Why?

There are many different ways to approach reaching out to people to share the love of the Lord.  I was reminded of that in a swim I took today out in the ocean.  I went out a little longer than usual and to my surprise I found around 50 giant star fish together laying on the bottom of the ocean floor in the water.  This brought up a lot of why questions.  Out of the seven years of swimming here, I have seen two starfish and one was dead.  So the why questions started.  Why here?  Why now?  Is this a good thing?  Is this bad?  In my opinion, this is the same approach I take when trying to reach a group.  For example, if there is a large group at the internet cafe, I ask why are they here?  What do they watch? Why do they watch it?  We talked to a young man that said he needed to stop smoking.  So I asked, why did you start?  He said to be with his friends.  I asked if he ever smoked alone?  He said no.  I asked him, "Why do you only smoke with your friends?"  He responded that he did not know why.  So he is probably smoking as a social acceptance thing with his friends.  So instead of trying to get him to stop smoking (which is horrible for your body), we are spending our time showing him how much God loves him and how much we love him.  The issue is not smoking but being loved and knowing JESUS.  Why do the kids punch each other, why do they steal, and lie?  The "why" will take us to the heart of the matter and God is the one who can and loves to change hearts.