Giving the reason

I have been struck by how powerfully God works to provide us with evangelism opportunities if we will only pray and then watch out for them! I can think of several examples in my own life that bear this out strongly. I am a fourth year clinical student who is deaf, and I have often been amazed at how God has used this 'disability' for his glory (Jn 9:3).

For example, one morning before going in to an outpatient clinic I prayed on the tube that God would give me the chance to tell someone about him, and that he would give me the courage to do so. The clinic was going well, and during a quiet moment the registrar suddenly asked me, 'Do you ever get resentful that your life must be such a struggle, not being able to hear?' It was as if God had said to me, 'Talk to this man about me.' I began to explain why I was certain that my loss of hearing was somehow to the glory of God; that he made me this way for a purpose, though I may never know what it is.

He wistfully said that 'it must be great believing that your life has a purpose'. I gave him the reason for the hope that I have, and when he heard I was a Christian, he gave a start, and told me that his wife was a Christian, who has been praying for him for years, that he might understand. He had so many questions about Christianity; how could he trust the words of a humble carpenter who lived two millennia ago? What was so special about me that I could claim to know God personally? How could I be sure that I had been saved, and what did this salvation involve?

We talked for an hour, and he finally said, 'It's been so good to talk about this with someone other than my wife; I just couldn't see before what she was trying to say'. When clinic resumed, we expected to find a long queue of angry patients waiting to be seen, but the waiting room was empty, and the next patient was just walking through the door. When I realised what had just happened I was suddenly a touch overwhelmed and didn't speak much for the rest of the morning!

Courage to speak the truth

Another clinic, another chance. I had been praying again for a witness opportunity while on my GP rotation. On the last day, the GP I was working with was unable to come in, so I had nothing to do, until one of the other partners, whom I'd only met once, took pity on me and invited me into his surgery. We saw a patient with severe back pain, who had tried physio, osteopathy, painkillers and homeopathic medicine, with little success. After she left, the GP mentioned flippantly that maybe she ought to try a faith healer; 'What do you think of faith healers?' I told him that I would be concerned that a faith healer could be involved with the occult, and explained that my objection to such practices arose from my Christianity.

Initially, he was fairly hostile, asking me how I could be so arrogant as to say one form of spirituality was better than another. He was prepared to accept that maybe there was something 'out there', but wasn't it all a matter of personal choice about what sort of faith a person has? I was nervous at this point; the GP had kindly allowed me to participate in his clinic, and the last thing I wanted to do was to offend him. So I agreed that it is a matter of personal choice whether to believe in God or not, and tailed off. As the GP began to shuffle his papers I began to feel that the opportunity God had given me was slipping; so I offered up a quick prayer for help and courage, and blurted out, 'but it does matter what God you put your faith in!'

I didn't allow myself the luxury of thinking about what to say next as I was afraid that I might logic myself into silence again. In a rush I told him that I was a Christian and explained how desperately important it is to make the right decision about God. I was half expecting him to turn around and ask me to get the next patient, but his next question stunned me. He said 'I'm perfectly willing to believe that Jesus existed, and that he said some very intriguing things, but the thing that stops me from being a Christian is that I don't believe a man can rise from the dead.'

Over the next forty minutes God gave me the privilege of dealing with his doubts about the resurrection (CMF's Seven Deadly Questions, thank you!) and by the time the next patient arrived (mysteriously exactly forty minutes later), he had decided that maybe he should read the Gospels again and find a good church. I was elated; God has obviously been at work in this man's heart, and brought me along at just the right time.

Bringing God glory

In my first clinical year, I was the director of the annual spring drama production, with another Christian as my assistant. Our producer was an agnostic with a brilliant head for figures. During the play, God gave both of us so many evangelism opportunities among the cast, which we had prayed for, and also allowed us to demonstrate our Christianity in practice. I'd spoken to the producer several times about my faith, and the cast were all interested (and some a little mocking) of my director's note, where I had thanked Jesus for his love for me and expressed my desire to bring him glory.

Three days before the curtain was due to go up, the Imperial Drama Society (we're the medic one!) suddenly informed us that we had to have a licence to use the Concert Hall for entertainment purposes. We had a licence for the play, but no-one had told us that we needed to inform the local council of our activities. We were visited by some men in suits who told us that, unless we had a licence signed and stamped by someone from the council, we would have the doors of the hall locked against us on the night. We panicked!

My friend/co-director Ranti and I were heavily immersed in dress rehearsals for the play and we had to leave the mammoth job of sorting this out to our poor producer, who had a very difficult three days. We told him we would be praying for the situation and for him over the remaining time, and pray we did. We remained as calm as we could, resolving not to worry (Mt 6:34) and told him how certain we were that God was in charge.

When he found out that the licence normally takes a month to come through, we continued to trust God. When the man who needed to sign the document was away the day before curtain up, we prayed even harder. And the very day the play began, our producer returned triumphant with the licence, loudly impressed with the power and faithfulness of our God. He has continued to ask questions and has even come to evangelistic events at church with me since then, and he remains in my prayers.

If we follow God and obey him, even in the face of seeming disaster, continuing to witness faithfully to him, much good can and will result.

'You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.' (Mt 5:14-16)

Rosie Beal-Preston
Medical Student
ICSM at St Mary's

A faithful friend

One afternoon during my first year at medical school I found myself in deep conversation with one of my non-Christian friends. She asked my opinion about her current ideas, which led to her asking me what I believed. I told her of my relationship with the one true God, of his great plan of salvation, and how much he loved each one of us. I explained how that affected me on a day to day basis, and how I knew it all to be true. She realised that Christianity meant something very real to me and asked to know more with tears in her eyes.

As the conversation progressed, she began to ask poignant questions about sin and hell. I answered truthfully. By the end of our discussion, I reluctantly agreed never to talk about these things with her again. For some time I kept thinking about our conversation, and hoped that having thought things over she would open up and want to chat more.

However, we have never spoken directly about the contents of that conversation again. I feel bound to our agreement, she having every right not to believe all that she hears, but have often wanted to tell her again how much God loves her. I've also been tempted to say 'Hey, you were right all the time, Hell doesn't exist and sin doesn't matter, just believe in the rest and come to heaven with me!' However, I know that I would be denying the true character of God. I cannot misrepresent God, stripping him of his righteous and merciful nature by twisting what I know to be true.

Five years later we are still very good friends, supporting each other through the highs and lows of all that becoming a doctor entails. I continue to pray for her, for a change of heart, that one day God may bring her to repentance and faith.

Sophia Railton
Medical Student
ICSM at St Mary's