Guest blog by Chris Platt Missions and Ministry Pastor – Crestwood Baptist Church, Crestwood, KY
It was a rare opportunity for me – two missions sites during one trip to Europe. The first stop was Elblag, Poland, where our team was going to lead a camp for children. It was our sixth trip to Poland to reach out to these community children, some of whom were from a nearby orphanage. Relationships had been built through the years. We anticipated that the message of the cross was going to penetrate some of their hearts resulting in public professions of faith in Jesus Christ. By late in the week we were able to celebrate how God had been at work. Approximately 20 children had expressed a desire to give their life to Christ. Many others had been challenged to strengthen their relationship with Him. Nearly all had grown in their English skills. Some of them imagined we had shaped them into being the next Michael Jordan through our basketball clinic!
The ministry in Poland followed a formula that has served Kentucky Baptists well for years. Develop a partnership with a church or ministry that has solid leadership and great potential for kingdom growth. Determine a ministry environment that can effectively reach that community for Christ. Pastor Pawel knew that this type of venue would connect with the young families in his community plus provide a caring place for the local orphans. It worked well. Praise God!
Typical location for market evangelism
But, what about the second leg of the journey? What about the game plan our missionaries had unveiled to reach a neighborhood community of 70,000 in the heart of Naples, Italy? The strategy called for relational evangelism but I wasn’t totally convinced. It was clear that God had called our church to serve the Fuori Grotta neighborhood. He had partnered us with some gifted missionary couples who had prayed over the community and asked God to reveal to them a strategy that makes sense for making a difference there. Relational evangelism was God’s answer to them.
Naples looking out to Mt. Vesuvius
I think my hesitation with accepting the plan stemmed from my desire to see instant results. I knew what relational evangelism meant. It meant developing long-term relationships and taking many trips before “anything” happened. Of course, I knew better. There are amazing moments during the planting and watering of seeds. God has shown me that countless times – for example, as I talked to a couple in the bleachers of a South Oldham High School basketball game in Crestwood, Kentucky, and as Chad, Brian, and I witnessed to Danielo in his soccer shop in Naples, Italy. Relational evangelism works! I’ve taught “Becoming A Contagious Christian” for years and highly value the principles the course lays out. But, in the days leading up to our trip to Naples, can I be honest? I had a few anxious moments. And yet it was God who quietly guided me to trust Him and the revelation He had given these missionaries.
There’s a missionary’s prayer that says: “Where you lead me I will follow; what they feed me I will swallow.” Typically the prayer is cited because someone on a mission team is struggling with the food selections at that particular location. But, in my case, the prayer served as a reminder that God was leading me (and our team) to Naples to follow the missionaries He had instructed and empowered.
It’s rare for me to second-guess a missionary’s strategy. There’s good reason why. In my twenty years of taking teams on mission trips, I’ve discovered our missionaries listen to the heartbeat of God. Once again, these missionaries had a well-developed strategy in place for our team.
Based on Luke 10, we were sent out into a two and a half square mile area to discover the meeting points of the city and then engage the people who work, play, eat, and shop there. We spent our days hanging out in gelato shops, restaurants, and assorted stores talking with the owners and workers at each place. Some liked practicing their English while we tried to improve our Italian. Mainly they were intrigued to find out why we were there which gave us opportunity to transition the conversation to spiritual matters. They were not willing to talk about that very much on the first day we met. But after we had stopped by for four days straight enjoying their company (and their gelato!), they opened up and allowed us to share. Some were willing to tell their story as was the case with Danielo in that soccer shop. A three-hour conversation concluded with us highlighting passages in the Bible we gave him. Sometimes our conversations did not go very far due to our limited language abilities. Some of the women on our team hit it off with Enza who had figured out the art of preparing Italian food. Unfortunately, though, language was a barrier. Next time we will have to figure out a way to communicate love other than through a smile and a well-timed “grazie.”
Late afternoons and evenings were the perfect time for invading the parks. These parks included grassy and concrete areas. It was interesting to see how the men would congregate at one park and the women and children would meet and play at another park about a block away. We chose the latter. We came prepared to throw Frisbees, teach basketball, play soccer, and give out small gifts bearing Christian messages to the children we would encounter. The gifts opened the door for conversation and served as an introduction to our team. Throwing Frisbees was entertaining since most Italians apparently have never thrown one. The children were not trying to do this, but they hit their fair share of cars, grandmothers, pigeons, and tops of trees. They also are not very familiar with basketball. It took some time but eventually they got the gist of shooting the ball – and all we had for a goal was a tall, metal garbage can we positioned on top of a four-foot wall. The biggest hit of the week were the foldable soccer goals and brightly colored balls we brought. Italian children and teenagers may not be good with their hands when it comes to sports but they are great with their feet. They dominated us on the soccer field though occasionally we made a goal or made a stop as goalkeeper.
Suffice it to say, we spent a lot of time with the people in the park – about four hours each day. This generated times to sit and rest and talk with them. The men in our group generally were with the young people while the women were with the moms and grandmas watching the activities. The teenagers were curious about the basketball I was carrying – the words “Hoops and Hope” and a picture of a cross were on the ball. I explained I was in Naples to tell them how they could have hope. We did some “Q & A” and had some interesting dialogue about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. All of them had a Catholic background and could only describe religious activities they occasionally tried. Every indication was that this relationship stuff was news to them. They were right – it was news – good news. On the other side of the park, the women were having a little more success as they talked about parenting and cooking and salvation. Bibles were given out and animated discussions were happening. A Chinese woman named Ping and another small group of Italian women seemed to be seriously considering the claims of Christ. Ping, whose name means “peace,” declared that she wished she would have peace in her life. Team member Julia gladly peppered her response with Bible verses that described how peace is found through knowing the Prince of Peace.
How about that? The strategy of relational evangelism was making an impact and it was happening in only the span of a few days. A mission team from Louisiana was checking into the hotel as we were checking out. They would continue the work God had started in and through us. Pray for the Fuori Grotta neighborhood. Pray that God would continue to flood that area with carriers of the Gospel. Pray for receptive hearts. Pray that the missionaries there would keep listening to the heartbeat of God and be directed by Him. And now, excuse me, while I go look for another gelato shop!
