Being an alongsider is all about building authentic relationships with people and letting God work through us to share his love.  

I used to think I was only useful to God when I had spiritual conversations with people or when they came to church with me. What a reductionist view I had about how to love people and how to let God be God! Thankfully, older and wiser Christians drew alongside me to help me better understand God’s word, how to put it into practice, follow Jesus and love people better.

Being an alongsider in France today means several things for me…

1. It means drawing alongside God to listen to him in prayer – to ask for guidance and creativity in how to love others and asking him to send his Holy Spirit ahead of me to be at work in the hearts of those I meet.

2. I get curious about people. Building friendships, even with a few is a joy for me; discovering how God has made them, helping and supporting them, and just being a loving friend and neighbour. I am simply myself in friendships, never forcing a connection where there isn’t one and not stressing about whether I’ve spoken to them about my faith or not – that’s not the goal, loving them is. My friends see me at my worst and best. I feel free to share my struggles with them, as well as my triumphs. Naturally conversations about God arise as we share our lives together.

5 stories of God entering the everyday

On Easter Sunday a neighbour texted me, asking to come round for a coffee. I was just about to go to church and told her why I couldn’t meet. The opportunity to invite her to come with me seemed natural in the context of our exchange. She jumped at the idea! She came for the first time, she shared the burden of her pain with us and we prayed for her. She met with God that day.

Recently a friend sent me a link to a podcast about spirituality and asked me what I thought about it from a Christian perspective. I am now sharing with her the hope I have in Christ on the back of this. I have been praying for this friend for 7 years and its only now that we are talking more deeply about spiritual things. I trust God to bring her into relationship with him in his time.

At the Catholic school where I work, I have the privilege of teaching the basics of Christianity to a group of 15-year-old girls, mostly atheists or agnostics. I asked them to fill out a questionnaire at the end of the year. One of the questions is ‘What have you learned this year that is new or surprising to you?’ One girl, who always seemed grumpy during my classes, replied, ‘I’ve learned that Jesus is the Son of God, today he lives in me and I have learned to worship him.’

Another aspect of being an alongsider, without the high turnover rate, is meeting with a couple of women from church each week to read the Bible, pray and drink coffee together. I’ve been doing this for the last 10 years, since they became Christians. God has done a work of healing and deliverance in both of them, but it hasn’t been a quick transformation. Today, these women are active in our church and using their spiritual gifts to serve God, and they in turn are now getting alongside others to share their faith.

Last year I went on holiday to Rome with a friend for a few days. We had a great time soaking up the sun and the sights. In the middle of St Peter’s Basilica, looking up at a beautiful stained-glass window featuring a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, my friend turned to me with tears in her eyes and told me that God had just touched her heart. She showed no signs of warming to God previously. She still talks about this experience and since then has been coming to church and growing in friendship with Jesus.

God is at work all around you

The common thread running throughout these stories is that God’s grace is at work in many lives all around me and all around you. People often say to me, ‘I wish I had your gift of taking about faith so easily’. Honestly, I’m not often the one initiating faith conversations. God goes ahead to open doors for me to share something of Jesus and his love, all in the context of normal friendships and relationships.

Who are the people you can be praying for to meet with God? Are you praying for boldness, wisdom and joy in sharing your faith with others when opportunities arise? Are you becoming weary in doing good? Let’s draw alongside Jesus to find the hope, strength and love he longs to give us and let’s draw alongside others to see what he will do!