Forced to the basement!

I was walking around the mall last night praying for God to give me His love for the people he wanted me to talk to about salvation. I heard a strange, loud noise and realized water was pummeling the windows in the food court. People seemed to grow increasingly alarmed as they realized they were now trapped in the mall. I thought I heard sirens but was trying to talk myself out of that reality when I saw 2 security guards talking on their walkie talkies and scurrying my direction. Yes, a tornado warning had been issued and we were instructed to go to the basement.

"Wow, Lord, I guess I'll have lots of opportunitites to talk to people now!" I thought. Being one of the first persons in the basement, droves of people streamed toward me down the escalators . I was so overwhelmed! I wanted to talk to everyone at once... but I was scared to talk to anyone at all.

After making sure our little witnessing group was all safe and sound, I walked up to a woman nearby and showed her the Smart Card. She pleasantly answered my questions. When asked if she had any spiritual beliefs, she said, "Lutheranism". Interesting answer. When I asked her if she obeyed the Ten Commandments, she said, "Yes" but then quickly added a disclaimer. I asked her if I could quiz her on that and she said she had to leave. I felt deflated.

I prayed for God's guidance as I walked into the sea of people sitting on the floor and circular benches. They all seemed to be stairing at me since I was the only one walking anywhere. I thought about how surreal this situation was... everyone in this space was forced there because our lives were in danger. Essentially, the reality was, we could die at any moment. And I was still fearful to talk to them about their eternal future. How lame! So I prayed again...

I walked toward a young woman who was standing by herself. She laughed as I interacted with her using the Smart Card, and we talked about whether anyone could ever be good enough to have fellowship with a Holy God. She told me she was Catholic, so I asked her how her Catholicism would answer that question. She said she didn't know. I asked her if she knew why Jesus died on the cross. Again, "I don't know." What a privilege to tell her that God loves her so much that He came to Earth to pay the price for her sins.

Later Sarah suggested open-air preaching would have been good in a situation like we were in last night. Wow, that would have been amazing! Unfortunately, none of us were brave enough to test it out. May God increase my faith in Him to the point where my thoughts about myself pale in comparison to my love for the lost and my obedience to my Savior.

-Lisa