“Will you tell your family that you are now a Christian when you go home? What do you think your parents will say?” I asked my friend Maria, who was excited to go home for Spring Festival. I wanted to encourage her to share about her new-found faith while she was home, but I also wanted to help prepare her for the response she would get.
“They will be glad I believe in Jesus. Look at me! I’m a better person! If Jesus says to do all these good things, like don’t lie, and He makes people act better, then why would they not like it?” Maria reasoned.
She called me as soon as she got home after the five hour bus ride north. Maria hadn’t even been gone long enough for me to miss her, but we chatted for a while on the phone. She extended an invitation for me to come to her home, and I agreed to call her again sometime in the next few days, before I headed off on a preplanned trip of my own.
When we contacted Maria, she was so excited to hear from my coworker and me again that we had to hold the phone away from our ears! She couldn’t wait to tell us that she had shared about her new belief with her family, and…they told her they have had business interaction with people who believed in Christianity, and it has been a positive experience. They were not opposed to her belief in Jesus!
We’ve talked with Maria again since coming back from our trip. Most of her large extended family has come to her house to celebrate the Spring Festival, and she’s had many opportunities to share about belief in God! She’s also excitedly read her Bible during her time home!
When Maria comes back to school, we are going to ask her to be a part of a group to study foundational aspects of our faith. She is ready to grow!