Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Minister of the Gospel

Mzo, my good friend and colleague at Living Hope, is quiet by nature, much like me. (Sometimes it amazes me how much we have in common – temperament, hopes, worries, among other things. Only God could have orchestrated such a relationship between two people from vastly different cultures.)

But when it comes time to stand up and teach the Gospel of Jesus to the children of Red Hill, it’s like a switch is flipped and Mzo suddenly takes on a different personality. He has so much passion for these kids and for them to know God’s love, and he has an infectious way of sharing that and getting them excited about it.

This afternoon, I again witnessed Mzo’s love for kids, and it came in an unexpected circumstance. We were driving to Red Hill, as we typically do around 3:00 or 3:30 each afternoon, when we passed a group of four high school girls on the side of the road, thumbing for a ride. They had missed the bus to Red Hill. It was their own fault for playing around after school with no regard to time, but God was also at work here.

I stopped and the four piled in the back seat of my tiny car. As I pulled away, Mzo pulled his Bible from his backpack and said, “Girls, we’re just going to have a quick lesson now. This is an opportunity God has made for us.” And with that, he proceeded to spend the rest of the trip sharing the good news of God’s love as detailed in the third chapter of John.

I drove along in silence, just marveling at God’s hand on this situation and at how Mzo was so obediently serving as His mouthpiece to these girls (none of whom even attend our after-school programs). When we arrived at Red Hill, Mzo prayed for the girls, encouraged them to come see him if they wanted to know more about Christ, then sent them on their way – no pressure, no scolding, just true love from a heart that has been transformed by this Jesus that he so loves to share.

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