How Much Time?

9/15/16                         Ricardo                        30's



This young man, Ricardo, was waiting on a street corner for his wife to pick him up from work when he agreed to allow me to record a conversation about his beliefs. Since I didn't know when his wife would arrive, I knew my time with him could be very limited and had no idea how long we would be able to talk. What to do? As far as I could see, I had two options. One was to quickly try to present the Gospel, but at the risk of being pushy and insensitive to where he might be at spiritually. Or, I could begin by asking some good questions and trying to be a good listener, but at the risk of running out of time to share much of the Gospel.

I chose the latter, and in the ten minutes or so before his wife drove up I found out that Ricardo believes in God but has rejected the Catholic upbringing he was raised in, and sees himself as a good person worthy of heaven regardless. I usually carry a backpack full of a variety of Gospel materials, and chose to give him a Gospel tract that would best speak to his spiritual needs.

Choosing to spend however much time I might have with Ricardo asking questions and responding to his answers helped me know what I could give him that would be the most helpful, and it also helped him begin to see his need to actually read what I gave him.