Amen-ities on a Test Drive
A few weeks ago I had a divinely-appointed test drive in Edgewood in a Toyota.
I really began to have a burden in my spirit for "Jayne," the saleswoman. I still do . I pray she comes to know Jesus.
Today I had another similar experience. I was test driving a Volvo that my husband wanted me to check out. Ben and two other kids rode in the back, while the salesman "Stan" (I'll call him)-- a large black fellow probably in his early 20s --went along for the ride.
I detected a foreign accent and asked him where he was from.
"Africa," he said. That narrowed it down. I wondered if he thought I didn't know there are several countries over there.
"Oh, yeah? Which country?"
"Kenya."
"Oh, okay. What's the political climate like there these days?" He proceeded very intelligently to describe the Rainbow Coalition and the new democracy that seems to be working pretty well.
Then I asked him when he came to America . "In eighth grade," he said.
I asked if his parents and siblings were all here, too. He informed me his mom and siblings came over but that his dad passed away when Stan was 8. I said I was sorry. Wondered to myself if it was from AIDS. He said that because of his dad's political position before he died the family was still being threatened afterward and had to keep moving around Kenya, so they finally moved to the States. Then I wondered if his dad been executed, but I didn't ask. This was only a test drive. (Had it been an actual drive....never mind!)
So I asked about the religious climate. "Are Christians being persecuted in Kenya like they are in Sudan?"
"No, I don't think so. Kenya is 70% Christian and 10% Muslim. Most of the persecutions are taking place in West Africa--Nigeria and other places--where the Muslim population is about 90% and the Christian is less than 10."
Wow. This guy was so well-informed! I thought maybe he was of one of those two faiths.
"Are you Muslim or Christian?" I asked.
I knew then that the Holy Spirit was in the car. (Okay, so the Holy Spirit had been there all along, but when I'm bold enough to ask someone if they're Christian or Muslim, that's not ME asking!")
It was the same sense of compassion, joy, and peace rising in me that had arisen in the Toyota a couple weeks ago with Jayne.
Stan answered, "I've been both. I like the humility I've seen in my Muslim friends, and their discipline. You know, they have prayers they pray five times a day."
Providentially, we had to stop in traffic for a few extra seconds of conversation.
"I've been in Christian churches growing up and all , but...." He trailed off, almost as if he didn't want to say anything offensive in case I told him I was Christian.
We turned into the dealership and I put the car in Park. I asked him about every button on the dash and steering wheel. I even said something dorky that my kids won't let me live down. (The steering wheel has an icon of a horn on the right side--no handle, just a megaphone type thingy with an up arrow and a down arrow.
I said, "Is this the horn volume?"
Oh, man, did I really say that?
"Uh, no ma'am, it's the radio volume," Stan corrected graciously. On the inside he was probably doubling over.White woman know geography but don't know squat about cars. "Volvo wants to make it easy for their drivers to concentrate on the road so they put some features right on the wheel. I would propose they write in a neon font visible from Jupiter: "RADIO VOLUME, NOT HORN VOLUME."
"Oh!" I laughed at myself when I realized how stupid my question was. "You mean you can't make the horn go "hink, honk , HAAAAWWWNKKKNK!" in three different volumes depending on the emergency?" He snorted this time.
"What station do you listen to?" he asked, composing his professional self while fiddling with the dials.
"95.1," I said, which he found, and it was playing "It is Well with my Soul." I remembered a time a few months ago when I couldn't sing that song in the depths of depression. I thanked God when I heard it this afternoon that He has brought me up out of that pit!
I tested the memory seats, the moonroof, the message board telling me "75 miles till empty tank"-- all the amenities I could do without if I didn't know they could be had. Those things are cool, but I don't get overly excited about them. If, however, someone wanted to GIVE me a Volvo S80 with all the bells and whistles, I would be grateful and take it!
I looked at Stan again. "You say you've been Christian and Muslim. What would you say you are now?"
He thought a second and half-smiled. "I'm looking."
What a great segue, Lord! Thank You! I whispered in my spirit.
"Looking, huh? Well, I'm a Christian and I go to a Christian church. It's non-denominational and
interracial."
He beamed. "Oh, that's good!" he said, relieved. "I wouldn't wanna be..."
