How about her?

On my way to the Bishan Mrt every morning, I will pass by this old lady selling tissue. I've never spoken to her before because I was in a rush everytime and God spoke to me one day, "How about her?" Ouch.

So i met this lady today and bought a pack of tissue from her and talk to her. She spoke to me in Mandarin and then(I don't know why), she talked to me in cantonese which makes it even easier to 'click'. She already had 2 operations because of her cancer and now she had to raise money for a third one. That is why she's selling tissue.

"What to do?", she said. "The amount of money I received from the welfare organisation is only enough for my flat rental and everyday usage. Cancer medication is not cheap and nowdays, if you do not have money, it's bye bye Singapore." I also found out that she's a Christian, but sadly, a disappointed one.

She was saved because a pastor had mercy on her and paid for her medical debts and led her to Christ. She was then about to commit suicide when her friend refrained her and introduce her to the pastor. Sadly, she is now fending for herself. "Ya. They pray for me but when it comes to money, no one will help", she replied when I asked whether her friends have prayed for her for healing. Is this the church today?

Look around you and ask yourself. When is the last time you have treated a poorer friend or stranger to a meal? When is the last time you have given money to a more needy person in church or in your circle of friends? We have missed out a lot. We forgot that there are poor ppl in Singapore. We fail to see that the person sitting next to you in church is a poor person who needed help. We hoard our money and find out what is the best investment and fixed deposit interest when our treasures are actually in heaven and the best 'investment' are to the poor.

As we all know, different churches have different approaches when it comes to welfare and sometimes, certain ppl don't "qualify" for help. But how about on a personal level? Surely as an individual, we can do a lot. The church comprises of ppl, you and me, who can help the needy. Please, don't take on the mindset of "Oh, I pay tithe you know. The church should be the one paying for this person's welfare wat", "The church have a welfare system right? Let the person 'settle' with the church on his case" and with these excuses, we avoid our responsibility to the poor. Let's take away the mindset of always depending on the church(as an organisation) to do every single thing. We don't have to wait for another evangelistic service or program to evangelise, and we don't need to wait for another 'love campaign' to give to the poor. Let's do what we ought to do as an individual - preaching the good news, giving to the poor, loving each other. After all, is not the church us?

Coming back to the lady. "Do you attend church nowadays?" I asked. "Not really. I don't feel like going these days", she replied. We chatted a while more and before I left, I gave her some money and tell her it's for her to "buy food"(It's the polite cantonese way of giving someone money) And she said,"Oh. Thank you so much. God bless you" and I replied, "God bless you too". Jesus is still in her heart, but I pray that she can experience the fullness of Him through our acts of kindness. My friends, Jesus is speaking to you today, "How about her, how about him?"

Personal Soul Winning

Ephesians 4:16 - "From Him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work"

Often, we said, "Oh, we must be united!" And many times we meant it, but our actions do not show it. We agree among ourselves, called ourselves like-minded and thought that we are one in spirit and purpose(Phil 2:2), BUT this unity we proclaimed has no real meaing unless each of us play our part in doing God's work. There are many works we can do but I want to highlight one of the most important one to you and that is preaching the gospel.

Preaching the gospel requires no special 'calling' or titles or status. If there is any thing that we can all play our part in, it is sharing the gospel. Isn't it wonderful if our unity is seen or recognised by the world because each one of us share the gospel to them in various ways and in different places? If you read on from chapter 4:16, you will hit chapter 5:15-16 where God tells us to make the most of every opportunities that we have.

In previous postings, I've shared how I met people on the streets (mostly poor people), became friends with them and shared the love of God with them. This "phenomena" happened to me while I was in East Timor. Every month without fail, I will bump into a stranger on the street or somewhere, and I will get a chance to share Jesus with them. I keep praying for such opportunities and these occurences have not stopped since then. I thought this is something awesome(maybe because we seldom hear of something like this in our community) but when I read that someone does this EVERYDAY, it blows my mind. Reading the story of how D.L.Moody will not rest until he shares Jesus with one soul a day did not discourage me. I'm encouraged by my once-a-month endeavour where God helped me to bother to talk to the poorer and lesser reached soul on the street but to do it everyday is a real challenge. Yes, it is a tall order but not one that is impossible. And I think we all should strive towards it.

