How bonding over shared interests can open a door to share the hope of Jesus

Hey everyone! My name is Sophi. A few years ago I was in East Asia, taking classes at a university, and while there, I became friends with a girl.

We first bonded at the coffee shop on campus. She had Taylor Swift stickers on her laptop, so I knew that we were going to be great friends. We talked for hours about our interests, school day, family, friends, careers, dreams. She gave me a tour of campus the next day and we kept hanging out in the days after that.

One night we got to talk about some of the heavy burdens that she was carrying. Her parents were sick and she was their caretaker on top of being a full-time student. She worked on the weekends to pay for their medicine. She felt all alone sometimes.

I told her she was dealing with so much, but that she was not alone. That there was someone who wanted to hear her worries and who was a safe place for her. A refuge. Someone who made darkness hide and brought light. A true friend.

She said she wanted to know more about this person. And as I was sharing the story of Who Jesus is and what He has done for us, she asked questions.

She also told me about these spirits that her people believe in: a dark spirit and a light spirit. She said she was doing laundry not long ago and she felt so heavy. She started to cry and she begged for someone to help her, and when she did, she said she felt a huge weight lift off of her and she heard chains being dragged away from her. She told me that she always thought it was the light spirit, but now she believed it was Jesus who helped her.

I told her my own stories about Jesus helping me and that there was a whole book full of stories about him.

These conversations taught me how to build trust with someone, build a relationship with someone, and in turn being able to have these deep conversations. It taught me how I wanted to have spiritual conversations with people, something I now put to use in my everyday life. 

Thanks for listening! Have a good day.

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