A Donkey for Jesus

London’s Kensington Temple decided to communicate the story of Jesus to their community by taking part in Agapé’s Jesus Video Project. By personally offering videos about the life of Jesus to every home on the local estate, Mariko found that God can use anyone who makes themselves available.

I’m not the kind of person who is so energetic to go to Leicester Square every week for evangelism. I’ve been there a couple times, but actually I couldn’t do anything. It was maybe because of the language barrier.

But when I did the Jesus Video Project, we had training before we went out and learned how to approach people. It was helpful to me, because when I go out to do evangelism, the main difficulty for me is talking with people. Still I was very nervous, but I knew that I needed to join this project.

As we started praying for the houses on the estate, God gave me compassion for people living there. On the first day we offered the video to people, some people were open, but some were not. I was too nervous to say even “hello”, but I was not alone. Ligia was with me. That day, I met one lady who said, “I was waiting for this video. I have a son and I want him to watch it.” I was so encouraged.

Another day, both Ligia and I were tired and weak. However, we started praying and, after an hour, we felt that God had given us new strength. That day was very cold and windy. I met a lady named Jill. After finding out her opinion about the video, I asked her if she had any prayer requests. She asked us to pray for her husband, son, daughter, and grandson. She even gave us their names. I prayed for them by name and I felt the atmosphere change. Jill said, “Thank you. Your prayer was sweet. I’m really touched.”

I think this project is easier than street evangelism, because even I could be a part of it. I found that even though I can’t speak proper English, people understood me. I think I’m like the donkey that carried Jesus in Matthew 21. I was actually carrying Jesus to the people on the Estate. As a donkey, I don’t need to run fast. Jesus doesn’t care if I can run fast or not. All I need to do is to go on, and to be available for Him.

Mariko Ozeki
Japanese Student, International Bible Institute of London
Kensington Temple

8-3-04

Project was Jan 2004