Stories

I grew up in a Christian church but my faith wasn’t my own till high school. I went on a mission’s trip to the Tenderloin district of San Francisco where my church teamed up with YWAM to minister to the homeless population. One night we were handing out hot cocoa to the homeless and the group I was with accidentally went out of the boundaries determined by the organization. That’s when we met a man that would challenge me in a significant way. 

We offered this man some cocoa and he quickly was skeptical of why we were doing what we were doing. We quickly responded that we were sharing the Love of Jesus in a practical way. His response was that all Christians are hypocrites. This response cut right to our hearts. We didn’t have much of a response other than “nuh-uh”. Since we didn’t really know how to respond I went on to share my story of coming to Christ at Vacation Bible School. My story is not one that someone would make a movie out of or write a book so this fell flat as well. 

His response was what floored me. He looked me right in the eye and said “You are a Christian because of your parents and the upbringing you had.” I had never had someone so boldly respond to a personal story like that ever. It took me back and immediately I felt my emotions taking over. I held it together and quickly got out of the conversation since we were late getting back to the YWAM building. Once we returned I broke down. 

I had realized that I was going through the motions of being a Christian. Living how I wanted to live and then asking for forgiveness on Sunday at church. I didn’t know God. I didn’t know what it meant to follow after Him. I knew something needed to change. 

Once I got home I knew I needed to spend time in God’s word. I needed to pray but more importantly listen. Last I decided I needed to go to church anytime the doors were open.  So I could learn who is this God that I professed but didn’t know. 

Today as I look back to that time it was pivotal to my walk with Jesus. It was a rough conversation. It was a trying time for me but what came out of it was beautiful. I still don’t know all the things of God but I am still getting to know God. I just needed the nudge to come back to Him.