Small miracles and hoping for bigger ones

We have been searching for ‘people of peace’ (Luke 10:5) for eight years in our area. There have been some that seemed like that but their interest fizzled out.

One day I was about to tell the story of Zaccheus in an electrical shop. An older lady came in to pay her refrigerator bill. I offered to tell her the story too. When I finished she said, “Could you come to my shop and tell stories?”

I didn’t think too much of it because we often have initial interest and then nothing comes of it, but I did go and find the shop. She loved the stories and each week would invite customers, “Come and hear the story.” Some did but most didn’t.

After two stories she said, “I think the three shop assistants need to hear these stories.” So each week after her storytime I’d tell a story to the shop assistants. It wasn’t easy as they’d be tidying up the breakfast shop ready to leave. Often I told a story with them swishing a mop around my feet. There were lots of interruptions.

Then the boss said, “I think my family needs to hear these stories, would you come to my home?”

When I arrived that first Sunday afternoon there were two daughters and a daughter-in-law in their 30’s and 40’s. There was a huge gap between the first and second stories because of busyness and Chinese New Year but since April we’ve been meeting every two weeks. The daughter-in-law has only heard three stories but the other three ladies have been there every time. For the third time, I invited a Taiwanese friend, Debbie, who had been trained in all the stories. She was telling stories regularly in two nursing homes but the Christians at the church she attended said, “You haven’t been a Christian long enough to do evangelism!” So she got discouraged.

Now she’s telling the story and leading the discussion and last time when I was away she did everything for the Mark 2:1-12 story.

Today Debbie wasn’t able to come and it was pouring with rain. I prayed that the rain would stop for long enough for me to get to the group as I only have a bicycle. It did.

I didn’t really want to do the next story in the set as I’d prefer Debbie to do it. So I decided to do Zaccheus instead. Just after I started the son arrived. I’d never met him but he causes his Mum much heartbreak as he is an alcoholic and doesn’t work.  He walked in and picked up a whiskey bottle and sat behind the group.

Zaccheus was just the right story for him and it turned out that he has watched many Bible-based films and so had much more background than anyone knew. To our surprise (in a group of ladies) he revised the story with us and participated in the discussion. His answers were often the best and he was the only one who knew what it meant to be a ‘descendant of Abraham’. Not merely to be truly a descendant but rather to have the same faith and trust in God that Abraham had.

Like Zaccheus, all of them need to ‘be found’ and come to salvation.

Update: this older woman is now following Jesus and has been baptised. We continue to pray for her family members.