Pain and Fear of Rejection
Painful because at times you might get nothing but just rejections after rejection :-(. And I’m sure it hurts and nobody likes it, right? Me too. But, take heart as it is God they are rejecting. We just gotta keep doing our part, to reach out to them and to share bible to them when got chance. At the end, whether they appreciate it or whether they will respond to the bible or not is not within our control.
Am I still afraid to be rejected? Yes, I am. But, will I quit to go for my street evangelism? No. Though I struggle to do street evangelism alone at this time but I can do it together with my small group brother in Christ. In spite of pain or fear of rejection, we should not give up on evangelism. Maybe we can rest to get recovered for a while, change the way of doing it as there are many ways of doing evangelism, but not to totally stop doing it. There are people out there who is looking for a true God and meaning of life.
Fun & Interesting
Thank God, my street evangelism for this year are not 100% just rejections. There are times we (we because I usually do it with another Christian together) manage to meet some people to have some conversation with. Sometimes we have some good talk. Sometimes it can turn out to be fun too, example
- Someone whom Roger evangelized before in the past, gave Roger and I a famous and expensive donut each. (But, please don’t aim or expect for free food when you go for out-reach. :-D)
- A black guy who spoke English with us in the beginning but in the middle of the conversation spoke fluent mandarin. I was suprised and at the same time a little embarassed because I am weak in my mandarin. The reason why he could speak Mandarin because he is studying in Taiwan.
Some other “special” people we met are like
- A young guy and is Pastor’s son. He is responsible for the evangelism area for his church at Singapore. Roger and him managed to exchange ideas for evangelism.
- Someone who started a church and a worship leader. He has his full-time job but he is also a part-time minister.
- Long distance runner. He said the longest he ever ran is 40KM, which he did in around two hours.
This makes street evangelism quite fun and interesting. 😀
Encouraging responses
Some encouraging responses we got is when,
“I’m looking for church.”
“I’m looking for cell group to join.”
More encouraging is the person we met, came to our church and study the bible. Imagine if we close out mouth when we pass by that person, that person will never have the chance to got to know the bible.
Some understanding towards rejection
One of the reasons why there are so many rejections during street evangelism is there are so many conman people out there especially in this KL city. Perhaps they trusted strangers before and get cheated at the end and felt so hurt by it.
Some sincerely ask/beg for money. Some insincerely ask/beg for money. Some who approach you for MLM business or to sell you insurance.
And, think about it. I myself also have rejected many who approached me in the street too.
So, I guess, for Christian who plan to have a street evangelism, choosing a suitable place is quite important. Don’t choose a place where the “market” (reputation) is already bad (means the places where you will bound into most conman or those who pass MLM pamplets.). Example, KotaRaya, PuduRaya, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Hang Tuah LRT station, Masjid Jamek LRT station and etc.
