part of what I do is sit with guys in the street. My goal is evangelism, but I also need constant practice as I strive to learn Bambara. So the lines between evangelism, relationship building, and language learning really blur when I'm hanging out with the guys. All of good mission work is based on good relationships though, and the stronger the relationships, the better our friends are ready to hear the message of Christ we've come to bring....

Some people ask how or what you do as a missionary to present the Gospel? A lot of it is this kind of thing. Hanging out, sharing time together, looking for teachable moments or opportunities to share. And they are numerous.

One of this group just this week was very interested. It was a guy I don't know as well as the others. But he popped up with the question... what is the difference between Islam and Christianity? Aren't they both ways to serve/praise the existing God? I was diplomatic. But I said they are different because what Mohammed taught and what Jesus taught are different. I explained how Mohammed taught salvation comes through weighing your good actions against your bad ones. And how Jesus taught that if you stumble on one point of the law you are guilty of breaking all of it. Jesus knew I could not do enough good stuff, so he gave his life as the sacrifice for my sins. Therefore he who has the sacrifice is forgiven, he who does not have the sacrifice, good as he may be, is not forgiven. Heavy words for him to hear I guess.
The thing is that when a conversation like that springs up, only one guy will ask the question, but 8-10 guys are around to hear, and largely they follow the conversation closely.

Continue to pray with me that God will open the hearts and minds of people to recieve his love. Pray with me that these guys would see the light of Christ...

Thanks for stopping by,
Tom & Lisa