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“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is what God said at the very end of the gospel of Matthew, and two weeks ago, I got to live out what God commanded in this passage.

Around thirty years ago, there was a 36 year long civil war in Guatemala. Brothers against fathers, brothers against brothers, and friends were fighting against friends in this long war. Not surprisingly, this civil war brought the people of Guatemala lots of mental illness like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The people of Guatemala do not really talk about their mental struggles. They tend to sweep that and any discussion of the war under the rug.

 

That is why we went to Guatemala. God gave us the opportunity to be able to give Guatemalans the hope and life that we find in Jesus for many reasons; a couple of which I know of for sure. First, because God commanded us to share the gospel with ALL nations, and second of all because we wanted to be able to give the Guatemalans a chance to say this stops with me.

Now what do I mean by this? By this, I mean all of the anxiety that has never been combatted with “God is with me, do not fear.”. All of the depression that has never been dealt with. All of the PTSD that hasn’t been helped. And all of the other emotions that the people in Guate haven’t dealt with because they don’t know how. God allowed us to be part of His plan to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to people that maybe haven’t heard it before or don’t understand fully what Jesus did for them. How incredible is that, that we get to be part of God’s plan? It’s pretty incredible!

Sharing the gospel has always seemed like such a daunting task to me as I’m sure it is for many others. There are always the fears of, “What if they think I’m crazy for sharing the gospel and don’t want to be my friend anymore?” and “What if they don’t want to accept Jesus?”. And while it can seem terrifying, in Guatemala, I learned that it isn’t as scary as it appears to be.

We had the privilege to be able to show God’s love to little kids by just playing soccer with them. We got to share testimonies and lessons on emotions and gratitude with different groups of kids, and we got to help build roofs for people who had next to nothing. We got to share the story of Jesus with kids and prayed with many different people. That is sharing the gospel! It is scary, but God commands us to do it, and He also says that He will give us strength and will bring to completion what He has begun in us. The joy that we can have by sharing hope and life with people through telling them about our Savior is worth it in the end.

I am in no way perfect at sharing the gospel, and God is still teaching me how to share the gospel with people that I know. I would encourage everybody to conquer their fears and share the gospel as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19. Ask God for strength and opportunities to share the gospel with people. Read His word and see what He says about sharing the good news with the world. Most importantly, know that God loved you so much that He sent His Son to die for you. In knowing God’s passionate, unconditional love, we can go and share it with others so that they too can experience having a relationship with the Lord.

–Addison Jenkins