Walk-up can have some pretty mixed reactions. Some students love it! Others not so much. It is only natural that a ministry which involves interacting with complete strangers about faith can evoke such strong feelings. 

But the past weeks have reminded me of how important it is to be sharing and engaging in walk-up – even when it’s scary! 

For those who may not know what walk-up is, it is exactly how it sounds. You walk up to a stranger and start a conversation about the gospel. Easy, right? 

It’s also easy to assume that because I am a Howie, I must be a pro at evangelism. And yet, I find myself relating to my students in this past week because, similar to them, I had only done walk-up a few times.   

And that is why we encouraged all small group members to give walk-up a go during weeks four and five this semester! 

Over the past two weeks, I have been incredibly encouraged by the openness of complete strangers to engage in conversations about big topics such as ‘Who created the world?’ or ‘What do you think is the meaning of life?’ In fact, most of my conversations in the first week went overtime, leading to me rushing back to debrief with the few who didn’t need to run off to class.  

What an amazing problem to have! 

However, what I have found even more encouraging than this is seeing students being willing to give walk-up a go despite their nerves.  

For all my small groups, I like to give a heads-up that we will be doing walk-up so that they have time to mentally prepare and don’t suddenly find themselves being asked to do something they never expected to do. This can feel a bit nerve-wracking as a leader because it makes you a bit nervous about who is actually going to show up! 

And yet most of my students did – around 80% showed up! How good!  

Were they nervous? Absolutely, but they were willing to try something outside their comfort zone because they perceived the opportunity to share about Jesus with others as much greater. 

In the past two weeks, I’ve been shocked to see how many people, particularly international students, have never heard the gospel, let alone the name of Jesus! 

Romans 10:14-15 is often used as a passage to encourage the need for harvest workers, but I think it is a compelling passage to show the need for all of us to share the good news in our day-to-day lives. 

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” 

This is exactly what the students have been doing over these past two weeks – bringing the good news to those who would otherwise never hear it! 

In the past, I have often found it easy to encourage evangelism and then quietly hope someone else will do it. However, the past two weeks have reminded me to fight that tendency – not because evangelism suddenly becomes easy, but because Jesus is worth speaking about. 

That being said, I haven’t become a walk-up expert overnight. I can’t turn on the ‘walk-up’ button and find the sudden boldness to talk to anyone I see. I still find it kinda nerve-wracking at times! However, I am able to go forward despite my nervousness because I trust that God is going to use every interaction I have for his glory, which is why I choose to be faithful. 

And this has been the same attitude of our students! When asked about how confident they were feeling on a scale of 1 (nervous) to 5 (confident), many said 1 or 2. They didn’t wait until they felt completely confident to try, but decided to go ahead regardless! 

Perhaps there is a small way you can join them? 

It could be a conversation with a neighbour about views on faith, or inviting a colleague to an event. It doesn’t have to be eloquent or dramatic – just a chat! 

Perhaps, with God’s help, we can all find one small way this week, despite our mixed emotions, to bring the good news to someone who needs to hear it. 

So does walk-up still evoke mixed reactions? Yes! 

But despite this, we still choose to be faithful because the opportunity to share the good news is worth it.