But Fatima looked at me, nodded, and said,
- “I think I would like to follow Jesus.”
I started to panic. Umm. I wondered if she even understood it. And then guilt:
I probably should have read the whole thing, not just the headings.
So I said to her, “Well, I think you should hear it again!”
This time I read the headings and the bits underneath that explained the longer version of the gospel. We finished and again she nodded, more enthusiastically this time. “Yes, yes, I think I really would like to make this decision,” she said.
But I wasn’t convinced. I suggested we go through that tract one more time. But this time I didn’t just read all the information; I also looked up all the scripture verses and read them as well, and I told Fatima about different Bible translations and the one we were using (in case that was a deal breaker).
Then I acted out the illustration the tract uses: being separated from God, having God lead your life — it was exhausting! I was miming on overtime! I finally asked her one more time.
“Would you, Fatima, like to follow Jesus?” And she said yes, this time very confidently. “I really would like to.”
So I finally let her. I relented. Following the guided prayer in the tract, we prayed together, and Fatima left that performance with a newfound faith in her life because she had invited Jesus to be at the center of everything.
I left dumbfounded. I was literally flabbergasted. What had just happened?
When the whistle blew to signal that it was Bible reading time, I got out my Bible and sat down on the red African dirt and tried to read but couldn’t. I couldn’t see the words because my tears were flowing fast and free.
See, I had believed God could save anyone. After all, He had saved me. His love was unlimited. He could literally invade prisons with good news. What I didn’t realize until this day on the other side of the world was that God could use me to save others.
-
I wasn’t just a recipient of love; I was a bearer of it. I wasn’t just a participant in salvation; I was an ambassador of that same salvation.
Sometimes I describe this experience as my conversion to the wide, wide world of the gospel. Up until that day I’m pretty sure my salvation still had me at the center of it. Sure, I was changing and trying new things and participating as I could, but on that day something shifted forever. I was no longer at the center — the wide, wide world was — and God invited me to partner with Him in reaching it with the good news.
Written for FaithGateway by Danielle Strickland, author of The Other Side of Hope.
