Evangelism Reflections

On December 3rd and January 21st, each of our PCA students were partnered up with a Campus for Christ university student and they went out to approach other students on the University of Toronto campus with the purpose of starting conversations about spiritual things. Here is some of the feedback from our students about the experience:

Dorothy
My partner was Fae, and together we went into several buildings to find people to chat with. We had an opportunity to talk to twin sisters who were polar opposites in spiritual/religious beliefs. However, they had common ground in believing that there is a God, but it is impossible to have a personal relationship with Him. We did not get a chance to dig deeper and to actually share the message of Christ, but I believe that it is a start and that seeds were planted in their hearts that day.
When Fae and I sat down to debrief about our conversation with the twins, we mentioned how we wanted to share the gospel but didn't get a chance to. But, we came to a conclusion that it is God's perfect timing and that it isn't our job to share this news with them but rather, to plant a seed. Fae shared with me a scale that shows how each time someone evangelizes to a person, they shift from left to right, one number at a time. When they reach zero, it means that the person has accepted Christ, and each number after that is their growth and walk with the Lord. It was encouraging for me to remember that God is working even here at home and that He gave me an amazing partner that I learned a lot from.

Ivan
I was paired up with a student named Sath. He was extremely helpful and a really great example to learn from. We struck up a conversation with a guy eating his lunch. Sath opened by asking him if we could spend some time talking about his thoughts on God. The man said yes, and Sath began by asking him several questions such as, “What is your background in terms of faith?” and “What are your views of God?” Sath listened to his reply without interruption and when he spoke, he made an effort not to contradict anything the man said. Instead, he showed understanding and then merely presented his own views based on the same subjects. Unfortunately, the man was on a schedule and had to leave, but we quickly found another student willing to talk to us. We spoke with him for a while and found out that he was agnostic. However, he also believed that all religions were true to some extent, so he was in contradiction, but Sath didn’t point that out. Instead, he presented the Gospel as rational and logical religion which he himself accepted after thorough research. I learned a lot about evangelism from Sath and I am very grateful for his time spent with me.

Candice
I usually feel uncomfortable with having conversations with people I don't know and just start to talk to them about my faith. But it was interesting how Khevna, my partner, started the conversation. She explained that we were from C4C and we just wanted to see what people at the campus thought of or realized the pessimism of Christianity with the professors (or something like that). As the conversation went on, the girl we approached was really cool and was open to talk about what she believed in and her faith. She was a Sikh who wasn't really religious but on a relationship level in her faith. It was just amazing how she was so truthful and open about talking about what she believed in. Later on, her friend joined us. He was a Hindu by birth and didn't really seem to know much about his religion. It was like he was confused about what truth really was and seemed to be seeking. I gave him a "Jesus book", which they called it, but he refused. I really admired how Khevna told her story and relationship with them like they were old friends. She was really natural and genuine and everything just flowed. She was really bold and wasn't at all shy about sharing her faith. I've never evangelized like this before but it was really cool and I think I will continue something like this when I go to university.