So how do we strive towards this everyday personal evangelism lifestyle? Start by praying? Yes, but don't stop at praying. Be aware of the opportunities around you, grab them, share your testimony, do an act of kindness, preach the gospel. R.A Torrey said, "The best way to learn how to do it is to do it." I want to encourage you to read this article called "The Importance of Personal Soul Winning" by R.A. Torrey. It's at http://www.swordofthelord.com/archives/ImportanceSoulWinning.htm

You will see in there that we can all play our part in winning souls on a personal basis, and the effect of such works can have a greater impact than events like gospel rallies, healing crusades etc. God bless you and the souls around you.

How could I pass her by?

"Excuse me, can you give me one dollar? I am hungry and I don't have money to buy food", the unkempt lady looked at me with wide, dazed eyes.

This is not the first time I have encountered ppl on the streets asking for money and my response these days is to offer them food instead of money. I would not want someone to take the money and buy themselves cigarettes or alcoholic drinks.

She replied,"Oh, I want to go somewhere there to buy rice." to which I replied, "It's okay. I will follow you there to buy you the food". And she pleaded again, "Please, I just need one dollar. Can you give me one dollar?" I knew then that she's not going to use the money to buy food and I said sorry and moved on.

As I was praying back home, I thought about the lady and realised how indifferent I was to her situation. Why didn't I spend a little more time talking to her? Yes, she is smelly and dirty and kept asking for that dollar but was not I like this once? Did not God pick me up and wash me and cleanse me when I was dirty and stinking with sin in my life? How could I let this person walked on in life without a saviour, without a friend and without hope?

My heart broke and I burst out in tears. This lady does not need another dollar!!! She needs the gospel and I failed to give her what she rightfully deserves. It is only a dollar! If my one dollar can be used as a means to spark a conversation that enables her to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, isn't that dollar worth it all? Even if she were to reject accepting Christ later and used that dollar for a puff, could not the seed that was planted in her heart bloom one day? Oh, how narrow I was and how shallow I am!!! I thought I had made the right choice by not giving her the dollar, but I did not make the best choice to give her the treasures in heaven. 

How could I pass her by? How could I when Christ did not pass me by? May the Lord have mercy on me and help me to stretch out my hands beyond my own comfort to a world of poor, dirty, smelly and dying souls.

"Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!!!" 1 Cor 9:16

Renewal of the mind

I was told to be sensitive, and rightly so in a place where most people believe in B and may be offended if we share. However, that instruction became a mindblock to me, mainly because I have not understood what it really meant. So my mind got boxed up and I became too cautious. That changed when I got to know Rev.A. In a space of 3-4 days, he brought 2 persons to the Lord and when we were with him, another 4 were brought to the Lord. I was baffled. I asked him, "how/what did you share?". He replied "After we finished the tour, I asked her, are you a Christian?" and then he proceed to share the gospel - sin, forgiveness, acceptance, love, Lord and Saviour.

That direct approach blew my mind and made me realise that I have boxed myself up and have unconsciously blocked the work of the Spirit. We have to be sensitive, yes, but we have to realise and understand that there are times when we have to be bold and take risk, especially when we know there is a need for the person to hear the gospel. God can melt all sensitivity, God can bridge any hostility, God is God of all things - we all know that, don't we? So why then did I allow such a thing to block my mind? Aha, the dependancy of human wisdom and logic than the dependancy of God. Not that I purposely depend on my own understanding and thinking, but it can come so subtlely and unconsciously, doesn't it? And often, this reveal the truth about yourself; the condition of the deep inner self. I was glad God changed me in this aspect and I was able to share with the love of Christ to someone who have never heard the gospel before. It's awesome.