What Has Roti-prata got to do with witnessing?

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you.’ 2 Tim 1:5

After his opening salutations, Paul’s first words to Timothy were to remind him that it was his grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice who were responsible for the Christian faith he believed in. These were just ordinary women who we know did not do extraordinary things for the Christian Church. But we can see their faithfulness in witnessing faithfully to their children the true Christian faith. The fruit of their faithfulness is seen in Timothy’s life although I am sure they did not plan for him to take over from Paul. And I think that is a good lesson for us to learn that faithfulness is not dreaming of doing great things for God tomorrow but doing the mundane for him today.

We all have what some people call a sphere of influence - a small circle where our actions affect other people’s lives. We have our own families, we work in an office with other colleagues, we play games with people of similar interests, and we have our neighbours, and so on. We can share about what God has done in our lives and then leave it to God to touch their hearts. And we should not be ashamed to share the Gospel. What is it that motivates us to share the Gospel? Think about it, what would motivate you to share the Gospel with those people in your sphere of influence? I know the literature always puts the burden on us to witness because we don’t want people will go to hell or Jesus will not come until everyone has heard the Gospel, etc. That is valid. But let me give you one more reason why I think you should share it – because it is true. That is right; you should share the Gospel because it is true and has worked in your lives. That is what a witness does; just tell what is true and what he has seen. Think about it, if something is true and good for you, don’t we want to share it with your friends? When we go to the Maxwell Road market and eat the chicken rice, and we find it to be very good, don’t we talk about it with our friends over the next days? When someone wants to eat roti prata, wouldn’t we suggest some place where you know the roti prata is good? So if we can share something about the goodness of the food that you have eaten then why not share the truth about the Bread of Life that nourishes our soul? All of us are Christians because someone near us took the trouble to share the Gospel with us and we were touched by God. That is all that Lois, Timothy’s grandmother and Eunice, his mother did. They faithfully carried out their ministry – to share the Gospel with their own household and because of their simple faith and faithfulness, it made a significant difference in God’s Kingdom. And that is what we all can do, no exceptions, faithfully witnessing whenever we can to whoever we can.