Many years ago, Mabel Bahler, one of IFI’s founding staff, asked a student from Sweden to describe his spiritual life. His first reaction was to take offense. That was a private matter! But as he considered her question, he realized he didn’t have a spiritual life! He talked to Mabel about it. She invited him to an IFI Bible study. Today, Johan and his family are active in their growing church in Sweden. Johan’s vibrant relationship with God began with a question.
Asking questions and listening to the answers is a good way to start spiritual conversations. Questions plant “idea” seeds. Some seeds sprout quickly and lead straight to the gospel. But usually they grow slowly and require time and care to prepare nonbelievers to hear the gospel.
Following are five questions that can help you start spiritual conversations with internationals. Listen carefully to their answers! Listening is loving.
Begin with Prayer
“Apart from Me, you can do nothing,” Jesus told His followers (John 15:5c) and added, “With God, everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NLT) Pray before discussing spiritual matters with the internationals God puts in your life. When you pray, ask God to give them a growing
- conviction that God is real
- awareness of God’s presence and His love
- knowledge of His word
- trust in God and His word
- desire to know and be near God
Ask Questions in Private
Many internationals, especially those from countries that are closed to the gospel, will answer only in a very private setting. Showing interest in the Bible or Jesus publicly could be dangerous.
The Five Questions
1. “Is there something going on in your life that I can pray for?”
This question says, “I care about you.” It says that your God cares, too, and that you believe He hears and acts when you pray.
Before you ask Question 1, you could tell your friend how God answered an issue in your life when you prayed. Question 1 comes naturally in this setting. When students share their concerns, offer to pray. Write it down. This says that you take the matter seriously and will pray.
Follow up: Ask what’s happening with the thing you’re praying for. Checking on results can encourage you both if God has acted as you’ve prayed! Be quick to credit God with any change in the situation, even if it’s disappointing. You can assure the student that God is at work. If the student sees no change, point out that God’s timing is often different from ours. We should add “yet” when we say God hasn’t done anything. Promise to keep praying.
2. “Where are you in your faith journey?” or “What’s your spiritual story?”
You could ask Question 2 after telling your own spiritual journey (testimony) or asking if your friend has any spiritual beliefs. If there’s no interest, change the topic and keep praying. Few people can resist listening to a story or telling their own!
When you tell your story, include a) what your life was like before you knew God, b) how God got your attention, c) what happened when you gave your life to Him, and d) how your life has changed since you gave it to Jesus. Prepare your story in 1-, 3-, and 5-minute versions. Choose which version to tell, based on your friend’s level of interest and time available. After you tell it, ask Question 2.
If your friend answers, “I don’t know,” don’t be discouraged. Possible responses: “God says that He is always at work (John 5:17), so I know He’s at work in your life. I’ll ask you again another time.” “We are all moving toward God or away from Him. Which describes you?” Another idea: Choose two objects such as pens or water glasses. Call one “God” and the other “you.” Put the “God” object between you. Give your friend the “you” object and ask him/her to place it as close to the God object as he or she feels, then ask your friend to talk about the distance. Ask if he/she would like to be closer. Why or why not?
If your friend asks, “Why would God care about me?” assure him/her that God loves everyone and wants everyone to experience His love. Your friend’s questions about God’s love can prepare the way to share the gospel. When you do, trust God for the results. You’ve done your part when you shared. Results are God’s job, not yours! Most people need to hear the gospel several times before they believe it. Keep praying.
3. “Who is God to you?” or “Who is Jesus to you?”
If your friend resists the question, be content that you’ve at least raised the subject, planted a seed. Water it with prayer and trust God to use your question eventually. This question shows your interest in your friend’s views and plants the idea that God/Jesus is real.
Your friend may answer, “All my life, I’ve been told there is no God.” The simplest response: “What do you believe?”
The response could be hostile: “Don’t talk about God! I don’t like people who say they believe God.” This response would be unusual, since few internationals are so direct. But a hostile response could be a cry for relief from misconceptions or mistreatment in the past. You could answer, “I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience. Would you tell me about it?” Listen with love.
