A Manitoba pastor and ministry manager recently flew to Zambia to share the gospel and equip other evangelical teachers.
"This was my first time in Africa so it was impactful and life-changing," says Tony Froese, Pastor and Regional Manager of the prairie division of ShareWord Global.
"We work with our church partners on the ground. We went to Lusaka, Zambia, and we were doing evangelism work for about 12 days. The weather was warm but the people were so receptive to the gospel and we just saw such incredible things that only God can do."
A team of people from Canada and the UK connected with the team in Zambia to share the gospel with people in a relational way.
"We do a training day with the church and then we go out together and actually do street evangelism and put into practice what we learn. One group in particular was impactful to me," says Froese.
"There was a man named Philip who was very apprehensive to engage in conversational evangelism. As the day went on, I noticed his involvement elevated each time. I would turn and ask, 'Do you have anything to add, Phillip?' He would add a little bit. Then towards the end of the day, it was him primarily doing the evangelism and me just witnessing and watching."
At the beginning of the day Philip wanted nothing to do with evangelizing, but by the end, something had shifted.
"When we got back to the church, he just said, 'This has brought something alive in me.' We counted him as a person mobilized to share their faith. So that's one of the most encouraging things that I saw there."
Story of Heart Transformation
During the nine days of sharing the gospel, Froese was able to share the good news of Jesus with a 12-year-old girl.
"There was a young girl working the booth. I started talking to her and she just seemed disinterested in having a conversation. We kept talking and asked her if she knew anything about Jesus."
The young girl said that she believed in God but she felt certain that she wouldn't go to heaven if she died.
"We asked her why. She shared that she had been involved in some pretty negative choices lately in her life, including giving her body away and doing all sorts of things that were really having a negative impact on her life. She believed it [her salvation] was based on her performance. We were able to articulate the beauty of the gospel of Christ and that it's a free gift. We shared as we accept the gift, that's where life change happens."
Froese and his teammate watched as this young girl's entire countenance transformed throughout the conversation.
"We got to connect her with the local church there and a youth group. I left her with a Bible on the street and we carried on doing evangelism. On the way back down the street, I was able to look up across the road to see her enthralled and engrossed in scripture."
For anyone interested in learning more about ShareWord Global or anyone who would like to join them on an upcoming mission trip, Froese says they can reach out to him via email, at tony@sharewordglobal.org.