Evangelism: lifestyle, ministry and miracles focused
on finding a POP and oikos (Reproduce
by training others to do this.)
(MAWL-Model, Assist, Watch, Love/Letter/Leave)
How He Leads Me through the Darkness:
Finding POP's
By Hazel Heights
 |
| Longing to be found |
I
knew nothing. I was just beginning to speak Urdu. I didn't know how to dress,
where to shop, or the value of the local currency in my wallet. Out on the streets
it was just a “man's world.” They all ran businesses and stood on crowded
sidewalks chatting over chai. Women were only seen coming and going to
destinations.
It was a big accomplishment if I could get another woman to smile
at me, let alone find ones hungering for God. I was completely in the dark. I
had been trained in DMM but was finding it difficult to implement.
Susana,
working her successful chai stand with her husband, was the only one I found to
connect with. I must have smiled five times at her before she returned the
gift. The street had hardened her, the sun baked her skin and her wrinkles made
her look fifteen years older than me, instead of just a few.
Pray and
Keep Vigilant Watch
I
would pray for Susana before visiting her chai stand: “Would you soften her?
Please lead me, give clues you are working in her heart, give me discernment.” It
took a while before I could read body language that hinted at someone's
character in this culture. Lots of prayer and watching became my new norm. A
variety of experiences trained my eyes to see: meals at Susana’s home, visiting
her sister, taking a taxi with her family to meet her clan, going to the fall
“fair.” Through all this I started to learn. I learned how an honorable woman
lives. I also learned to study people. How did they treat others? What
conversations indicate softness toward spiritual truth?
I
consider this one of the most difficult pieces of pursuing DMM: knowing when to
move on to search for others whom God is preparing as Persons of Peace, while
still loving those with whom we have acquaintance.
How can I give to others what I have not received?
Before you go out to look for People of Peace you need
to hunger and receive living bread and water yourself. How can you give to
others what you yourself have not received? Pray for your heart to be
humble and open to whatever God has for you in this time. Pray for your focus people,
that He would be drawing and wooing them to Himself. Ask the Holy Spirit for
visual clues of what that Person of Peace might look like. I understand: that
idea first struck my Western practical mind as somewhat crazy when I first heard
it. But when we ask, God hears and answers. Why not ask for more help in
weeding through the people to get to the ones who are searching for him? God
knows the limits on your time; He made you with all your limitations. He is present
to help.
Walk and Pray
One day I took three local partners prayer walking in
the neighborhood behind my house. We spent some time praying beforehand. God
showed me the color purple. Shortly into our walk we met Moham. I smiled; she
smiled, and then motioned us over to talk to her. She asked what we were doing.
I said that God had asked us to come out and pray for people on the street, then
I asked if she needed prayer for anything. She said yes, her brother wanted to
kick her and her son out on the street and she was worried for her future as a
widow. She had no one to protect her. We covered our heads in accordance with
the custom in that region, lifted our hands and came to God with her needs. I
opened my eyes and realized she was wearing a bright purple salwar kameez! As
Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive.” Our next step was to ask her to meet
with her household in a Discovery Group so we could learn together God’s heart
for each of us.
We need to ask God at each turn which way to go. Take
the time to listen to the Spirit’s lead and then follow that lead. God uses our
thoughts, interests and instincts to guide us. It is a process to discern how
to trust Him in this. The enemy wants to put doubt and insecurity in our hearts
that God would lead us so specifically, but we have to learn to rebuke that
doubt and have confidence in God's guidance.
We need to constantly remember that God is preparing the
hearts of those who want to be found. We go, in the power of the Holy Spirit, living
a lifestyle of looking for these POPs in any situation, at any moment, in each
encounter with others. Are they interested in spiritual truth? Invite them to
discuss spiritual truth with their household or group of friends. These are
basic patterns of what it is to look for Persons of Peace, offer the stories of
the Prophets from the Old and New Testaments in a Discovery Group.
Bio:
Hazel Heights lives with her husband and four children in South Asia where she
befriends burka-covered ladies journeying towards Jesus. Leading a team among
unreached in South Asia for 3.5 years, she
and her husband have grown in coaching, DMM, teaming, and local language. Currently
they equip workers to carry out God’s calling among the unengaged. They focus
on self-stewardship, relational wholeness with God and others, and becoming
movement catalysts. They long to witness and be a part of how God is redeeming
his lost children in South Asia. She can be reached at heightshazel@gmail.com.