One day, two of my friends and I went out to share the love of Jesus on the streets in Beirut, Lebanon. As I was walking, I saw a man watching us with a scornful expression on his face. I didn’t let his look intimidate me, and I approached him anyway. As we shared the gospel with him, he was very rude and resentful. We left him with the words, “Jesus loves you.” We continued walking along the street, and noticed that this man was following us. We decided not to pay any attention to him.

Then we met a young man who was very receptive, so we started to give him a Bible. The man following us started yelling loudly in the middle of the street, saying, “Don’t buy! Don’t buy anything from them!” We gave the young man the Bible, and turned around to address the man. I approached him gently and said, “Sir, we aren’t selling anything, we are giving away these Bibles for free.” When he heard that we were giving them away for free, the man’s anger turned to shock and he asked us, “Why would you do that?”

We explained that everybody deserves to know the words written in this book, for they are Spirit and Life. And then we were able to share the complete gospel message with him: the reason Jesus came, was crucified, and rose again. This man was so touched that he ended up giving his life to Jesus right there on the spot. As we led him in a prayer of repentance, his eyes were filled with tears. In the end, he walked away with a Bible in his hands. Praise God!

This experience was incredibly encouraging for me, and it also taught me a very powerful lesson: Do not be intimidated by the expressions or the body language of a person, or their initial reaction to the gospel. Trust completely in the life-changing power found in the words of Jesus – they can change a person right on the streets.

Avo Kazazian

Communications Coordinator, Beirut, Lebanon