Christian testimonies: The diary of a street preacher

LIVING IN A DISTRACTED WORLD

How God Is Teaching Me to See People Through the Eyes of Jesus

Greetings to all our readers.

It gives me great joy to share with you what the Lord has been doing in my life lately. Over the past few months, I have embarked on a journey to learn as much as I can about disciple-making, and along the way, God has been teaching me lessons I never imagined I would need to learn.

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to thank the wonderful people I have met during this chapter of my life. To each one of you who has encouraged me, walked alongside me, shared your wisdom, or simply made room for me in your life, I want to express my gratitude from the depths of my heart. My prayer is that God will continue to supply all your needs and strengthen you in everything He has called you to do.

Above all, my thanks belong to our Creator and to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose grace continues to sustain us and whose love keeps drawing us closer to Him.

With that said, let me return to my story and share how God has been shaping my journey.

Living in a Distracted World

I have often wondered what it would take to experience a moment of genuine peace—a moment when everything around me falls silent. Imagine a world without distractions, without the constant buzzing of a cellphone demanding our attention, without notifications competing for our thoughts, and without the endless noise that seems to follow us wherever we go.

I think many of us would gladly exchange some of the things we possess for just a little of that silence.

Yet here we are, living in a world where distraction has become part of our everyday lives. It takes a remarkable amount of discipline simply to pause, collect our thoughts, and give our attention to what truly matters.

There have been days when I have had to switch off my cellphone deliberately and force myself to become still. I needed to quiet my mind, step away from the noise, and listen to what God might be saying.

It is not always easy.

Think about it this way: it is difficult to listen to two radio stations at the same time. Imagine trying to follow a rugby match while someone nearby is listening to a soccer match. Both games have their own excitement, their own commentary, and their own demands for your attention.

Eventually, you will have to choose which one to listen to.

I sometimes wonder whether our relationship with God suffers for the same reason. We want to hear His voice, but we have surrounded ourselves with so many competing voices that we struggle to recognise what deserves our attention.

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing us today is not that God has stopped speaking, but that we have become so accustomed to the noise that we rarely make room to listen.

And it is in this distracted world that I have continued my journey as an evangelist.

When the Brokenness of the World Becomes Personal

Evangelism has always been close to my heart. Much of my life has been centred on sharing the gospel with people searching for answers, hoping that they might encounter the same Jesus who transformed my own life.

But in recent encounters, I have found myself revisiting some of the things I thought I already understood about God, humanity, and the work He has called me to do.

Wherever I seem to go, I encounter suffering. I see pain, poverty, disappointment, and people struggling to find their place in a world that often appears indifferent to their circumstances.

Sometimes it is a job seeker who has gone without a meal. Sometimes it is a child standing beside the road, hoping that a passing stranger might spare a little change. At other times, it is someone whose circumstances have left them without the strength or the words to explain what they are going through.

Even when I have very little to spare, I find myself wrestling with the desire to do something.

I wish I could change the picture I see every day. I wish I could provide a meal for every hungry person, restore hope to every discouraged heart, and offer a solution to every difficult situation I encounter.

But the reality is that I cannot do everything.

And that realisation has often left me asking difficult questions.

How did humanity become so broken? Have we become so consumed by our own desires that we have forgotten how to love our neighbours? Have envy and covetousness taken such a hold of our hearts that we struggle to celebrate what others have? Have we become so distracted by the pursuit of our own ambitions that we have forgotten the commandments God gave us?

Jesus made the matter very clear. We are called to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

These are not complicated instructions to understand. Yet living them out in a broken world can confront us with the uncomfortable truth about our own hearts.

One day, as I sat thinking about these things, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion.

I sat on a park bench and turned on my speaker to listen to some worship music. As the music played, I began reflecting on the suffering I had witnessed and the questions that continued to trouble me.

I became emotional.

A man sitting in his car nearby had been observing me from a distance. Eventually, he approached and asked whether I was okay.

What he did not know was that this simple moment would become an opportunity for a conversation that mattered.

I greeted him and asked whether I could share something about my life with him—how God had taken me from being a wanderer searching for answers to becoming an evangelist with a heart for people searching for hope.

