From a very young age, I was exposed to evangelism in practice. My childhood church used to do outreach events during summers in highly trafficked places, like the beach or public parks. They’d rent the big town pop-up stage and stand out from early in the morning to after the sun had set cycling through worship teams, street preaching, and people sharing their testimonies. 

All the while, there were people walking through the crowds, asking people if they needed prayer or sharing Jesus with others. Occasionally, there were people who were led to believe in God, or wanted to be baptized.

It’s in times like this that I wonder: How do people that don’t know who Jesus is get through this life? How do those who don’t know His love face the uncertainty of the day? How do those who don’t stand in His promises cope with their fear and deep sadness that is an inevitability to this life? Because I don’t think that I’d be able to function in this year alone if I didn’t have the steadfast faithfulness of God to lean into in days like these.

I have always loved the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. I feel like it’s one of those stories from the Bible that always gives you something new every time you study it. Mostly, it’s because the conversation is so deep and multi-faceted. The first thing to understanding this story is to know the cultural context. In Jesus’ time, the Samaritans and the Jews did not get along. The reason being is this: When the Babylonians conquered Israel, they took most of the Jews captive and brought them back to Babylon to assimilate them to their culture.