Sermon on the Mound

It was my first day of door to door ministry. The previous day most everyone else had gone out, but some of us stayed back after we donated blood at the district hospital because we were last and therefore running late. 
Small evangelism teams had already formed, and relationships made with a few of the people within the community Matias (forgive my spelling). So I was the weakest link.
Next thing I know, Pastor Chris had claimed me as his evangelism partner to go out and make "converts". I had the bad kind of butterflies in my stomach and I asked The Lord to give me peace and to speak through me. 
He answered both of my requests. And it was more than I could have ever imagined. 
The first man we sat down with knew Jesus but lacked a relationship with him. He knew Jesus, but he didn't know that Jesus is his savior. That is a common theme here in Busia. They know, but they don't really KNOW. 
The gospel flowed out of me as the Holy Spirit spoke through me to this man. And the whole gospel story spilled over onto this man and saturated his heart and mind with a whole new way of life. Long story short, he gave his life to Jesus and as I told him, the angels rejoice every time we welcome a new person into the Family of God. 
We talked to a couple other people, but God tugged on my heart as we were conversing to a group of teachers and farmers to go over and speak to this young man standing a ways off, listening to our conversation. 
Now in America, I tend to allow my Christian guy-friends to minister to other guys. The last thing that I want to do is "flirt to convert", as we jokingly call it at home. So I should have felt nervous about the fact that I was surrounded by 3 or 4 young African guys between the ages of 17 and 20. But God works in our weakness and calms our restless spirits. Especially mine in that moment. 
So I sat on a slightly raised piece of ground to talk to my new friends. I laughed out loud as the sermon on the mount was recalled to my mind. And I quietly said to myself, "today I get to be Jesus and give a sermon on this mound." And my heart was ready to spill over with the love of Jesus onto these young men.

But I think that the Pastor was in a hurry to convert them and before I know it, they are saying the "believers prayer" (not my favorite method in the world to spread the gospel). 
Ready to continue on, the Pastor started to walk away but I stopped him. I was not content to stop there. Jesus is so much more than a simple prayer said once, or twice, or even three times in order to escape the scary reality of hell and damnation. Jesus is our savior and he wants a relationship, not just a confession. So I stopped him and asked as politely as I could if I could spend some time in fellowship with them. He shrugged and allowed me to proceed. 
I opened the Bible to 1 John, a seemingly random book of the Bible. And we began to read it and talk about it. I asked them questions to engage their minds (trying to undo the damage done by pressing upon them the simple believers prayer said without another thought or change of heart). I asked them questions, forcing them to take hold of content and wrestle with it. Two of the guys even read part of the passages for me. I wanted them to think, and to understand beyond "repeat after me". 
As one of them was reading a passage, I allowed my eyes to take in my surroundings. I was stunned. There were 30 plus people surrounding me and my new friends. I knew a few more had joined us, but not that many. 
They were all intrigued by the gospel. They wanted more. These people were hungry to dig deeper. 
Jesus attracted the masses in his time on earth, and he was continuing to do so through me.
In Matthew 5-7 Jesus gave the sermon on the mount. In chapter 7 verses 28 and 29 at the end of the sermon the Bible says, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."
As true followers of Jesus, he gives us this same kind of authority to preach the Good News which he gave to us, before his ascension into heaven, when he told his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples…" (please note: it says DISCIPLES, not converts). And as I look back on the events of that day, I see the Holy Spirit working as I sat on that mound of dirt. And I think, "yes, even Jesus the Son of God sat in the dirt." For we are called to get down and dirty with the masses, in order to call out the Jesus in them.
John 4:13-14
"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water selling up to eternal life."