Her name was Sandra. I had gone to the mall to get my hair cut. Sandra was the only person on duty, and she ushered me to the chair. As she began to snip away, the typical and somewhat awkward small talk began. She asked what I did for a living. I told her that I worked just up the street for something called the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. She didn’t respond.

So I said to her, as she wielded her scissors, “The fact that you didn’t ask what a Lutheran is means you probably know something about the Lutheran church.”

She said, “I was baptized as a Lutheran.”

More silence. So I said, “You spoke about that as if it were only in the past. Not Lutheran anymore?”

She spoke very quietly now. Her voice, previously perky and upbeat, took on a tone of frustration, even anguish. “My parents never really got us involved much in church. But my life is a mess right now. I’ve been thinking I need to get back to church somehow. I know I need to do something because nothing in my life is working right now.”

When I was about to say more, the hair dryer switched on. Finished with that, she asked if the cut was short enough and removed the plastic sheet. Other customers were waiting. I said to her as I left, “I would really like to help you if I can,” and I offered her the phone number at my office. She seemed a little embarrassed that she had opened up to this total stranger. She thanked me and said she’d think about calling.

I don’t know if Sandra will call. I don’t know if she will be there when it comes time for the next haircut. I can only pray that our brief, interrupted conversation will move her to get the help she needs and that someone will be able to lead her to the forgiveness and love of the Savior.

God has a reason for encouraging each of us to be ready at all times to give the reason for the hope that we have. Opportunities to share Christ are not something that we can manufacture or anticipate. God himself creates those opportunities and places them before us. And he gives us the words to say.

Perhaps the most frequent opportunities for sharing the gospel come simply every day. The opportunity is there when we wave at our unchurched neighbor mowing his lawn on Sunday morning as we drive off to church. The opportunity comes at the family get-together when we sit on the sofa next to our young nephew who has not been to church since he went off to college. God brings us into contact with people every day—people we already know personally—who desperately need what God has given us. So the mission of the church is my mission. Personally. Face to face. Wherever and whenever God might give that unexpected, momentary opportunity to change someone’s life forever with the power of the gospel.