Brochures, Pop, and Prayer

I wrote this in January of ’09 for a Christian Writer’s Guild assignment.

Go out on the streets and pray for people? That’s just not my thing. Walking up to a random person and saying, “Can I pray for you?” can prove to be, well, awkward. I made sure I teamed up with the most outgoing, people-loving person I could find. That way I wouldn’t have to do any talking. Holding a box of pop in one hand (or soda, as they call it here in Reading, Pennsylvania), and brochures that tell about who Christ is and how to accept him in the other, I roamed the sidewalks of the busy city, following my partner around. I had full intentions to be the one who handed out the pop along with the brochure and smiled, managing to escape every opportunity that involved speaking. So she prayed for a couple of people, and I did my job; and very well, I might add. Hey, it’s not easy handing out pop and brochures all day. I mean, you have to…to…okay, I’m lying, maybe it is easy. But I’d do anything not to talk to people.

Our time wandering the streets was almost over, but we still had one last pop to give away. “Look, there’s someone we haven’t seen yet,” my partner began to walk toward a middle-aged man standing on the sidewalk. “Hello sir,” she said to him, “would you like a soda?” “Yes, thanks,” said the man. “It is pretty warm out here.” “Would you like prayer for anything? We would love to pray for you.” my partner added. The man rattled off a list of things he needed prayer for. It broke my heart to hear all the hurt of these people we talked to. “Would you like to pray, Sarah?” My partner whispered to me. “U-uh, yeah.” I stuttered. No! What was I thinking? I sighed. I need to do this. Lord, give me the words and the courage. I shot up the quick prayer to the Almighty, took a deep breath and began to pray out loud.