All you need to know about Jesus in 5 minutes

Yesterday evening, I got to go out and do some village evangelism with some staff and students from Living Hope. Earlier yesterday, Joel let me know that I was going to be the designated gospel-giver for the event. No biggie, right? I mean, I've been immersed in the gospel story my whole life. Well, I asked Joel how long I was going to have to talk, and he told me like 5 minutes, maybe 10 if I'm lucky. Apparently people start leaving if you talk for too long.

So, yesterday afternoon I sat down to figure out how to fit the most important message people are ever going to hear into 5-10 minutes, with translation. Witnessing to Vairavan on the way over here actually proved to be very helpful, because talking to him made me realize some things a Hindu would need to hear that I take for granted. Things like why Jesus came to earth (salvation), which ties into the nature of sin, Jesus divinity, etc. Also, Jesus being the only way to God is a very new idea to Hindus, because they are big-time polytheists. They don't mind admitting that Jesus is a way to God, but the idea that he's the only way is pretty far-out to them.

Just preparing to present the gospel in such a condensed form was a really good exercise for me, because it made me think about what parts of the gospel message are absolutely essential for people to know. I basically came down to these: 1) Sin - why we need salvation, 2) Jesus - who he is, why he came, what he did, and 3) Our role - believing in faith, surrendering. I really think that the surrender aspect is absolutely essential, because so often we present the gospel as just being a way out of hell, without telling people that there's a sacrifice involved on their part.

Anyway, we all piled into a couple of vans and headed out to a village about 15 minutes away. We basically pulled up and set up in front of the one Christian home in the village. Apparently, in India, if you want people to come, you need one main thing - noise! So they set up a couple of amps, and started singing and banging on drums. After a little while, a crowd started gathering to see what was going on. A guy did a magic trick, they danced some, and there was also a skit of the parable of the good Samaritan.

As I was watching the village folks gather, it quickly became apparent that the majority of the audience was composed of kids. So, I quickly began reassessing my message and trying to figure out how to connect with them a little better.

So...after a little while, they pointed at me and I figured it was my turn. I started off by telling them how I got to go see some waterfalls last Sunday, and how there were hundreds and hundreds of people all waiting around for the same reason - they wanted to bathe in it so that their sins could be washed away. From there, I basically talked about how sin isn't a problem that can be washed away by water, because it's a problem of the heart, then went on to talk about Jesus, salvation, etc.

After I was done, Joel did some kind of a prayer with the kids. Once we were finished, all of the kids lined up so that Jacob, Christie and I could pray for them, which was really cool. Then, we all jumped in the vans and headed back to campus. Really great experience!

I'm not sure how much of what I said connected...pray that some of it takes root in their hearts and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in them. Hardly any of the parents are Christians, so that makes it a lot tougher for the kids to commit.

Also, be praying for my roommate Jacob...he came down with something last night and has been feeling pretty bad today. God bless!