All for One

I wasn’t sure that I should share this, but in the end decided that you should hear this story. As COVID hit Bulgaria a little over a year and a half ago, we had to shut down all of our outreach activities. The church in Svishtov is not a big church, but it punches above its weight class in evangelism. We don’t have a large group of people on Sunday mornings, but almost every night during the week we are active in building up one another in the faith and reaching out to those who don’t know the love of Christ. In a typical week we host Alpha courses (Bible studies for the not-yet believers), Bible studies to build up and encourage those who already follow Jesus and weekly English classes to build relationships with those outside the church. In addition to this, we are active in one-on-one discipleship and personal evangelism. So, we have been excited about getting back to hosting again these activities that reach new people for Jesus and build up the brothers and sisters in the faith.

For this reason, I was excited about our upcoming Alpha course. We sent messages, advertised on Facebook and let everyone we could know about the upcoming meeting.  So, as 6pm came and went without anyone showing up, I was disappointed, and Lydia and I decided to pack things up for the night. Then at a quarter after six a lady we know came rushing in. She works in the hospital and her shift didn’t end until six. She had rushed over to be a part of the Alpha Course but didn’t suspect that she would be the only one. We decided to go ahead with the meeting even though it was for just one person. I admit that I was disappointed. I wanted to see a big crowd of people after all the work and planning we had put into it.

It was at that moment, in my disappointment, that God thumped me on the noggin. Remember that verse in Matthew 18 about leaving the ninety-nine for the one lost sheep? Apparently, in my discontent, I had forgotten that one. We ended up having a wonderful discussion with this lady. After the failure of several relationships, she has decided to consider the only relationship that will never disappoint her: a relationship with Jesus. Please pray with us for “Mrs. L”. Also, pray for your missionaries who sometimes forget that Jesus is most concerned about the one lost sheep that needs to be rescued than the ninety-nine.

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