30-30-30-10
A friend of mine who belongs to a different Christian faith is concerned for the rise in COVID-19 cases in the European country she lives in. She cries for the friends who have lost loved ones to the virus and feels helpless on how to express her sympathies without offending their secular beliefs. I suggested telling them how she prays that they will find comfort or ask if she can pray for them.
“Bawal yan dito unlike sa Pinas where it’s okay to talk about God openly.” Since she wasn’t living in a country where it is illegal to do so, I asked if she has tried. She said yes and diverted the topic away.
A few days earlier, I was talking to two different strangers online who were raising funds for friends with medical problems and I sent a prayer message to them before we closed. They both replied with, “Thank you. I will forward it to them.” Thank God that they did not get angry. I then shared our gospel tract to one of them but got no response. The same deadma reaction happened with a third stranger selling used books. Were they offended? Who knows? But unlike my friend who expects a 100% negative response, I have a 30-30-30-10 expectation---30 positive, 30 negative, 30 deadma, and 10 atbp so I will grab that 30 out of 100 chance.
Since the onset of the pandemic, I have been giving away gospel tracts to almost everyone who crossed my path and my friends are amazed. Honestly, I am as well. I hope you don’t see me saying that with my arms lifting a bangko above my head. I owe it all to the Holy Spirit. Before this, I have not been one to be active in evangelism, justifying my “strength” in teaching fellow believers as a substitute. But the feeling of hopelessness enveloping the nation made me feel compelled to do something. How can I help with the gift God has given me? So I thought of writing a gospel tract addressing the pandemic in the Philippine context and distribute them to as many as possible with no care if they will be open to it or not. After all, our job is only to plant or water and leave the rest to God (1 Cor. 3:7). Oh don’t get me wrong. I was scared at first as I am not used to talking to strangers but after giving away more than 20,000 copies, I discovered how tract-distribution is the easiest evangelistic thing ever! Even my shy, private, and introvert friend who offered to help me give them away had the same realization. Believe it or not, I am shy and private myself. (No. Don’t. Say. A. Word.) It is truly humbling to see other friends picking up the vision by distributing them as well without me asking.
Another evangelistic aspect in this endeavor was sharing the gospel indirectly when I asked friends not of the same faith to help me translate them in their native language. One distributed them to his neighbors after translating it, another sent a bundle to her hometown friends of frontliners, and another gave them to her friends and family. No violent reaction but unexpected positive response. That 30%....
Have I seen a fruit from all this? No but that is not my concern right now. I am only tasked to give them away with a prayer for harvest that is without precedence so ripe. Let hope rise.
A friend of mine who belongs to a different Christian faith is concerned for the rise in COVID-19 cases in the European country she lives in. She cries for the friends who have lost loved ones to the virus and feels helpless on how to express her sympathies without offending their secular beliefs. I suggested telling them how she prays that they will find comfort or ask if she can pray for them.
“Bawal yan dito unlike sa Pinas where it’s okay to talk about God openly.” Since she wasn’t living in a country where it is illegal to do so, I asked if she has tried. She said yes and diverted the topic away.
A few days earlier, I was talking to two different strangers online who were raising funds for friends with medical problems and I sent a prayer message to them before we closed. They both replied with, “Thank you. I will forward it to them.” Thank God that they did not get angry. I then shared our gospel tract to one of them but got no response. The same deadma reaction happened with a third stranger selling used books. Were they offended? Who knows? But unlike my friend who expects a 100% negative response, I have a 30-30-30-10 expectation---30 positive, 30 negative, 30 deadma, and 10 atbp so I will grab that 30 out of 100 chance.
Since the onset of the pandemic, I have been giving away gospel tracts to almost everyone who crossed my path and my friends are amazed. Honestly, I am as well. I hope you don’t see me saying that with my arms lifting a bangko above my head. I owe it all to the Holy Spirit. Before this, I have not been one to be active in evangelism, justifying my “strength” in teaching fellow believers as a substitute. But the feeling of hopelessness enveloping the nation made me feel compelled to do something. How can I help with the gift God has given me? So I thought of writing a gospel tract addressing the pandemic in the Philippine context and distribute them to as many as possible with no care if they will be open to it or not. After all, our job is only to plant or water and leave the rest to God (1 Cor. 3:7). Oh don’t get me wrong. I was scared at first as I am not used to talking to strangers but after giving away more than 20,000 copies, I discovered how tract-distribution is the easiest evangelistic thing ever! Even my shy, private, and introvert friend who offered to help me give them away had the same realization. Believe it or not, I am shy and private myself. (No. Don’t. Say. A. Word.) It is truly humbling to see other friends picking up the vision by distributing them as well without me asking.
Another evangelistic aspect in this endeavor was sharing the gospel indirectly when I asked friends not of the same faith to help me translate them in their native language. One distributed them to his neighbors after translating it, another sent a bundle to her hometown friends of frontliners, and another gave them to her friends and family. No violent reaction but unexpected positive response. That 30%....
Have I seen a fruit from all this? No but that is not my concern right now. I am only tasked to give them away with a prayer for harvest that is without precedence so ripe. Let hope rise.