Stories of us: Claire

Hi, I’m Claire. I’m an archaeologist specialising in Aboriginal heritage. The week before the toilet paper disappeared from the supermarkets, five work colleagues and I went on an overnight camping trip in the Tasmanian wilderness.

I was anxious about the trip. I’m a baby Christian, and I’m learning to be bolder in sharing my faith. A few months ago I missed an opportunity. I overheard someone in the lunchroom say: “Do people even go to church anymore?” I wanted to speak but I chickened out because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the right words to say, or I’d get it wrong. I’ve regretted it since. I asked my evangelistic prayer team (EPT) to pray for me.

On the first night, while chatting around our camp stoves, one of my colleagues “R” stopped and asked: “None of you are church people, right?” That he echoed pretty much what was said in the lunchroom – I could see God was giving me a second chance.

This time I said: “I'm a Christian”.

“R” then spent the next hour or so asking me the hardest questions he could think of. “R” is a staunch sceptic, and was on a mission to throw me off. But as the questions progressed, he became more thoughtful, and less aggressive. Over the remaining days of our trip, he continued to throw random questions at me.

So here we are, back in civilization - although there’s still no toilet paper. Recently I contacted “R” and mentioned that he and his family have been in my prayers at this time. I wasn’t sure how he’d respond – whether he would ignore it, dismiss it or scoff at it. Instead he said: “Thank you, I feel like they are working".

I’m blown away by the way God answered my prayers (and the prayers of others) so quickly. I’m so thankful for these God-given opportunities to share Jesus in the days of the coronavirus. What a blessing in these anxious times.