Last Friday afternoon around 2:00, my wife texted to invite me to a late lunch at a friend’s home. I was planning to spend the afternoon coding on a project I care deeply about, so I hesitated.

But then I remembered something important:

An evangelistic event is any event planned with non-Christians in mind that brings them into contact with trained Christians in a relaxed setting, enabling interaction.

This lunch fit that definition perfectly. It was the end of Ramadan—our friends had invited us, and there would be people there who do not follow Jesus. It would be relaxed, relational, and full of conversation. So I went.

As I arrived, I prayed and thought, “How might I naturally talk about Jesus?” I remembered I had a simple resource on my phone—a QR code linking to a site that walks through the story of God from Adam through the prophets to Jesus, in a way that is respectful and gradual.

Before dinner I began talking with a man from Palestine I had not met before. He spoke at length, and quite strongly, about how the universe must have a creator—something I found easy to agree with—and I listened.

After a while, I mentioned that I had written a website he might enjoy. I told him that I have found my day goes better when I begin by focusing on God and how He wants me to live. The site has short daily readings to help with that.

He scanned the QR code I brought, and we looked at the first reading on the website together.  Then we discussed the opening question before being called to the table to eat.

(image by AI)

Over the meal my conversation was mostly with two younger men from Palestine. They were quite proud that their grandmother completed the Ramadan fast, when she could have exempted herself on the basis of her age.  We talked about a wide range of topics.  

At one point I told them about the website with the daily readings and gave them each a card with a QR code so they could explore it later. They were glad to take the card and said they would check it out.

None of the conversation was forced. It was not a formal presentation of the Gospel. It was simply conversation in a relaxed setting—exactly what that definition describes.

Keeping this idea in mind has helped me see that many ordinary moments can become evangelistic opportunities.

I am still learning how to live this way—but I am finding it is something that can be learned, especially when we walk together with others.

 Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, open our eyes.  There are so many people in our community who are not yet following you.  Give us opportunties to interact with them in a relaxed setting.  Keep me from being so focused on my own plans that I am not available when you want me to change them so that I spend more time interacting with non-Christians. I want to see your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen"

P.S. I want to let you know about something I will be sharing next week.

Over the past few years, we have been developing a simple way of helping people like us walk with their friends toward Jesus—through prayer, care, and natural spiritual conversations.

We are about to run a 9-session online journey where a small group of us will learn how to walk with our friends toward Jesus—through discussion, sharing, and trying simple steps during the week.

I will send details next week.

If you have been longing for a more natural way to connect your friends to Jesus, I think this could be really helpful for you.