• And so I did. Right then. •
[1½ MIN READ]
Erdem was in a pinch. He needed a ride to New York City and Wife and I could provide one. A philosophy undergrad from Turkey fresh off of a work/travel opportunity in the US, he was thrilled to learn I’d been an academic librarian. He was equally thrilled to know I was just returning from a conference for my new volunteer position at Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), a campus mission organization.
Prelude: “Putting on the Ditz”
As Wife drove, I was able to share the message of Christian faith and salvation. He was intrigued and listened eagerly. Though a Muslim, he considered himself confused about what he believed and was actively reading the Bible. Our org president is also its national evangelist and he’d just shared a sentiment that I was ready to use: “I believe that Jesus cannot let his name go to waste, so I’m going to pray for you in his name right now.” I set Erdem up when I said I was going to stack the deck against him by praying for him to believe what I was sharing. And that’s what I did. At that very moment. For him to hear.
Go deeper: “A Catechism of Salvation”
You can be very certain that Wife was praying silently for Erdem’s heart to be soft to God’s words through me. That’s part of what I prayed in that moment. When I said Amen, he did not respond. He admitted to being a skeptic and needing time to investigate options before him. He did not express a desire to accept Jesus’ resurrection power at that moment.
A different sentiment a new colleague also shared with me at the conference provided every assurance that us having the opportunity to shuttle Erdem was providential: “In God, no motion goes to waste.”
When we dropped him at the station to take the regional train across New Jersey we were saving him a $300 Uber ride. “Someday” we’ll learn how that moment contributed to saving him infinitely more. I’m continuing to pray that it’s on the joy side of eternity.
FINE PRINT ¶Text: Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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