My daughter and her classmates were visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore as part of a schoolwide field trip, and I was chaperone to her and five other preteen girls. To combine the fun of a day away from the classroom with opportunities for learning, they were given a worksheet to complete as our little group made its way from floor to floor. She had told me ahead of time that this would be part of the day’s events, and also told me that she and a few of the other girls would add to their learning by doing a little on-the-spot evangelistic work.
The girls decided to approach random people and tell them Jesus loves them. Now, before you get too giddy with the thought of how wonderful this activity was, let me also tell you that I had reservations.
Though their motives and sentiments in wanting to do this were spot-on, I thought it was important for my daughter and her peers to understand something crucial to our job of telling the world about Jesus.
It is not enough for people to hear that Jesus loves them. They need to experience Him.
The random stranger sitting outside the aquarium that day heard the name Jesus from a group of sweet girls. But then what? What if the greatest need that person had that day was more basic—food, or train fare, or an Advil for a horrific headache?
It was impossible for the girls to know that, but we must face and try to meet the basic needs of humanity every day. As those who love Him, we must do as Jesus did when He fed 5,000 hungry people.
People need to feel Him in order to know Him. We can help with that.
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Wilona Karimabadi is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review and editor of KidsView. This article was published December 22, 2011.
