14 Jan It’s about relationship, not events

Last month, we partnered with a local Indian pastor to host a christmas event. While the evening was a great opportunity for Grace members to bring their Indian friends, the real ministry is taking place in the day-to-day relationships being pursued with those who attended.   

A month has passed since the Community Christmas Gathering, but I can still feel the nervous excitement of introducing our Indian friend to Pastor Suhas and his wife that evening. I can still smell and taste the delicious, rich Indian food, and I can hear Dr. Richard’s soothing, confident voice presenting the Truth of the Gospel.

In partnership with Indian pastor Suhas Raiborde, Grace hosted the event in an effort to reach the ever-growing Indian population of Greenville. Like many others, our friend Mr. K is Hindu, and while the concept of Jesus is not unfamiliar to him, the reality of Jesus being a compassionate Savior and devoted Friend is lost. Mr. K has lived in a constant state of hurt and depression since losing his wife to cancer over a year ago. I don’t fault him for this struggle. On the contrary, I’ve wrestled with how I would respond when feeling as though everything I loved had been taken from me.

While the concept of Jesus is not unfamiliar to him, the reality of Jesus being a compassionate Savior and devoted Friend is lost.

While I haven’t faced something so tragic, I have experienced many little tragedies along the way. I have seen parents like the O’Briens smile with genuine joy in the Lord’s faithfulness despite having lost their oldest daughter. Through His promises in scripture, His steadfastness in my life and the lives of others gives me hope, joy and peace for this life but more importantly for the life to come. And that’s what I want Mr. K to know. I want him to cling to the cross through this hurt and then experience joy again. But a joy in something, in someone, who will NEVER be taken away.

We aren’t the only friends of Mr. K who desire for him to experience Jesus’ love. It was through my last post that another member of Grace realized we both had been reach out to the same Mr. K!  Stephanie and her husband own a business in the same shopping center and have been building a friendship with him over the years as well. How encouraging to serve a God who orchestrates details so beautifully… creating key relationships and bringing them together at the perfect time. It is no coincidence that I met both Pastor Suhas and Stephanie within a matter of days and the Christmas Gathering was just a week later.

It is no coincidence that I met both Pastor Suhas and Stephanie within a matter of days and the Christmas Gathering was just a week later.

I wish I could say Mr. K found freedom by surrendering to Jesus that chilly December night. He was genuinely grateful for having been invited and said he had a nice time. But the peace that eluded him at the onset of another sorrowful Christmas season was still absent. As we had hoped, we got to know our friend better and connect him with Pastor Suhas. That is one encouraging victory we can so evidently see God’s hand in. Mr. K has continued to spend time with my family as well as Stephanie’s, and Pastor Suhas has been intentional to develop a relationship with him.

I am thankful for his continued friendship with the three of us because although my heart feels a sense of urgency for someone to be welcomed into the Body of Christ, I am confident in the Lord’s steadfast pursuit of our dear friend just like His continued pursuit of each of us!

I am confident in the Lord’s steadfast pursuit of our dear friend just like His continued pursuit of each of us!

Our love for Mr. K is solely the compassion of the Cross working within and through us. How humbling it is that the Lord chooses to use a weak and broken vessel like me to represent His love!

Mr. K once told me that he was grateful for our friendship– that it has been strength for him during this difficult time. But he made a point to tell me it had nothing to do with religion. I agreed. Jesus is bigger than religion. A relationship with the God who left inexplicable glory to identify with those at war against His design in order to become the ransom for their souls is much bigger than the confines of religious ideals and traditions. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will stir in Mr. K’s heart to trust the God whose life-giving strength triumphs over sorrow.

–Mary Beth Spann