Living in a country where the predominant religion is different than yours is difficult when it comes to sharing Jesus. Coming from America, it's still hard to comprehend that multitudes of people I pass during the day (whether on the metro, bus, minibus, ferry, street, etc...) haven't been exposed to Jesus the way I have. So when it comes to our weekly outreaches of playing music and sharing on the streets, there doesn't always seem to be much impact. We don't always get to see people's lives change like we want to.
But, that's when I need to remember that I'm only seeing the world through my limited, human view of things.
God, on the other hand, is working behind the scenes according to His plans.
We don't get to see everything God's doing (and how could our brains handle that anyway?), but now I'll share a story of how God indirectly used our weekly outreach time.
One day we were playing music, doing dramas, storytelling, and having conversations as usual. One of the guys on my team was having a longer conversation with a man who stayed around to talk. My teammate handed him a DVD and some other literature to check out. He didn't seem particularly interested, but he took it and walked off. We prayed for this man and the others we interacted with that day, and asked God to use us and our resources for His glory. Later, a Turkish Christian friend was walking and passed a man who was changing out the public trash bags in the area. Our friend stopped and looked in the trash and saw the same DVDs and literature that had been handed to the other man we had talked to earlier on. He told the trash man that he should really take those things, and the trash man seemed excited and thanked our friend for noticing the items.
So, even though the other man threw these gifts in the trash, God still gave them to someone else who was more interested! And this is why I trust in God, who is always in control of the big and small things. Let's trust God and pray for bigger things even though we may not see the outcome in the time/way we expect it! :)