Opportunity to Serve
College student and ODBM intern, Karis Martin, shares about her opportunities this summer during an internship with missionary Kristi Colas in Paris, France.
Opportunity to Build Relationships
My Muslim friend from class and I got lunch together. We ended up having a great discussion about more of the differences between Islam and Christianity. I gave her a Bible and the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. She found that very kind and she said would read it. Unfortunately, this was the last time I was able to talk to her, but I look forward to connecting with her in the future.
Opportunity to Explain the Good News
I spent some time with some girls my age from church in Paris. One of the girls is coming to Bob Jones University this fall. I got the chance to hear her testimony and interview her for a presentation for my French class. We were supposed to present a French person to the class, so I chose her so that I would also get the chance to share the Gospel with my class. I did this presentation Friday, highlighted her different cultures (Indian, French, and soon, American) and also how she became a Christian. To my surprise, my professor and other classmates actually started asking questions about Christianity! In very broken French, I was able to roughly explain the difference between Catholicism and Christianity. If anything, I was able to get across that my new friend’s family didn’t find true life in Catholicism or Hinduism, but in Jesus alone. While I’m sure I was very confusing, praise the Lord for this opportunity!
Opportunity to Share Christ
My last day of class, I spent the afternoon with another classmate. She is living in DC at the moment, about to start grad school. While sitting in a café, she started asking questions about Christianity. She talked about how she is really searching for something deeper in her life. She believes in God and that we are eternal beings, but she just doesn’t know a lot about religion. She asked great questions. She mentioned that because of my presentation, she felt comfortable asking me questions because she knew that I wanted to talk about my faith. Praise the Lord! I was able to connect her to a good church. She said she is going to read the Bible for herself and go to the church!
Opportunity to Learn & Grow
I will say that, by far, the hardest part about my internship has been French immersion. I have no trouble speaking with other students or even French kids but speaking with French adults is very hard. Having to listen to a conversation that you can’t even comprehend (mostly because it is so fast) is very difficult. It can be easy to get discouraged. You think you come so far with a language, and then you talk with someone who you can’t understand or even who makes fun of your mistakes. This has made my heart go out to all the missionaries who have dedicated their lives to learning another language to be able to share the Gospel. I have experienced first-hand how confident you have to be in God and His calling for your life. I thank Him for the times that give me strength – speaking French for a whole afternoon with French middle-schoolers and understanding everything, being able to use new words in a conversation, or someone telling me my French accent is good :) God is with me, even in the midst of learning a foreign language.
Opportunity to Glorify God
I can’t help but praise God for these opportunities. Who would’ve thought that I would meet two American girls in my French class, become friends, and be able to share the Gospel with them? There are opportunities all around us if we look.
- Karis Martin
Pray for Karis as she continues her college studies at Bob Jones University and desires to serve in missions.