Inviting Friends to Church

I don't remember the exact statistic that I learned in one of my outreach classes, but it's somewhere between 66-80% of people in the US that do not attend church have never been invited. I start out with that statistic because it's overwhelming and sad. As Christians it's so easy to talk about Jesus with fellow Christians (which is good since fellow Christians help us in our faith walk), but sometimes we are afraid to invite our friends, family, and neighbors to church because we're afraid we might offend them. I don't know about you, but if one of my Muslim friends were to invite me to an Islamic Mosk, I wouldn't be offended. Even though I may disagree with the faith, I may just jump at the opportunity to learn more about his or her religion so that I may better understand where my friend is coming from in faith discussions. So maybe we invite our friend to church, and they say no for whatever reason. It happens, but do you really think we offended them? Maybe they just couldn't go because they already had plans, so the next time you invite them, they just might say "yes." But maybe they also will say "yes" right away. Maybe you're friend is searching for a hope or love that they have never experienced before. By inviting them to church, they just might experience Jesus for the first time in their life and it will probably open the doors for more discussions in the future. Today I had an amazing opportunity to experience church with a 22 year old young woman, Izenith, who was experiencing church for the first time in her life. Izenith is one of my students in my EFL class at Balboa Church. She speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish, but last Thursday during our break I asked her if she attends church. She told me no, so between my broken Spanish and her broken English, I invited her to church and told her that I would sit next to her. She didn't seem too excited, so I didn't think she would come. However, to my surprise, I entered church this morning and Izenith was there! I don't know if Izenith was ever invited to church before, but I do know that I took a chance and invited her. The Holy Spirit did the rest, waking her up this morning and helping her step outside of her comfort zone to attend church. I ask that you would keep Izenith in your prayers. I don't know what she believes, but I pray that God would use me and the other Christians in Panama in any way so that she can know Jesus Christ as her Savior.