"The only black guy in an all-white church? I don't blame you. I wouldn't wanna be the only white woman in an all-black church, either. " He chuckled knowingly. "We have several blacks in our church, and one of our pastors is black," I added. "I think you'd be comfortable. You'll hear about Jesus Christ every Sunday, you can count on it. You won't hear about what you gotta do , it's not about doing things to impress Christ, but what He's done for us. Our salvation is a free gift."
"Oh, okay," he said. "Yeh. What's the name of your church?" I told him, and I gave him the web site. "Chesapeake Church Dot Com," I said. "We'd love to see you there. If you're looking." I wish I'd had a pocket New Testament to give him.
I drove away in my '98 Windstar, thankful that God had given me eternal life and the compulsion to share it. I remembered what Missy had said in care group. "In Romans, Paul says he was compelled to share the gospel. At that time, you could be in debt two ways: one way was, of course, to have borrowed money from someone. The other way was if you were holding money for someone who had said to give it to someone else. You didn't want to keep it, you were compelled to give it away. That's the way we are to think of the gospel--it's been given to us to give away to others."
I was compelled today. Compelled by love for Christ and His eternal life. Not only did He give it to me as a free gift, He also bestowed me with all the "amenities" that come as a result of Christ's death and resurrection.
As for the horn volume? Let's just say, when the final trumpet sounds I'll be going UP! Not in a bird-dookied Windstar, not in a late-model Toyota with butt-warming seats, and not in a Volvo
that tells me when the moonroof is open. I plan to be lifted onto the back of a white horse ridden valiantly by my nail-scarred Prince of Peace! And I pray Stan is along for the ride, too!
I really began to have a burden in my spirit for "Jayne," the saleswoman. I still do . I pray she comes to know Jesus.
Today I had another similar experience. I was test driving a Volvo that my husband wanted me to check out. Ben and two other kids rode in the back, while the salesman "Stan" (I'll call him)-- a large black fellow probably in his early 20s --went along for the ride.
I detected a foreign accent and asked him where he was from.
"Africa," he said. That narrowed it down. I wondered if he thought I didn't know there are several countries over there.
"Oh, yeah? Which country?"
"Kenya."
"Oh, okay. What's the political climate like there these days?" He proceeded very intelligently to describe the Rainbow Coalition and the new democracy that seems to be working pretty well.
Then I asked him when he came to America . "In eighth grade," he said.
I asked if his parents and siblings were all here, too. He informed me his mom and siblings came over but that his dad passed away when Stan was 8. I said I was sorry. Wondered to myself if it was from AIDS. He said that because of his dad's political position before he died the family was still being threatened afterward and had to keep moving around Kenya, so they finally moved to the States. Then I wondered if his dad been executed, but I didn't ask. This was only a test drive. (Had it been an actual drive....never mind!)
So I asked about the religious climate. "Are Christians being persecuted in Kenya like they are in Sudan?"
"No, I don't think so. Kenya is 70% Christian and 10% Muslim. Most of the persecutions are taking place in West Africa--Nigeria and other places--where the Muslim population is about 90% and the Christian is less than 10."
Wow. This guy was so well-informed! I thought maybe he was of one of those two faiths.
"Are you Muslim or Christian?" I asked.
I knew then that the Holy Spirit was in the car. (Okay, so the Holy Spirit had been there all along, but when I'm bold enough to ask someone if they're Christian or Muslim, that's not ME asking!")
It was the same sense of compassion, joy, and peace rising in me that had arisen in the Toyota a couple weeks ago with Jayne.
Stan answered, "I've been both. I like the humility I've seen in my Muslim friends, and their discipline. You know, they have prayers they pray five times a day."
Providentially, we had to stop in traffic for a few extra seconds of conversation.
"I've been in Christian churches growing up and all , but...." He trailed off, almost as if he didn't want to say anything offensive in case I told him I was Christian.
We turned into the dealership and I put the car in Park. I asked him about every button on the dash and steering wheel. I even said something dorky that my kids won't let me live down. (The steering wheel has an icon of a horn on the right side--no handle, just a megaphone type thingy with an up arrow and a down arrow.
I said, "Is this the horn volume?"
Oh, man, did I really say that?
"Uh, no ma'am, it's the radio volume," Stan corrected graciously. On the inside he was probably doubling over.White woman know geography but don't know squat about cars. "Volvo wants to make it easy for their drivers to concentrate on the road so they put some features right on the wheel. I would propose they write in a neon font visible from Jupiter: "RADIO VOLUME, NOT HORN VOLUME."
