Harrison, a worship leader and an avid coffee drinker, enjoys his morning time with God at his local coffee shop. His frequency and intentionality of starting his day reading his Bible impacted the local barista and opened the door to conversations about God and faith. He shared his story with us.
We interact with others every day, not really even knowing who this other person is. They bag your groceries, they make your coffee… What changes when you see somebody on a regular basis, and you are intentional with the frequency? You have the opportunity to use that frequency to be able to open a door to share the gospel with them.
This happened with me; I get up early for my job, and I decided I would get up even earlier and spend more time with Jesus at my local coffee shop. Instead of just waiting for my coffee and going back to my table, I used the time connecting with the lady who made my coffee. And over the next few months, we became close friends because we had that frequency there.
It opened up a few conversations just casually. You know, nothing weird or forced, but it was questions like, “What’s faith look like for me?” And a few times it would be like, “Hey, do you go to church?” or, “Do you love Jesus? You know, is this something that you're interested in?” I think a few times I would get the answer of, “Yeah, I have questions about that. I'm not really sure, you know, where to go, what to think.” And so that opened up a chance for me. I was like, OK, they're not a die-hard atheist. So we already have a good advantage, right?
Over time, she started going to church herself and really got into her spiritual life. She sent me a text one day and said, “Hey, I just want to let you know, like, you've really been a big part of why I have pursued Jesus and why I have wanted to love the Lord.” And she said, “Seeing you in that coffee shop with your Bible, devotional, and journal or whatever, so consistently led me to desire this greater…”
I saw God work in my consistency, and it was this moment that I didn't even know the Spirit was working in. Time has moved on from that, and I've gotten so many more opportunities to talk to her about faith and to interact with her and be a part of her spiritual life.
You are put into a prime situation where you get to show the love of Jesus to people. And it's one that you don't have to try to get, it’s part of your everyday routine. That experience has opened my eyes to being aware of those situations and just realizing, God works through those small acts.