Hello fellow soul-winners and prayer partners, 02-29-08
'Transformed Conference' is only 2 weeks away! If you haven't already signed up and would like to join us for this free conference with Ray Comfort and team, here is the link to register ~ follow this link: http://www.wayofthemasterradio.com/transformed_signup_ftmyers.shtml
We look forward to seeing those who can join us at Rich's place and/or downtown tonight! And thank you to our prayer partners. Only in Heaven, when we hear all of the stories will we all find out how much God used your prayers to help us and other soul-winners!
This past weekend was pretty amazing! And there are too many stories to tell? but here are a few of them. (By the way, we love hearing the stories of who all God used each of you to talk with, on the weekends and even during the weeks! By the way, there was a team that went out soul-winning at Crane's Roost Thursday night.)
(David's update)
We have so much to be thankful for! We are glad to find a church that cares for lost souls and these last few months have been so filled with signs of spiritual life. Last week, God brought 8 different conversations that seemed to bring conviction to these guy's hearts and they allowed me to pray for them. Every week is so different and so blessed! Last Friday, God allowed me to have spiritual conversations with eight different men who came under conviction. Each of them thought they were saved and as we reviewed the 'Parable of the Soils', they started to fell conviction and understood there was a spiritual problem with their lifestyle. We can't say 'Thank you!' enough to our prayer partners. Of course we prefer times when you are able to walk the streets with us, and we always appreciate your prayers.
(Steven's update)
I got to talk with a number of people both on Friday and Saturday evenings. I got to talk with a couple of people who said they were agnostic, but they still talked for a couple of minutes. I'm praying God grows those seeds. We got to talk with Dina (the friendly club worker) and asked her for directions - directions to Heaven, that is? :) and then had a great several minute conversation, ending with telling her that we are glad to have her as a friend down here, but what we really want is for her to be our friend forever! That really meant something to her. We can do is keep praying for her, planting seeds, and watch what God does with them? One of my main conversations on Friday evening was with a security guard who has tons of questions, but his main problem is that he doesn't want to submit to Jesus Christ yet. He and I talked for about an hour ~ pretty good conversation. Then on Saturday, when we joined the Op180 team, I had the chance to give this security guard 'One Heartbeat Away' (Mark Cahill ~ www.markcahill.org) and he seemed to really appreciate it, even saying that he planned to start reading it right away! Praise God! We just keep praying?
Also, Saturday evening, I got to hang out a lot with Bart, the street preacher/missionary as he preached on our corner and talked with those who came up for conversations. And (with his coaching and God's guidance) I preached to the passing crowds 3 times, like 5-10 minutes each. The last sermon was my fifth out on the streets of Orlando, and I'm expecting God to keep teaching me how to do it more effectively! Mainly, I just read a passage of God's Living Word, explained a little and then pointed out its application, and encouraged people to think about eternity, because eternity is longer than this life and since we can't change our answer there, we had better make sure that we have the right answer here, while we still have time. I did my best to reason with all who were walking by and plead with them to give their lives to Christ and accept that He paid their fine for them, and it was pretty cool to see how God caught the attention of quite a few who were walking by, who stopped and gave me their attention for a few minutes. I think the neatest thing to me was seeing some of their faces light up as I was explaining and reasoning with them from God's Word ~ it was like a light went on and they had something new to think about. I trust many seeds were planted and I look forward to seeing and hearing the results and stories one day!
(Paul's update)
This last Friday night was outstanding. I walked the streets with my friend Daniel who we just connected with again after about twelve years or so. We were homeschooled together in the same group way back when. Anyway, we had one interesting conversation with a guy who was Rostifarian. And then our second conversation occupied the rest of the night, because the young man was so intently listening and was allowing us to share everything we could think of to persuade him to surrender control of his life and repent of sin and learn to love God and to think like God thinks. For instance, a while into the conversation, he said very thoughtfully, 'So you're telling me I have to give up my sin and stop being in control of my life?' Amen!!! And he really, really valued Daniel's prayer for him after that! And then we still talked for another twenty min. or so. It was great. We are praying for Tommy, that this truth will resound through the power of the Holy Spirit until it drives him to his knees to surrender his life to God!
