Story behind picture #2

This is Gertrude. She operates a small fruit & vegetable stand right along the main paved road. We met her first thing on Wednesday morning. I should explain about our method of evangelizing the area. Each day, our team (Dan, Marina, 2 translators, 2 pastors, numerous local Christians) would meet at the proposed church site (under an avocado tree, facing the main road). We would split up into teams of three. My team always included Simon, my translator, and 1 other national. We'd then choose an area to totally saturate with the Gospel presentation. On this particular day, we headed to the lake side of the road. Our turn-off was at a dirt road in between some fruit stands and a bicycle washing station. We decided to stop at the fruit stands. One was manned by an older woman - probably in her late 60's, early 70's. The young woman at the stand next to her was named Gertrude. They both shook our hands and allowed us to share with them. As usual, a crowd quickly gathered around us to see what was going on. I introduced myself and started sharing about the love of God, using my Evangecube. The older woman listened for about 2 minutes then got up and left. Not at all interested. Gertrude, however, listened intently. The crowd kept growing larger - probably 50-75 people kept pressing in and listening. When I asked people to pray for salvation, many people in the crowd prayed out loud, including Gertrude. She had tears in her eyes and seemed to genuinely grasp the free gift of salvation through Christ. The guys on our team started writing down names of people who had prayed with us. Simon shared a discipleship lesson then prayed a prayer of blessing on everyone. I felt compelled to talk individually to Gertrude. She agreed to walk a little way away from her fruit stand. I encouraged her to grow strong in her faith. I gave her some little tracts to read. I urged her to share them with the older woman next to her and with anyone who would listen. I told her that she was an influencer and could make a difference in people's lives by sharing her faith. We then went on with the rest of our day. We had many people pray to receive Christ and shared with over 150 people. At the end of the day, we passed by Gertrude's fruit stand again. I asked her if I could take her picture. She agreed. I showed her the picture on the camera screen. She was surprised, I think, by her image. Most of the Africans I've met in Burundi and Rwanda don't own mirrors and really have no idea what they look like. I think she is beautiful and I pray that God would use her to impact His kingdom. Pray for Gertrude, that her faith would grow strong and that her business would be blessed and that she would have many opportunities to share her faith with others.