For the city to hear

I had the opportunity to hear Joyce Meyer speak at a women's event last night held at Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC). This is a HUGE church run by two Canadian muzungus and is one of the largest churches in Kampala. They do great work here with orphans and have a community where they care for orphans called Watoto. I love KPC and the work that they are doing and their solid Biblical teachings.

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of Joyce. I mean I think some of what she says is great and has solid Biblical backing and then there are other statements she makes that seem close to the truth and the word of God but take a left turn at the last minute into self help prosperity gospel type preaching.

No matter what my personal opinion is of Joyce Meyer I have to say last night was amazing. Amazing in the sense that there were hundreds of Ugandan women lined up around the church waiting to get in to hear and be fed by the word of God spoken through Joyce herself. KPC can probably hold about 2,000 people and was filled to overflowing…so much so that they had about another 500 chairs set up outside with a big screen and huge speakers for people to watch.

The night started with praise and worship songs led by a 50-person choir. I don’t take it for granted how awesome it was to be sitting outside under the dark African sky worshiping God freely and surrounded by hundreds of Ugandan women. When I say it was awesome despite my liking or disliking Joyce this is what I mean. I was sitting outside and singing and even dancing at some point and I just thought WOW….what a privilege we have here. I know of many missionaries working in unreached places and are being killed and persecuted for their love of Christ. They would probably love to have a night like this. I feel almost selfish.

I was also excited as I sat there and thought of all the people who would also hear the message and the songs and the worship. KPC is in the middle of downtown. People can’t help but pass by because it is on the main road running through the city center. So here we were outside singing and worshiping and sharing God’s word and there was an entire city being affected…whether they wanted to or not. I just began to pray that the songs and the words would reach beyond the parking lot where we were seated and that people would hear the truth and believe.

God gives us all opportunities like this. Maybe not in the massive scale he has given them to Joyce Meyer but reaching even just one person is HUGE. How many times have we been seated on the Metro and had someone ask us a question about a book we are reading? A conversation about a book overheard by 10-15 people could make an impact on someone. Or what about the times at a restaurant or on the sports field or in our offices where we spend most of our waking hours. God is giving us opportunity after opportunity to tell others about him and yet sometimes we remain silent. We all have our circles of influence – however small or large they are is not the point. God has placed someone in each of our lives he is dying for us to bring to his son Jesus. Let’s open our eyes and our ears today and ask God to show us who he has placed right in front of us for this very purpose. Let’s ask and believe in faith that God will grant us the words to say when given the opportunity to speak and let us never stop believing that our purpose here on earth is to tell everyone we meet about the son of God who died for all of our sins so that we might have eternal salvation through him.

I pray that today we would have the opportunity to share Christ’s love with someone. I pray that today might be the day we take a nervous step forward and share the gospel with one of our co-workers. I pray that today we wouldn’t miss the conversations, acts of kindness and service that God has placed before us to do and take part in. I am praying that today we would all draw just a little closer to God through our obedience to his desires for our lives.