We began talking, and I soon discovered that this gentleman was also struggling to find his purpose in life.

What started as a concerned question from a stranger became an opportunity to share the gospel.

As our conversation came to an end, I prayed for him. There was something deeply moving about that moment. Here was a man who had approached me because he thought I might need help, yet our meeting had opened the door for me to share with him the hope I had found in Christ.

I left that encounter reminded that God can use the most ordinary moments to create opportunities for extraordinary conversations.

Sometimes, we think we must have everything together before God can use us. But that day reminded me that even in our moments of

reflection, uncertainty, or emotional struggle, God can still work through us.

A Child Beside the Road

As I continued walking, I came across a young boy standing beside the road with his mother. They were asking passers-by for spare change.

For a moment, I found myself caught between two thoughts.

One part of me wanted to give them the little money I had left. Another part of me felt prompted to do something different.

I wanted to approach the boy and give him a hug.

So I did.

As I embraced that little boy, my heart was deeply moved. I could not help wondering what was going through his mind, what his childhood looked like, and what it meant for him to stand beside a road hoping that strangers might help his family.

His mother looked at me and asked who I was.

I introduced myself and began sharing a little of my journey with Christ. I told her about my life, about the searching that had once left me empty, and about how Jesus had brought me to a different understanding of peace.

I could not promise to change their circumstances. I could not offer answers to every difficulty they faced. But I could share the hope I had found in Jesus, and I could treat them with the dignity and compassion every human being deserves.

As I walked away, I began thinking about returning with a small gift for the boy, something that might brighten his day.

It was a simple thought, but it reminded me of something I have increasingly come to appreciate: when you begin walking closely with Christ, something changes in the way you see people.

You begin to look beyond what is immediately visible.

A stranger becomes someone with a story. A person asking for help becomes someone worthy of your attention. A child beside the road is no longer simply part of the scenery you pass on your way to somewhere else.

You begin to see people differently because you are learning to see them through the eyes of Jesus.

And that, to me, is one of the beautiful things about following Christ. He does not merely call us to speak differently. He begins to teach us to love differently.

The People We Set Out to Help

I remember sharing some of these experiences with a fellowship group hosted by my dear friend Russell Thomson at his factory on Wednesday mornings.

During our discussions, I spoke about the emotional challenges that sometimes accompany evangelism, particularly when we encounter people whose circumstances are difficult to witness.

There are moments when you leave an encounter carrying more questions than answers. You think about the person you have just met, the suffering you have witnessed, and the things you wish you could have done differently.

Some scenes remain with you long after you have walked away.

And I have come to realise that this is part of the journey.

When we step out to share the gospel, we often imagine that we are going to bring transformation to the lives of others. We prepare ourselves to speak, to encourage, to pray, and to explain the hope we have found in Christ.

But somewhere along the way, something unexpected begins to happen.

The people we set out to reach begin to change us, too.

Their stories challenge our assumptions. Their circumstances expose the limitations of our compassion. Their needs force us to confront the difference between knowing what Jesus taught and actually living it out.

I have often walked away from such encounters feeling that I received just as much as I gave, if not more.

Perhaps disciple-making begins much earlier than we sometimes imagine. It begins when we allow God to work on our own hearts, teaching us to become the kind of people who do not simply talk about the love of Christ but are willing to demonstrate it in everyday life.

The Man Everyone Walked Past

There is another encounter I often think about.

One day, I came across a man who had collapsed on the ground while everyone around him seemed occupied with their own activities.

Like many people might have done, I initially assumed that he could have been under the influence of alcohol. But something about the situation made me stop and try to wake him.

I persisted, and eventually he regained consciousness.

It was then that I discovered the reason he had collapsed: he was hungry.

That revelation stayed with me.

Here was a man lying on the ground, while the world continued moving around him. People had places to be, responsibilities to fulfil, and lives to attend to. Yet beneath all the movement and activity, someone was struggling with a basic human need.

I had only enough money in my pocket to buy him a single meal.

I bought him food, and I also shared the good news of Jesus with him and left him with a Bible.

