When I think of the word evangelism, I have always thought of Billy Graham, revivals, youth camp, and big events.  I have never thought of me in the same sentence as evangelism until now.  Let me tell you what happened...

I was reading a story I have heard many times in John 4.  It is the story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. Take a minute to read John 4:1-42.  Here is the summary...Jesus was traveling and stops at a well because he was tired.  A Samaritan woman comes to get water at the hottest part of the day, and Jesus begins to talk to her.  Initially she doesn't understand what he means when He is talking about living water, but by the end of the conversation the woman understands one thing for certain, she has met with Jesus - the Messiah - the Son of God.

Upon realizing this, the woman goes running back to the town, to her family, to people who know her and see her every day.  The woman did not have her theology figured out or have scripture memorized or know all the answers or wait until she finished a discipleship class at church to talk to others.  Instead she RUNS to those she knows and very simply says, "come and see a man who told me everything I ever did...(vs. 29)."  She told those in her life what she knew from her own experience.  She didn't prepare a speech or get afraid of what people would say about her.  She simply shared her experience...her testimony.  And in vs. 39 it says "many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony."  She made a difference.

This realization opened my eyes.  I always thought that you had to go through bad things to have a "testimony."  I would always hear people stand up to share their "testimony" and talk about how they used to use drugs or how they were abused or all kinds of seemingly big things that had happened in their lives.  I felt I didn't have a story to tell.  I mean my life is pretty boring, so who would want to hear about it?  But that is not the point. God doesn't expect us to have all the answers or to make bad choices in order to be able to share with people what He has done in our lives.

He simply wants me to tell people...to RUN to people to share with them who God is to me.

Every one of us as Christians have at least one thing we can say, "I once was lost but now I am found."  Every one of us can proclaim that we have eternal life because of Jesus who loved us enough to die for us. 

So no matter what you have gone through or what you have done, God loves each of us and desires for each of us to obey.  And to obey is to recognize that evangelism is about me, and it is about you.  It is about each one of us telling those around us about God's love as simple as we know it to be.

Or will you simply stay at the well drawing your water for yourself?

Kristy Tyler has been involved in girls ministry since college. She has traveled extensively with SAGE for more than ten years and enjoys teaching girls the truth found in scripture in practical ways. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology and Counseling and is licensed as a Professional Counselor in the State of Texas.  Kristy lives in Waco, Texas, with her four-legged children (two dogs and two cats).