Tuesdays With- "J"

There are those days when a conversation with someone makes all the work we are doing, the frustrations we go through, the sadness of being away from “home”, totally worth it! Last week I, Josh, had one of those days.

flowers by the bridge

As I was preparing for my final worship time with the elementary students at Heritage a teacher approached me and said that “J” wanted to talk with me. J is a 6^th grade student and had a lot of questions regarding salvation and what would happen to her at the “end”. I met briefly with J right before worship and answered her questions as best I could and explained what it really meant to believe in Jesus. Thankfully we were standing on a bridge crossing one of the many streams at Heritage and so the “bridge” illustration for salvation was a perfect one to use. I could see it was clicking. After worship time I grabbed Rachel Goss to come with me and finish my conversation with J. As I prayed I felt Jesus telling me to very bluntly ask J if she believed in what Jesus did for her on the cross some 2,000 years ago and if she ever told Him that she believed. J told me that she did indeed believe it but had never told Jesus that. J was a little nervous and embarrassed to pray out loud in front of us so after asking her 3 times if she wanted to do it she decided that she would do it at home that night but did not want to do it in front of us. I felt peace that her heart was in the right place and Jesus telling me it was ok to not pressure her.

It was a wonderful conversation and J, I believe, sincerely believes in Jesus as her Savior. I found out after that J’s mother is a Muslim and through our conversation I know that J does not really have anyone this summer to help her grow in her faith. Would you pray that Jesus would bring someone alongside J and that J can also return to Heritage next year? Thank you for partnering with us and having a part in J’s new relationship with Jesus Christ!