Aside from the young man sitting in one of the chairs, it was perfect. :) We thought we'd sit nearby and wait till he left, but before I knew it my friend walked over to the cozy chairs and I was compelled to follow (she took my purse with her!)
After a few minutes of reading, my friend acknowledged him with a, "I hope you're not bothered by us being here too." And what I thought was going to be a casual 10 second exchange between the two of them, became a four hour conversation between the four of us.
Though I didn't initiate the conversation, I joined, just to be polite. The four of us talked through
our educations and career choices. He didn't shirk back when we all shared we were in Christian Ministry. (A good sign of openness!) Then we talked about families and hobbies. I began wondering if this conversation could become spiritually significant. A couple different ways to bring up faith came to mind, but before the words passed through my mind, they passed through my lips, "So I'm curious, have you ever read the Bible?"It turns out that he did not. He called himself "open" and didn't resist my message at all. So I went on to tell him that we are separated from God because of our sin, Jesus is our only hope for forgiveness, and through Him we can be reconciled to the Father in Heaven. It was interesting to discuss the truth with him. No repentance took place that night. He is content to stick with his current belief system, that his deceased father and tragically deceased younger brother are his "higher power" rather than embrace the gospel.
I thank God for the chance to bring Jesus to this young man's attention.
I pray that one day his eyes will be opened to see his need for a Savior.
Please pray for him too.
His name (which happens to be Hawaiian) is Kilei, 26, partial owner of his late father's concrete business. "Well-to-do" but aware of the emptiness of material things, and searching.
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