A couple weeks ago I was able to catch up with Mark Austin, who has served as one of Hope’s missionaries in Paris for a long time. Mark always has good stories, but this one stuck with me. He told me about a man in France who is a mime. He’s originally from Algeria. He grew up Muslim. And today he’s using his art and his story to tell people about Jesus.
A former Muslim Algerian mime in France telling people about Jesus. It sounds like the setup to a joke. “So an Algerian mime walks into a café in Paris...” But it’s not a joke. It’s a real person whose life took turns nobody would have predicted, and God is using every one of them.
I love that. That man had plenty of reasons to stay quiet about his faith, which, for a mime,
would have been the easy route. His background could have felt like a liability. His art could
have felt too unusual. But the very things that make him different are what make his story so hard to ignore. People who would never walk into a church will stop on a sidewalk to watch a mime. People who would tune out a pastor might lean in to hear from someone who grew up in another faith and found his way to Jesus.
God doesn’t waste anything.
Peter put it this way: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Whatever gift. Not the gift you wish you had or the one somebody else has. Yours.
Most of us assume our story is too ordinary to matter or too messy to share. Maybe you grew up in church and drifted away for a decade. Maybe you came to faith late. Maybe you’ve walked through divorce, addiction, infertility, a layoff, or a hard diagnosis. Maybe your gift is spreadsheets or welding or making a really good pot of chili or sitting with people when they’re hurting. You might think none of that is the stuff God uses. But that is exactly the stuff God uses.
Your story will reach people mine never will. Someone at your job, in your neighborhood, or on your kid’s soccer team may never listen to a sermon, but they’ll listen to you. Not because you have all the answers, but because you’ve lived something they’re living right now.
Peter also tells us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). That isn’t a call to be pushy. It’s an invitation to be honest about what God has done in your life.
So here’s my question for you this week, Hopesters. What’s your unique story? And how are you using it? If an Algerian mime in France can find a way, I’m pretty sure you can too.
peace,
Nick
A former Muslim Algerian mime in France telling people about Jesus. It sounds like the setup to a joke. “So an Algerian mime walks into a café in Paris...” But it’s not a joke. It’s a real person whose life took turns nobody would have predicted, and God is using every one of them.
I love that. That man had plenty of reasons to stay quiet about his faith, which, for a mime,
would have been the easy route. His background could have felt like a liability. His art could
have felt too unusual. But the very things that make him different are what make his story so hard to ignore. People who would never walk into a church will stop on a sidewalk to watch a mime. People who would tune out a pastor might lean in to hear from someone who grew up in another faith and found his way to Jesus.
God doesn’t waste anything.
Peter put it this way: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Whatever gift. Not the gift you wish you had or the one somebody else has. Yours.
Most of us assume our story is too ordinary to matter or too messy to share. Maybe you grew up in church and drifted away for a decade. Maybe you came to faith late. Maybe you’ve walked through divorce, addiction, infertility, a layoff, or a hard diagnosis. Maybe your gift is spreadsheets or welding or making a really good pot of chili or sitting with people when they’re hurting. You might think none of that is the stuff God uses. But that is exactly the stuff God uses.
Your story will reach people mine never will. Someone at your job, in your neighborhood, or on your kid’s soccer team may never listen to a sermon, but they’ll listen to you. Not because you have all the answers, but because you’ve lived something they’re living right now.
Peter also tells us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). That isn’t a call to be pushy. It’s an invitation to be honest about what God has done in your life.
So here’s my question for you this week, Hopesters. What’s your unique story? And how are you using it? If an Algerian mime in France can find a way, I’m pretty sure you can too.
peace,
Nick