Partnering to Share the Gospel in London

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,” 2 Timothy 1:7-8

What does it mean as a Christian; in a dark world, to have a spirit of power, love, and self-control? When looking back at my time in London during fall break, at first, I didn’t know what to write about. So many faces and stories come to my mind, I didn’t know where to begin. Then God reminded me of 2 Timothy 1: 7-8. God used this verse mightily in many interactions that my partner, Ella, and I had while evangelizing together on the London streets. In an area of darkness where we saw witches selling demonic books and enchantments, it was difficult to remember that the Spirit of the Living God dwelt within us. So, I clung to this verse as a life preserver amongst the crashing waves.

We see multiple times in the Bible that we as Christians have the Spirit of God residing in us. (1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:9) The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in every follower of Christ. This Spirit has power over all forces of evil and darkness. We no longer need to fear this world or the darkness within it, but rather we can speak life into the darkness. One way Ella and I spoke life into the darkness was simply by asking Londoners how we could pray for them, and then we prayed with them in the name of Jesus. We had so many people tell us they never had anyone pray for them before. The Spirit within us gave us love that surpasses cultures. Traveling 3,500 miles to pray with people is a super impactful story to tell someone, but what kind of person or even what type of love does that? The love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit allows us to love like that.

Paul wrote to Timothy telling him not to be ashamed of the gospel. An honest and difficult question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we ashamed of the Gospel?” Is the Western church ashamed of the gospel? As I look at my day, I think about who I talked to, and did I take that opportunity to share Jesus with them. Too often I answer with an excuse, “They were busy or that will make things awkward.” Nik Ripken in his book, “The Insanity of God” says “Those who number themselves among the followers of Jesus—but don’t witness for Him—are actually siding with the Taliban”. This quote captures perfectly how being ashamed of the Gospel is hurting other Christians around the globe. It may be uncomfortable and awkward, but we must pray for boldness and courage in the gospel.

Finally, we must share in the suffering we see one another walking through. In the Bible, we can see that Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs of two to help one another and to suffer together. This is still true for us today. Going in pairs helps us to encourage one another. Conversations can be long and tiresome, and most of the time discouraging and seem to lead to nowhere. While Ella and I shared the gospel with a lady in London, one of us shared for about ten minutes, and the other read a passage of related Scripture. We continued sharing and reading Scripture back and forth until eventually we saw the lady come to faith in Christ. Sometimes being a pair means you get to celebrate together and other times it means you must suffer together. Many people rejected us and turned us away, but in those moments, we reminded one anther that the results were up to God and. All we can do is be faithful to share. I am very thankful God allowed me to experience the benefits of partnering with Ella to share the gospel and see His mighty work in London.

My mission trip to London taught me a lot about how God works and how powerful the Spirit of God is. God works through prayer, perseverance, and partnership. God does not call any Christian to reap results, but He calls all Christians to go and be faithful to share the gospel. We had a joke the whole week in London: we spread the gospel seed everywhere, but God made it rain daily in London. God is in London, and He is not done working there and in the world.