"Oh!" I laughed at myself when I realized how stupid my question was. "You mean you can't make the horn go "hink, honk , HAAAAWWWNKKKNK!" in three different volumes depending on the emergency?" He snorted this time.
"What station do you listen to?" he asked, composing his professional self while fiddling with the dials.
"95.1," I said, which he found, and it was playing "It is Well with my Soul." I remembered a time a few months ago when I couldn't sing that song in the depths of depression. I thanked God when I heard it this afternoon that He has brought me up out of that pit!
I tested the memory seats, the moonroof, the message board telling me "75 miles till empty tank"-- all the amenities I could do without if I didn't know they could be had. Those things are cool, but I don't get overly excited about them. If, however, someone wanted to GIVE me a Volvo S80 with all the bells and whistles, I would be grateful and take it!
I looked at Stan again. "You say you've been Christian and Muslim. What would you say you are now?"
He thought a second and half-smiled. "I'm looking."
What a great segue, Lord! Thank You! I whispered in my spirit.
"Looking, huh? Well, I'm a Christian and I go to a Christian church. It's non-denominational and
interracial."
He beamed. "Oh, that's good!" he said, relieved. "I wouldn't wanna be..."
"The only black guy in an all-white church? I don't blame you. I wouldn't wanna be the only white woman in an all-black church, either. " He chuckled knowingly. "We have several blacks in our church, and one of our pastors is black," I added. "I think you'd be comfortable. You'll hear about Jesus Christ every Sunday, you can count on it. You won't hear about what you gotta do , it's not about doing things to impress Christ, but what He's done for us. Our salvation is a free gift."
"Oh, okay," he said. "Yeh. What's the name of your church?" I told him, and I gave him the web site. "Chesapeake Church Dot Com," I said. "We'd love to see you there. If you're looking." I wish I'd had a pocket New Testament to give him.
I drove away in my '98 Windstar, thankful that God had given me eternal life and the compulsion to share it. I remembered what Missy had said in care group. "In Romans, Paul says he was compelled to share the gospel. At that time, you could be in debt two ways: one way was, of course, to have borrowed money from someone. The other way was if you were holding money for someone who had said to give it to someone else. You didn't want to keep it, you were compelled to give it away. That's the way we are to think of the gospel--it's been given to us to give away to others."
I was compelled today. Compelled by love for Christ and His eternal life. Not only did He give it to me as a free gift, He also bestowed me with all the "amenities" that come as a result of Christ's death and resurrection.
As for the horn volume? Let's just say, when the final trumpet sounds I'll be going UP! Not in a bird-dookied Windstar, not in a late-model Toyota with butt-warming seats, and not in a Volvo
that tells me when the moonroof is open. I plan to be lifted onto the back of a white horse ridden valiantly by my nail-scarred Prince of Peace! And I pray Stan is along for the ride, too!
posted by Zoanna at
6:00 PM
5 Comments:
I will do that. I feel funny using real names in cyberspace w/o permission, y'know? It might just have been a "seed planted"; don't know if we'll go back there since Paul wasn't comfy in the Volvo. (Those long legs hit the low steering column getting in and out, and the column was set as high as possible. I don't have problems like that, but I can understand how it'd bother a tall person.)
Keep praying for "Stan" the Volvo man.
Wonderful testimony of how God works through us in every situation. It takes strong faith and courage to discuss religion openly these days with so much religious tension in the air. Your story was a great example of keeping the conversation light and inviting while sharing God's love. You seemed to have made "Stan" feel comfortable in sharing with you too! Wow, I wish I were better at that; I struggle so hard to not offend people. I really appreciated this example, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Zoanna, for this example! I'll think of your obedient example the next time I'm faced with a similar situation!
I am always encouraged to hear how God sovereignly brings opportunities each day to speak His name. And I am also very encouraged to see your boldness in being obediedent to those opportunities. That spurs me on!
Amanda,
I was going to ask you if you would consider teaching piano chords for worship music to Stephen and/or Sarah. They have had a few years of piano, but their current teacher doesn't really know our songs, and my kids aren't picking up the chord thing real well from her. I don't know if you could squeeze in one more thing to your schedule or one more dollar into your wallet.
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