A more likely negative response to Question 3 is silence, no willingness to address the topic. Don’t take it personally and don’t push. Continue the friendship. Ask God to open your friend’s heart.
Your friend might say, “My grandmother/aunt/friend is a Christian, but I don’t believe in God.” You could simply ask, “Why?” or “What do you think [your friend or relative] is praying for you, now that you’re in the U.S., where people talk about God?”
Occasionally, internationals from “closed” nations answer Question 3 (in private), “I want to learn about God while I’m here. Would you tell me more?”
If you’re asking God to open your international friends’ hearts to spiritual things, be ready to begin reading and discussing the Bible together! Ask God to lead you to students whose hearts He’s already prepared.
4. Have you ever read the Bible?
Once a visiting scholar who held a Bible in her hands answered Question 4, “What is Bible?” Gauging a person’s experience of the Bible helps you to know where to begin.
A brief description of the Bible can be a good place to begin: The Bible was written over a period of 1400 years, beginning about 1300 BC. The writers were from three continents, three language groups, and different backgrounds: shepherds and soldiers, slaves and nobility, farmers and fishermen, priests and poor people, even a doctor. They wrote during times of peace and plenty, war and famine, freedom and captivity. Many of them never read the writings of the others, yet their writings agree! The Bible tells how the world began, what went wrong, how God is making it right, and how the world will end. We Christians believe that God wrote the Bible, for no one else could know all this!
Invite your friend to read a short Bible story with you, preferably from a modern translation such as the New Living Translation, the New International Version, or the New Living Version, which has a 700-word English vocabulary. Read the passage aloud; Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing, not reading!
Perhaps you have some favorite “first reads” in the Bible. If not, here are some suggestions, shortest to longest: I Corinthians 13:4-7, putting your friend’s name after each description of God’s love; Psalm 23; the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7); or Samuel’s anointing of David (1 Samuel 16:1-13). People from oral cultures will find the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17) fascinating! After your friend reads a passage, ask what it means to him/her. If there’s no clarity, ask your friend to read it again, aloud.
5. If you died tonight, what do you believe would happen to you? Why?
Almost all cultures believe that after death, people go to a place of reward (heaven) or a place of punishment (hell). All of the world’s religions teach that people must earn their way to heaven. Only the Bible teaches that Jesus earned it for us. As one pastor put it, “The difference between the world’s religions and Christianity is the difference between D-O and D-O-N-E.” Only God can cause us to believe and receive what Jesus did for us.
After people tell what they believe will happen after they die and why, a great question is, “If what you believe is not true, would you want to know?” If the answer is “no,” wish your friend well, change the subject, and keep praying. (Actually, a “no” answer is rare and is almost always reversed within a few minutes.) If the answer is, “yes,” invite your friend to read 6 verses from the Bible aloud and say what it means to him/her. Your response each time is to say “Mmm” or “Thank you” and move immediately to the next verse. If your friend misinterprets a verse, simply ask your friend to read it again aloud and tell you what it means.
Have your friend read these verses, in this order: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, John 3:3 (Don’t ask what this verse means; ask why Jesus came to die), John 14:6 (After your friend says what it means, ask, “Do you see any other way to God than through Jesus?), Romans 10:13, and Revelation 3:20.
Allow them to make a decision
After your friend reads these verses aloud and says what they mean and answers your other questions, ask five more questions:
- Are you a sinner (Romans 3:23)
- Do you want God to forgive your sins? (Romans 6:23)
- Do you believe Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins?
- Are you ready to give your life to Jesus? (If your friend says no, simply ask why, and go silent. This is warfare. Stay out of God’s way and let Him fight for your friend’s life.) If your friend says “yes,” ask your friend to pray with you to receive Jesus. The prayer could be as simple as,
“Dear God, I have done lots of wrong things that offended You and hurt others. I am a sinner. You sent your Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for everyone’s sins, including mine. Please accept His death for my sins. Jesus, please take away my old sinful life and give me Your life in its place. Thank You for forgiving me. Thank You for making me a new person!”