Sharing the hope we have in Jesus in everyday conversations can be difficult. Our words can fly out of our mouths jumbled and incoherent when God sends an opportunity to share the gospel our way. But God can work through our awkward attempts to share the gospel.

Robert and Michael are cousins. They both work for London City Mission.

But before Michael came to Christ, at the age of 41, he ended up in hospital with a life-threatening illness.

“It was my mum who let me know that my cousin Michael had a heart condition and that he was sick in hospital,” says Robert.

“I thought, oh my goodness. I wasn’t sure if he was a Christian and I was convinced that I had to somehow share the gospel with him just in case he hadn’t heard it before.”

According to Robert, he was nervous and anxious at the prospect.

“I remember taking a book along with me to leave with him,” he recalls.

“At the back of my mind, I kept saying to myself, you’ve got to share the gospel with this guy. You’ve got to share the gospel with this guy.

“I was stumbling over my words. I was a bit all over the place. I felt like I was walking through glue in my conversation with him… I left the hospital so deflated and discouraged. I’m a pastor. I’m a bible instructor. I teach people how to evangelise. I just said Lord, forgive me for being so useless.”

Robert’s saving grace was this book he carried with him to give to Michael. Robert encouraged him to read it.

“Yeah, Rob was trying to share… something,” says Michael.

“I didn’t understand the gospel. But he bought me this book called Turning Points by Vaughan Roberts.

“I started to read it and the book messed me up. The book started to talk to me about Jesus. It started to talk to me about sin...”

To find out more about how God used Robert to work in Michael’s life as well as how to take advantage of every gospel opportunity, listen to Episode 3 of the Everyday Evangelism podcast.