Kevin's Experience

I have witnessed to a lot of people in my life in a lot of different situations. As a Christian I try to be as intentional as possible and take advantage of opportunities the Lord gives me to share the gospel, however as a missionary it often just comes with the territory. This was the case for this "Buckets of Love" project. We had designed the project so half the time of each visit would be spent explaining the bucket and half the time would be spent sharing the gospel with the patients and caregivers. I was overwhelmed at the response of people as we witnessed to them. People here are often responsive to the gospel, but they don't always seem broken. What surprised me the most was how in each sharing of the gospel, the patients especially, seemed to hang on my every word. Often times they seemed more interested in the gospel presentation than in the bucket itself. Many of them prayed to receive Christ, but the thing that struck me the most was how eager they were to do it. I tried to make sure they understood the commitment involved, and made it clear that they should not pray just to please me or because they had received a bucket. However, on more than one occasion they answered, "No I want to receive Jesus because I don't know if I will be here tomorrow or not... this is my last chance." Of course that is true for all of us, but I was overwhelmed when I realized that these people lived with the certainty of the sentence each and every day. Even those who are HIV positive and are doing well because of ARVs, know that it has only bought them some time and quality of life. They know that eventually their time will run out. I have never sensed such utter hopelessness and despair, and yet such a desire in someone to cling to the hope of Jesus alone. If only I could live my life with such brokenness, and cling to Jesus alone as my only source of hope and strength.