“I have observed that the missionary families are happy, and the children are all well-behaved,” said the father of one of our music students as we talked on a Sunday afternoon.
Recognizing this as an open door to witness, I quickly replied that the Bible gives us many practical principles to help us know how to raise children and have a happy home. After quoting Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go . . .” I went on to share that God changes our hearts so we can love like He loves. I told him that humans are naturally selfish, and the Bible teaches that the heart is wicked. We can only demonstrate true love through the power of God.
As our music school has grown, so have our opportunities to witness. Our students’ parents often sit in the waiting room until the lesson is finished. I enjoy going to the school during the busy hours just to hang out and talk with parents and students. Every time I go, I pray that the Lord will guide the conversations I have so that I can share His love and truth in natural and practical ways. I am constantly amazed at the opportunities He gives me.
One day I was able to share part of my personal testimony with a Buddhist lady after she told me she doesn’t like it when Christians try to convert her. As I shared the different ways I had experienced Jesus changing me, I sensed her heart warming. On a different occasion I found myself talking to the mother of two students. Her family had attended church the Sabbath of Easter weekend a few weeks earlier. I told her we were happy to see her family in church. She then shared that they had attended several churches in Khon Kaen but felt like they connected best with ours. She then added that they plan to come back in the future.
As I reflect on these experiences, I am convinced of the need to use my conversations to point people to Christ. This involves intentionally asking the Lord to give me the right words to speak at the right time (Isaiah 50:4) and praying for boldness so that I can speak as I “ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:20). I also realize my need for wisdom and discernment to know how to pick the right spots in conversations to insert personal testimonies or to share Bible verses and truths. In Colossians 4:5, 6 the apostle Paul admonishes us to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without” and then links this thought with the words we speak by saying, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
As we seek to develop and nurture friendships, we identify with Paul when he asked the Ephesians to pray so that he could “open [his] mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). Please join us in this prayer.
