"Greater is He that is in thee..." ~ GNN update 10-25-07

Hey GNN team and fellow soul-winners and prayer partners, 10-25-07

We didn’t get to hear the praise reports from last weekend’s carnival yet, but we want to hear them! : )

There are just way too many blessings from these past two weekends to pass them all on; it has been absolutely incredible! So I (Paul) decided to pick one highlight from each weekend.

(Paul’s update from 10-12)
On Friday, Sean with Operation 180 joined us downtown for the first time! After setting up on our corner, Sean and I went to go meet up with the YWAM team up on another parking garage. By the way, we have heard that the YWAM group is learning the ‘Way of the Master’ training. We joined them for a time of worship and brief preparation. Then we went down to the streets with them. Sean and I walked around with three of the guys from YWAM for a few minutes, but Sean and I were both itching to get into a conversation. So it wasn’t long before the two of us jumped in.

One of the best conversations of the night was with Will. Will was trying to pretend that he wasn’t really doing anything, and that he is okay with God. Will was on Church Street watching the club scene from across the street. We’re not really sure what he was doing, but it became pretty clear that he wasn’t in the right place (physically or spiritually). After the first little bit of conversation, he was very insistent that we should not be judging him and he tried to convince us that he is doing great. This has always been a great obstacle for me until this conversation with Will. After Will carried that theme for a few minutes, I asked him if I could ask him a question. He said sure, so I told him that we have seen so many people down here who are destroying their lives and have turned their back on God, and that we hurt for these people downtown, because we have seen the truth and know where that way of life leads. I should have also pointed out that they are usually not being honest with themselves about what they’re doing. Anyway, then I asked him if there was anything wrong with us wanting to help rescue as many people as we possibly could even if we have to be a little persistent. He had to admit that our hearts are in the right place and that there was nothing wrong with what we were doing. That opened a really nice door into communication with him, and I think he heard some valuable truths that night. Unfortunately, he remained mostly tight-lipped about himself, although he did admit that he’s struggling with sin down there.

On another subject, we are hearing more good news about ‘Operation 180’. It sounds like they are going to start adding every other Friday night to their every Saturday night schedule on the streets downtown! Also ‘Operation 180’ has warned us that last year’s Halloween observance was really, really bad. Sean says we need to really be sober-minded and prayed up. He says that the evil spirits and oppression were particularly thick at that event, and we’ll really need God’s wisdom in how to appropriately handle the setting on that night. We’re not sure if that’s going to take place this Friday before Wednesday October 31, or next Friday. But we ought to be really prepared for both nights.

Now to the family reunion this last weekend! It was the annual Henry/Lamoureux/Williams family reunion in Jacksonville. It was amazing to hear what all God was doing through our family when we were able to put all of our stories together! Friday night and Saturday night, we played some worship music for the family. And then we had a lot of great conversations with family about spiritual things. But there is one particular group of the family that really has been making a move closer to God. In just the last year, El and Sandy Lamoureux and their family have better understood the gospel that Jesus preached and have discovered that a lot of what is being taught and seen in the ‘churches’ these days does not agree with Jesus teaching. Their youngest son Stephen is an evangelist, and he’s going through school and about to get married. He has been listening to Paul Washer in the last year, and it has really changed his life and his thoughts about things. He has such a strong desire for purity in the church and for the truth of the gospel to be boldly preached. I didn’t get to see him this year, but I talked to him on the phone briefly. But we had such great fellowship with El and Sandy, talking about the truths of God’s Word, false teachers, new believers, ministry, and trials and struggles. It was a very blessed weekend! There are so many more great stories if we get time to share them.

(Steven’s update from 10-12)
Hey GNN team and fellow soul-winners and prayer partners, 10-12-07

This past Friday, I (Steven) had the great privilege of getting to street-witness on my birthday, which was really neat for me! And God saw fit to put me in some interesting situations and I learned some things and had some new experiences. My first unique experience was when I joined a group of 8-12 people who looked like they might have been with YWAM, but later I found out that they were just out there looking for ‘some fun’, and trouble I might add. But I joined them thinking they were out there trying to share the gospel. So I asked if I could hang out with them and they said that would be great. I hung out and talk with some of the guys and ladies, and I noticed that they were talking about going into the one of the bars, which I heard but didn’t understand – I was still thinking that somehow these people were looking for ways of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then when they got to one of the bars nearby, one group really wanted to go to another bar, and some of them apparently thought I was interesting enough to talk with me. As I was listening to this conversation, it finally dawned on me that these people weren’t out here to talk about Jesus. So, in passing conversation, I had the opportunity to hand out some gospel tracts and get into some more basic conversation with some of them while they waited. One guy challenged me to think about what Jesus would do: hang out with them or abandon them to talk to other people. As I was starting to nicely explain that I knew talking with people about Jesus and eternity was the main purpose I was down there, one of the girls named Wendy (who was pretty drunk) told him that I was being nice, but I didn’t want to go in the bar. It was an interesting way to get out of that problem, and I took it. I had the opportunity to challenge a couple more of them to seriously consider a relationship with Christ. I then tried to make sure they all got gospel tracts and then said goodbye. Talk about awkward! Apparently, some of the conversations had such an impact on them though, that as some of them were passing through later in the evening, they made sure to say hey to me, which encouraged me that God was probably working in their hearts. Sometimes sharing the gospel is like that: finding ourselves in awkward situations, praying constantly, and allowing God to use us in conversation as much as He can! It was amazing to see God use me in that group and then give me a nice way to leave. I’m praying that God would help that group read the tract and asking God to press them to consider their eternity much more seriously. The situation and conversations reminded me of the verse in James 4:14 ~ “… whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” My heart goes out to those people who are trusting in something other than accepting Jesus as their Savior and Leader to save them.

After I left that conversation, I met a homeless man who was deaf. So, we communicated back and forth on a napkin. I must say that is a first, but my heart went out to this man named Archie. I don’t know what choices he has made that have gotten him where he is, but I was able to spend several minutes sharing the love of Christ with Him and some gospel tracts. Archie asked if I could give him any money and I told him that all I had were million dollar bill tracts. I don’t take money downtown, because we have seen that being lazy and homeless is a business for quite a few of those downtown, and not taking money allows me to honestly say that I don’t have any money and be able to minister to their eternal needs. My mom carries a little money for those who honestly have a serious need. A lot of the homeless people we have talked to know where the Salvation Army is, which is a just a few blocks away from Orange and Central. And yet quite a few of them choose to continue their way of life rather than get good care at the homeless shelter. Sometimes all I know to do with them is just talk with them as much as I can, and pray with and for them that God would be making Himself more real in their life and that He would be teaching them how they can have a relationship with Christ. We know God answers prayers, so I know that this too is an effective way to reach them for eternity. I pray that God prepare their hearts and that He would arrange whatever necessary to drive them to the foot of the cross.

Throughout the evening I had the opportunity of talking with some who would walk by and praying for a lot of the people. There were a number of people that I could have talked to, but couldn’t think of what to say fast enough. So, I prayed for them, that God would be breaking their hearts over their sin and preparing their hearts, and that in His timing, He would send the right people along the way to challenge them to accept Jesus as their Savior and Leader. Because we know God answers prayers we do know if that is all we’re able to do for them is pray for them and the person who talks to them in future, that this too is an effective way to reach them for eternity.

To our dear prayer partners who were not able to join us for some reason, but prayed for us – thank you so much! May God continue to use you, and show how He is using you and can use you more in the circles of influence He has given you!

Your friend and fellow laborer,
Steven : )