An Opportunity to Share
I had the pleasure of going to Portland with a team from OHBC in early November. When presented with the opportunity, I was excited. I had spent the previous 8 weeks studying Biblical apologetics (knowing what you believe, why you believe it, and being able to defend it) through LFBI. I was excited to have an opportunity to exercise what I had studied and learned. The excitement also came with a bit of anxiety. Knowing Portland is known for its progressive and diverse community, I knew we would be presented with a unique context for sharing the Gospel. I did expect (and prepare) for mostly rejection, but still I trusted that God would allow us to speak to exactly who he prepared beforehand.
Leading up to the trip, I asked the Lord for boldness, and He was sweet to give me His words of encouragement ( like 2 Corinthians 3:4-5 that says, And such trust we have through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God). I knew the Lord was preparing hearts before us, I just needed to be obedient and speak. On the plane, I sat next to a man who actually asked me about my relationship with the Lord after he saw me reading the Bible and journaling my thoughts. We talked for about two hours about a wide array of things. After sharing my testimony, and some of my beliefs, he asked me to share what the Gospel was and what it means to me, and I did! I was able to open my Bible and share the Gospel with him! I had prayed for a specific moment like this, being able to fully go through the Gospel with someone! Here I was thinking that it would happen on the street or in a coffee shop, but here we were 30,000 ft in the air, not even in Portland yet. God is neat that way, answering prayers in ways we don’t expect, and answering little prayers for specific details we think could be so silly.
As far as once we hit the ground, Portland was what I expected and not what I expected at the same time. The people of Portland deserve a special mention for their unexpected friendliness and acceptance. Whether chatting with locals at a coffee shop or striking up conversations at the famous Powell's City of Books, the people in Portland seemed to like to talk to strangers? I could tell that a lot of the people we spoke to seemed to long for a sense of connection, which made it easy to strike up conversations. Of course, I suppose our accents helped too. Our goal was to start a conversation, share the gospel, and try to make connections. We focused on keeping the conversation on the Gospel and being honest of our intentions. We were clear that we weren’t trying to force anyone to believe anything or argue about anything, just sharing the Good News of Christ. Of the people I spoke to, surprisingly most said they thought planting a church in Portland was a good idea. They believed church would instill good morals in people and give people community, but they themselves were not interested in attending a church. I didn’t expect to hear that response as much as I did, but I suppose it makes sense, given their reputation for acceptance and coexistence of all backgrounds. I also spoke with maybe half a dozen people who said they once believed in the Gospel, but have since then stepped away from church because it disagreed with the lifestyle they wanted to live. Understanding where they are coming from, because I am a sinful human who has fleshly desires too, I tried to redirect the conversation to be simply that God loves us and wants a relationship with us but our sin separates us from Him and we simply have to want to have a relationship with Him too. It’s not one way, and it’s not about following a bunch of rules. We did lots of planting, lots of watering, and we trust that the Lord is working in the lives of those we spoke to. I’m thankful for the work that I saw God do in my life and in the lives of others on this trip, and I’m excited to see what He’ll continue to do in the PNW :)
