The Gift of Being Interruptible

Before I came on the race, I thought evangelism was a pushy, toxic way to force the Gospel down people’s throats. The image that always came to mind were those obnoxious street evangelists with megaphones that would be on the crowded beached yelling about condemnation and ruining people’s (my) vacation. When we got to training camp, I was told that we would be having designated days called ATL (Ask the Lord), where we were expected to be interruptible to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in approaching people. In other words, learning how to evangelize. When they were saying that, there was a very large part of me that was super resistant to the idea of even wanting to try that because of the outside perspective I had carried in about what evangelist looked like and how they affected people. My conception was very narrow to say the least, but God broke through that pride as He does. Our first ATL was in Antigua and I was so excited to take off and see the sights, eat all the good food and explore every inch of the city. That ambition gradually decimated as certain members of my team would continually stop to have conversations or pray over people with disabilities.

At first, it was easy to feel annoyed that my “day off” of ministry was being disrupted with MORE ministry. I reluctantly dragged my feet as we approached a crippled man who was selling bracelets on the side of the street. His name was Edward and he was born with a disformity in his legs that should’ve rendered him unable to walk, yet somehow he managed to get himself up and around Antigua everyday on one crutch to sell about $7 dollars worth of goods to feed his family. My whole team ended up praying for this man and that God would provide for his needs. Once we said “Amen”, his facial expression was God’s slap in the face to me on how selfish my mindset had been. In that moment, this man’s appreciation for God and our team meant everything to me. It then hit me, “this is what it looks like to be interruptible.” Praise God for my team and their willingness to walk in obedience because if it wasn’t for the attentiveness of some of them, I’m not sure that my perspective on being interruptible would’ve ever changed.    

I’m currently reading a book referenced to me by my mother titled “The Call” by Oz Guinness who is an English Oxford graduate and profound historian, theologian and apologetical professor. In his book he focuses on the Divine Call and what it looks like to step into the fullness of the Creator’s purpose for His created. A quote I loved in application to this blog was “once we fully step into this purpose, God’s call becomes a sure beacon ahead of us and a blazing fire within us as we arise through the enablement of Christ to negotiate the challenges of our time and culture.” Such a beautiful depiction of how it felt to step into that YES. Knowing that I was working towards something that would extend beyond this moment. That mentality aligns with French philosopher and diplomat Alexis Tocqueville’s philosophy, “the final aim of life is placed beyond life.” The more ATL I do, the more I find this approach to be most fulfilling and accurate depiction of how I want to continue to live my walk with Christ.

For some time it was a struggle to feel as connected to God as I was at training camp. There it felt like a constant filling and renewing of the Spirit was occurring multiple times a day, everyday. To go from that extreme spiritual high to hitting it hard in ministry in a foreign environment made me feel drained. When I was reflecting on this feeling in my quiet time with the Lord, it was revealed to me that our efforts to give our best YES to people by serving and loving on them despite our  enthusiasm level is probably giving them a taste of the same experience I had while riding my spiritual high. Through us they are getting embraced by the kind of love that only comes from above and even though we may feel drained after engaging in those interactions all day, what a beautiful thing to be able to help them experience a glimpse of that fulfillment that was so richly granted to us as we were preparing. Even as we have been working alongside our Reindom ministry and seeing all the ways they have been willing to be interrupted for “the least of these” sake, has been beautiful to witness. Before I end this blog, I have a story that portrays this quality and how the Lord was magnified through it.

As you know if you read my last blog, Reindom has a homeless ministry on Wednesdays that focuses on nutrition for the body and spirit for those who are lost in addiction. Through this ministry there was an alcoholic (for privacy sake we will name him E) who had been connected with Reindom for quite some time and had even started volunteering to help others get to a better place. I had met E a couple of times and could tell that he had a good heart and desired to serve the Lord and abandon his addictions, yet when you live on the streets, the resources for help are limited so people who want to change have no way of doing so. Through some miracle our team was able to get connected to a rehab center and we told E that we would be able to take him there towards the end of the week. He was ecstatic to hear the news but asked that the Reindom team take him that evening, as he was nervous to fall back into drunkenness that night. It was arranged and he left to go get his few belongings; later coming back with a bag of bread, half bottle of water and two pictures: his wife who had left him and mother who had died. This was all he had.

Our team sat him down to pray over him and his journey and the words flowed so did E’s tears, for he had been seeking an opportunity like this for so long. After we prayed, half the team left to go take him to the center and the other half stayed behind (including myself) to prepare dinner. Several hours later, the team arrived back carrying in E who was completely unconscious. Apparently when they were checking his belongings, they found out that the name he had been going by was not actually his real name and when they started asking questions, he excused himself to the bathroom and chugged that half bottle of what was actually a mixture of straight rubbing alcohol and some other substances. Ten minutes later he came back in a completely intoxicated state trying to climb out of the center’s gates and yelling that he wanted to get out. He then passed out and was brought back to our base where we made a bed for him and set up a hourly night watch schedule to look after him in the night and be praying. Many from the team were disappointed in that evenings circumstances, but Reindom was convinced to not let the enemy win and to get E the help he needed. The rest of the story is told from other’s perspective as I was dead asleep all night haha.

At the 2 am hour slot, a teammate of mine got up for his watch. When he went down, he saw that E was awake and huddled in the corner of the room shaking and pointing. Kevin, my teammate, asked E what he saw and found that E was seeing a demon who had been tormenting him, telling him to kill himself in that room, that he was a burden to this ministry and that he would never be free from his addictions. A two hour battle then ensued as the demon would repetitively start choking E so that he could not breathe and then possess him all while my teammate along with others from Reindom were fervently praying and rebuking the demon in the name of Jesus. After several hours, E was finally able to rebuke the demon in the name of Jesus out of his own mouth and that is when the darkness finally left. They asked for his name to which he replied a different one than the name they had known him by all this time. E said that the false name was that of his younger brother who had died when he was 7 years old and after alcoholism had ruined his life and separated him from everyone he loved, he assumed his brothers name as a new identity because of all the shame that was associated with his real name. A time of healing then happened as my team poured out the truth of God’s love for who E was despite all that he had done and how God redeems stories like his into beautiful testimonies of faith. They then had a loud worship session at  4 in the morning, and yes I was still out for all of this, and were able to get him back to the rehab center in the morning where he still is today. Reindom was able to help free E from the darkness he was wrestling with because they chose to be interruptible and let him stay at the base instead of dropping him off in the street. Because they chose to fight for his sobriety even when he was ready to give up on it. Because they chose to sacrifice their sleep in order to make sure he was cared for. Redemption is born out of saying YES in allowing the Lord to interrupt you and that gift blesses everyone involved.

From now on I’m going to be ending each blog with a story of the people who are being impacted due to divine interruption because I believe they are important in bringing glory to how God is working. To get back to my point on evangelism, yes there are some people who misrepresent it and turn it into a toxic trait of Christianity; yet I believe God redeems Himself through true followers who are walking in tune with the Spirit and evangelizing in a manner that sees people in their need and chooses to say YES to being divinely interrupted.

Thank you for reading and for those who are continuing to shower me in support and prayers. – Tris