As I walked away, I found myself asking whether I had done enough. Had I done the right thing? Could I have done more? What would happen to him once the meal was finished?

I had no easy answers.

I could not solve the circumstances that had brought him to that point. I could not guarantee what the following day would hold for him. I could only respond to the need in front of me, offering practical help and sharing the hope I had found in Christ.

The following day, I passed through the same place with Russell and saw the man again.

This time, there was a little more life in his voice as we spoke to him.

I cannot claim to know the full story of what happened to him after that encounter. I do not know what the days that followed looked like or how his circumstances eventually unfolded.

But I remember meeting him. I remember the conversation. And I remember how deeply the encounter affected me.

These are not always easy experiences to carry. Sometimes God leads us into circumstances where the needs are greater than our resources and the suffering is far more complicated than we can comprehend.

Yet we are still called to respond with love.

I am learning that we do not have to possess the power to change someone's entire life before we can make a meaningful difference. Sometimes, the opportunity before us is to provide a meal, offer a listening ear, share a word of hope, pray with someone, or simply stop long enough to recognise another person's humanity.

We may not see the entire outcome, but that does not make the act of love insignificant.

Learning to Love as Jesus Taught Us

As I reflect on these encounters, I keep returning to the two greatest commandments.

Jesus taught us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. These commandments are at the very heart of the life He calls us to live.

It is one thing to read these words in Scripture. It is another to encounter someone whose needs interrupt our plans, whose suffering unsettles our emotions, or whose circumstances leave us wondering what we can possibly do.

That is where our faith becomes practical.

We begin to discover that loving our neighbour is not merely an idea to discuss during a Bible study or a principle to quote when speaking to others. It is a calling that follows us into the streets, the workplaces, the parks, and the ordinary places where life unfolds.

And as we remember the cross of Jesus Christ, we are reminded of the love that first reached out to us.

We did not earn that love through our achievements. We did not have to prove that we were worthy before Christ made His grace known to us. The gospel points us towards a love that gives, serves, and calls people into a restored relationship with God.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to reflect that love in the way we treat others.

I want to encourage you, therefore, to look around you with fresh eyes.

The next time you encounter a stranger, do not be so quick to walk past. Be willing to listen. Offer a kind word. If appropriate, share your testimony. Where there is a genuine need and you are able to help, consider what practical assistance you can offer. Ask whether the person would welcome prayer.

And above all, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.

We must remember that people are not projects, and compassion is not a performance. Every person we encounter has dignity, a story, and needs that may extend far beyond what we can see. Our responsibility is to love faithfully, serve humbly, and share the truth of Jesus with sincerity.

We may never discover the full impact of a conversation, a prayer, a meal, or a moment of kindness. Sometimes, we may never meet that person again.

But our calling is not to control every outcome. It is to remain faithful to the One who called us.

I would love to hear your stories, too. Have you ever encountered someone who left a lasting impression on your life? Has God ever used a stranger to teach you something about His love? Perhaps you stepped out intending to encourage someone, only to discover that the encounter changed you as well.

These are the stories worth sharing, because they remind us that God continues to work in the lives of ordinary people through ordinary moments.

Until Next Time

As I continue learning about disciple-making, I am discovering that the journey is not simply about teaching others to follow Jesus. It is also about allowing Jesus to shape the way we live, the way we see people, and the way we respond to the brokenness around us.

I am still learning. I still have questions. There are days when the suffering I encounter feels overwhelming, and I wish I could do more than my circumstances allow.

But I am learning to take each encounter as an opportunity to grow in faith, compassion, and obedience.

Perhaps that is one of the lessons God has been teaching me throughout this season: while we are busy thinking about how He can use us to reach others, He is also working on us.

So, as you go about your day, make room for God in the middle of all the noise. Put aside the distractions when you can. Listen to His Word. Pay attention to the people He places along your path.

And when the opportunity comes, love your neighbour.

Not because you have all the answers, but because you know the One who has shown you what love looks like.

Until next time, may the Lord continue to guide you, strengthen you, and teach you to see people through the eyes of Jesus.

Grace and peace to you all.