Anglican Perspectives

The Power of Sacrificial Gifts

I’m writing in transit from Houston to Memphis, on my way to a coaching appointment with one of our Anglican Church in North America congregations seeking to grow.

 

I just had a wonderful conversation with a Muslim cab driver named Sayeed who dropped me off at the airport. He was from India, his family still living back in New Delhi. He is trying to find a place he can afford to live and work to bring his family here. He noticed my clergy collar and started asking me about my business, why I was here and where I was going

 

I confess that too often I just covet my private space in times like this. I was tired. But the Lord prompted me to engage. So I asked him questions about his life too. I also made a conscious effort to keep things simple – just describing my work in terms of sharing about Jesus. “It’s all about Jesus and helping people find his love” I said.

 

He asked me if I knew about or had ever met Mother Teresa – “she is a very important lady to India.” Then he asked me if I knew John Paul II, and a Pakistani minister whose name I didn’t catch but who is working with Baptist churches to bring relief and aid to the suffering.

 

When I asked him if he had a church home here in Houston he told me he was a Muslim. “I love Jesus,” he said, “I have a Christian friend who takes me to church with him on Sundays and we pray.”

 

I believe in divine appointments. I am convicted that there are people within our reach who are eager to know Jesus. I am convinced that our deeds in Christ are as powerful as our words– if not more so, as the lives of Mother Teresa, John Paul II and that Pakistani minister have been for Sayeed.

 

At curbside I asked Sayeed if I could pray for him. I prayed for God to bless him and prayed Philippians 4:19 for him and his family. I also prayed that he will come to know Jesus and His love personally.

 

May we be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the opportunities to share the love of Jesus with others and the power of sacrificial acts of caring for the poor and the suffering in Jesus’ name.

 

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is CEO of the American Anglican Council. 

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