Canada: Unreached nations in the heart of Vancouver

“This is very hard, because we’ve never thought about God before.” The words echo in my mind as I think about my time in Vancouver so far.

My teammate and I have become pretty close friends with three sweet girls from Japan. Recently, we invited them to an event called Alpha, sponsored by our partner church here in Vancouver. The church hosts a five-week series that answers the big questions in the Christian worldview.

Two of the girls attended the event and heard about Jesus for the first time in their lives. One of them had heard about God banishing a man and woman from a garden because they ate an apple, but I was able to tell the full story of the Garden of Eden. The man and woman ate the fruit in disobedience, but God had a plan to rescue them from the beginning. God promised to send someone who would save them and would come to make all things new.

Her eyes lit up as we explained the sacrifice of Jesus. What a surreal moment to be used by the Holy Spirit to tell the story of Jesus to friends who’d never heard it before. Can you imagine never having heard about Jesus? It’s such a privilege to share stories of the King with friends from all around the world.

This moment of sharing with our friends was incredibly humbling. I had a hard day leading up to this night, but in spite of me, God used the Holy Spirit in me to share the good news with people who had never heard it. What a beautiful reminder that God is the one working in people’s hearts and minds.

My team is hoping and praying that as we share with people from around the world in Vancouver, they will take the story of Jesus back with them to their home countries. We pray that the gospel may continue to reach the nations—that fewer and fewer people would say, “This is very hard, because we’ve never thought about God before.”

M, a student at the University of Texas in Austin, is serving in Vancouver with Go Now Missions.