The story of my life 14 – The public shame

-->

When I finished school, I did a three month internship. On my way I always walked in a busy street in the center of Porto. It was a long avenue full of shops and very busy. There were always some street vendors and also less fortunate people asking for alms on the sidewalk. But among them, a woman called my attention. I’d see her every day sitting on the floor with a child. A difficult scene to watch! If it hurts to see an adult asking, imagine with a child, who was visibly sick. It started to bother me, I needed to tell her about Jesus. But how? She was always surrounded by people walking by, and some stopped to give. What would I do to get her attention?

The days went by and I kept seeing that sad scene and telling myself, “I need to do something.” One day I said to myself, “Today is the day I'll talk to her.” And so I did on the way back. The street was  crowded. It was a busy hour! When I passed by where she was, I approached her, and made an invitation for her to go to church to find the solution for her life. And I said, “Your son can be cured.” But do you know what was her reaction? She started yelling at me, saying that she already had her religion and to not talk to her about another church, etc. but screaming... As you can imagine, although I did the right thing, I felt a lot of shame, because people stared at me; and I don’t know what they thought I said to that poor woman. But inside of me I was in peace, I knew that I had done what God wanted.

It is very sad when we see people suffering and we know the solution for their lives; but they refuse to accept it. They prefer to continue in rock bottom than to give up the religiosity and open their mind and heart to the One who can save: the Lord Jesus. However, that did not make me give up evangelizing. Because some do not accept the good news of the gospel, it doesn’t mean that we are going to be silent and stop spreading what’s good. This was not the only time people said “no” to me. Many times people don’t want to hear me, they close the door in my face, they curse, they pretend that they’re not listening, etc. However we must continue to do what the Lord Jesus taught us. Of course, always with education, never wanting to impose our faith on anyone nor disrespecting the belief of others.

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”” Mark 16:15

May each one contribute and do his/her part. Have you ever been through something similar? Tell us your experience!

In the meantime readhere the previous posts.