Saturday, Dec. 30 am
Embracing God's heart for the worldTodd Ahrend
Todd
Ahrend was busy in college, too busy. He wasn't looking
for more to do. In the middle of one of these busy days on the way to
class, a guy
caught him and asked him, "Are you a Christian?" Todd replied quickly, "Yes, I am." The next question was whether Todd would like to get together to pray. He wondered to himself how a Christian could say no to such a request and still appear to be a Christian, so he said "yes."
Todd's new friend excitedly declared they should meet at 6:30. Six-thirty sounded perfect, right after dinner. But much to Todd's dismay as an over-committed college student, his new friend had meant 6:30 AM. Nonetheless, they met and continued to meet.
On that first day, Todd's friend pulled out a world map and began to pray over Zimbabwe. This practice of praying over the map for different countries seemed a bit strange to Todd at first but then it started to scare him. He was unsettled because the more time he spent with this guy, the more he began to care about the poor and the needy.
Todd decided to search out more about God's heart for the world, and after visiting a Christian bookstore that didn't stock mission's books because they wouldn't sell, he wept. He realized that in his seven years as a Christian, he had never heard about God's love for the world because no one had told him.
As he learned God's heart for the world, he encountered one problem: his own heart. He wanted to do what he wanted to do. But at the same time God put a burning fire into his heart. The struggle that had been going on within him was evident as he recalled wondering, which would he follow? But as he passionately proclaimed for us, he opted for the second choice.
Now Todd has returned to college campuses to declare to students there what he declared to us, "give up your small ambitions and embrace God's heart for the world!" God can use us to reach the nations.
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