My family has a heart for evangelism. The reason is because the Bible says that we need to be evangelistic. Yes, but another reason that my family has the heart for evangelism is because one American member of the Church of Christ cared enough to take the gospel to the Yucatan more than forty years ago. Once he arrived there, he baptized two couples. One of those couples were my mom and my dad. Thanks to that American brother in Christ my father became a preacher. My father taught his children the gospel, too. His five-daughters married faithful members of the church who preach in the Yucatan. His two sons preach the gospel in Alabama. Forty-five years ago, there were no Churches of Christ in the Yucatan. Now there are more than fifty Churches in the Yucatan Peninsula. That American man converted only two men and two women and left. The seed of the gospel that he planted has grown and has given fruit. This reminds me of the following story:
The story is told of a businessman who was overworked and decided to take some time off. While vacationing on the coast, a terrible storm hit. When it died down, he decided to take a walk down the cost to see what damage had been done. As he walked along the shore, he noticed thousands of starfish which had washed upon the shore. He knew that in a few hours the sun would come out and the starfish would dry out and die. As he thought about the starfish, he noticed a young boy who was throwing the starfish back one by one. The man was amazed by the youth’s diligence and shocked by his feeble attempts to make a difference. As he looked up the long beach, he saw thousands of starfish. When he caught up with the young man, he informed the boy that he could not possibly save them all and said to the little boy, “You’ll never be able to make a difference to the starfish population.” The boy bent down, picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it back into the safety of the ocean. Then he said, “I sure made a difference to that one.”
We cannot personally make a difference in the lives of everyone that fills this world, but we can make a difference to a few of them. It is interesting that when Jesus spoke of those on His right hand on the Day of Judgment, he described them as having made a difference in the life of one person. He said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). I sincerely believe that each of us can make a difference in the life of someone. This is how Jesus worked-one at a time. Sure, He preached to thousands, but He visited with families, and helped individuals.The American man that converted my mom and my dad knew this teachings of Jesus very well and I want to do the same, I want to make a difference to at least in the life of one person.
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