Becoming Someone Who Brings Peace
by Younoussa Djao
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
From Nuisance To Peace-Bringer
When the Samaritan woman first saw Jesus at the well, she saw a problem: a Jewish man who had no business speaking to her.
She pushed back. “You are Jewish, I am Samaritan. We do not talk to each other,” she told him.
That is the same reaction many of us get when people realize we are Christian. They assume we are there to convince them of something, to prove they are sinners, to press them toward a decision, and often, before we say a word, they have already put up a wall.
But Jesus did not stop there. He told her about water that would mean she would never be thirsty again, and something in her shifted.
She was not just physically thirsty. She was coming to the well alone, in the middle of the day, when women in that culture normally went early and in groups.
She was avoiding people.
Jesus had found her actual need, and once she saw that, he was no longer a nuisance to her — he had become someone offering her peace.
That shift echoes something Jesus told his disciples in Luke 10: “When you enter a house, say, ‘Peace be to this house.’” It means going to people as someone who brings peace. I'm bringing peace. I want to bring peace into your life, I want to serve you, I want to love you.
When people see that in you before they see anything else, it changes everything about how they receive you.
A Workplace Testimony
Years ago, I asked a brother how many Christians there were in his office. Not many, he told me, and none of them were seen as leaders. So I asked if he could start a Discovery Bible Study among his colleagues. He said, “No. I am not trained. I do not have the resources.” I explained what he could actually do, and he still said no.
I let it go.
A few weeks later, he called me. He had a group of colleagues who wanted to start a Bible study.
I was confused. “Explain,” I said, “because you told me you could not do this.”
He told me what he had done after our conversation: every morning, he decided to greet everyone in the office, something he never used to do. When people asked how he was doing, he answered honestly, with small, ordinary testimonies.
One day it was a set of traffic lights that turned green every time he approached them, right when he worried he would be late. Another time, his car tire blew out on the road, and young men appeared out of nowhere to help him fix it and get to work on time. Another week, his son had malaria, and by Monday morning the boy was well enough to go back to school.
Eventually, a colleague noticed the pattern.
“God is doing all this for you,” she said, “Why is He not doing the same for us? Are you the only one God loves in this office?”
“No,” he told her, “God loves all of you!”
She wanted to know more and he said they could discuss it during their lunch break. She agreed.
Over lunch he asked her if she knew anyone who might want to hear about this and she began naming other colleagues. Soon four colleagues were gathered, ready to study the Bible together.
He did not distribute any tract. He did not go door to door. He just let people see he was a spiritual person.
The Person Of Peace
Jesus did not go door to door through Samaria. He just found one person, and that person became the bridge into the whole community.
This is the same instruction he gave in Luke 10, “Stay in one house, do not move from house to house, and let your peace remain there.”
The disciples, well trained by Jesus, went into that town and came back only with food. But the woman went into the same town and came back with people, because she had relationships there that they did not.
That is the pattern worth noticing:
it's about becoming someone people trust enough to bring their questions to,
then trusting their relationships to carry it further than you ever could alone.
Getting practical
As you think about God's vision for your city and/or affinity group:
Which of these observations resonates with you?
Who in your community, workplace, or family might already see you as someone who brings peace (maybe without you noticing)?
Is there one person in your world whose existing relationships could become a bridge into a wider circle you cannot reach on your own?
Younoussa Djao is an experienced Disciple Making Movement Catalyst in West Africa who has seen thousands of faith communities form amongst people groups that previously had none. He is passionate about empowering God’s people to follow Him and make disciples where He has placed them.
© 2026 Younoussa D. All rights reserved.
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