And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot.’ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? (Acts 8:30-31a)

Philip the deacon had preached the gospel in Samaria to a people who respected the Law of Moses. Upon leaving, the Lord directed him to a certain road on which he encountered an Ethiopian official who seems to have been a Jew or Jewish convert. This was a divine appointment for the eunuch was reading a portion of the book of the prophet Isaiah which prophesied the sufferings of Jesus. The eunuch did not understand what he read and said so. 

Philip used the man’s question Philip to present to him the gospel of salvation in Jesus. The man was then baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Presumably he was one of the first to bring the gospel to Ethiopia, perhaps even to the continent of Africa.

Most of us think that evangelism takes place in large groups, led by dynamic and trained evangelists. However, this incident shows us that God can use any one of us to bring the gospel to someone. The Lord creates these divine appointments for us with almost anyone, anywhere even in the supermarket or the mall. He calls us to be His agents where we are, to fellowship with believers and unbelievers alike, to listen to them, hear their stories and complaints, pray for and with them and, at the appropriate time, share the good news of salvation in Jesus alone. 

We must not fear or remain quite in such encounters. We must realize that the Lord has made this appointment for us and has equipped us to bring His words of comfort and grace to some hurting and confused individual seeking solace and truth just like the Ethiopian eunuch.  And in these days of pandemic and social unrest, there is no shortage of such people. These want to hear the truth but need to hear it from the Word of God, not the truth disseminated by media or the government which is usually biased opinion or empty conjecture designed to promote a man centered agenda. Our calling as believers if to tell them in love that only by faith in Jesus Christ alone can anyone find joy and peace in this world and everlasting life in the next.