A few years ago the whole family had the opportunity to go to Mexico. It was a memorable experience and wonderful in many ways. Every night we would visit the plaza of a town where the people would gather in the evening. Gathering in on the town plaza in the evening is a beautiful Latin-American tradition and it is a wonderful opportunity for the gospel, because it provides a natural audience.
We would sing and tell stories and juggle and do slight-of-hand and start conversations and drink ice-cold sugary Cokes as the cool of the day set in. To attract the attention of a crowd we often used a skit involving a watermelon. In the course of the drama the watermelon was destroyed.
One evening we visited a tiny village with cobblestone streets on the north edge of Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest freshwater lake. It was a very humble, poor village. As we were setting up to do the skit one of the students with the team suggested; “I don’t think we should destroy the watermelon here, I think we should slice it up and give it away.
I gave them the OK. They sliced up the watermelon and children appeared out of nowhere to get a piece. We had a delightful time in the village until well after dark sharing with the families there.
I am convinced that we often over-organize and over-complicate ministry. Good things will happen when we just take what we have and humbly and simply share it with others.
I will carry in my heart forever the picture of the beautiful little children of the village eating watermelon that night. I will cherish a snapshot of a circle of girls listening to two young ladies in our group sharing the gospel. One giving the gospel, the other interpreting, and the dark eyes of the girls in the village drinking in the truth.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
July 5, 2012