Then Saturday, we had planned a huge surprise for Operation 180. YWAM and us had planned to show up somewhat unannounced and join up with their team for the night. Basically from the time Bobby (YWAM) got there until the end of the night at around 2AM, we really challenged and strengthened each other in the Lord and in the work that God has called us to do together in Orlando. And we verified truths with each other and observations about the condition of the people downtown. Then we spent about an hour in intense intercession in front of the Wachovia bank for the city and for the people that walk the streets of downtown and for the church, the body of Christ, in Orlando! It was a powerful time for God to speak and reveal His heart to us! We were so amazed at the resolve that God was giving us to be diligent and preach boldly and to tear down the strongholds downtown! We were all greatly refreshed!
Two more stories from Saturday night that happened before Bobby came and joined us and Op 180. Two men who claim the name of Christ with two different situations. One was a cab driver with an accurate gospel and a desire to see souls saved. We strengthened and challenged him to be more frequent and more bold in talking with his passengers about the truths of the gospel. He was very convicted and said he felt lazy, and that he intended to do something about what we said. The other man, Reggie, goes to a so-called church that I was familiar with that has rejected the fear of the Lord. So I said to him, 'It's comfortable there isn't it?' He agreed. So I asked him again. Again he agreed but he said, 'I'm not sure I know what you're saying'. I told him that I was familiar with them and how they do not teach the truth, but that they teach what is comfortable to hear. He had to agree. Sean and I together shared many verses from God's Word with him, to scare him away from complacency and sin that he is comfortable with at the moment. After a while of talking, he got the interruption he wanted in a phone call, so we let him go. He did however admit that everything that we said was true and accurate and that he agreed that he needed to hear it and that he would think about it. Unfortunately, it was not as sincere as I would wish. But God has ways of getting it to become more sincere, and I trust that He will for Reggie's sake!
Your friends and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul ~ : )
'Way of the Master' Transformed Conference
Living Waters Ministries
Free ~ 30 booklets of the Gospel of John
Hello, my name is Steven Henry and in case you didn't already know about it, the site below allows you to sign up for free and get 30 booklets of the Book of John for free. They are great for handing out to people. I just present that for your consideration.
~ your friend and
a servant of Christ, Steven : )
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thursday, February 28
Sunday, February 24
Free ~ 30 booklets of the Gospel of John
Hello, my name is Steven Henry and in case you didn't already know about it, the site below allows you to sign up for free and get 30 booklets of the Book of John for free. They are great for handing out to people. I just present that for your consideration.
your friend and a servant of Christ, Steven : )
your friend and a servant of Christ, Steven : )
Monday, February 4
Glory Stories...downtown evangelism...
Stories..Stories..Stories!
The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to be able to share and go downtown 2 Fridays in a row..because of schedules our group went this week and the last. And to top it off more and more labors are being added to the harvest field..which is wonderful! (But makes it difficult to share stories- what a wonderful blessing technology is!) So to catch up..I will share alittle of the people the Lord gave me an opportunity to meet and then I want to hear from YOU! So definitely if you went downtown (or if you didn't) and the Lord led you to a person, or your prayed for a person (or 2 or 3 or 4...:) or got in a conversation or gave someone a trac or the Lord did something amazing then I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT the work the Lord is doing!
To start off with..last week was a very interesting night. It had almost been a month since the previous evangelism excursion that I had gone on. Rich sent out an email stating to read over and mediate on Psalm 126. His main question was "what makes you weep?" Are we really weeping for and having compassion for the lost? Are our hearts groaning for the saved? Do we even wish for ourselves to be "cut off" from Christ to bring others to him? It was a very really sense of grief that seemed to accompany me that night- a grief of seeing these people and their futures in Hell. The thoughts of the reality of death seemed to be weighing on me that week and when Psalm 126 came to view I couldn't help but to see the unsaved cascading themselves in the pits of hell. What a sorrowful and grieving thought! This weighed heavily on me, even while we were downtown. After we broke up into teams Ben, Alex and I began to walk near the Lake (Lake Eola) and walked and walked and walked. We walked for about 45 minutes trying to start conversations here or there but they didn't get anywhere. We realized that we had skipped the most important aspect- talking to God our Savior to lead and guide us..we had sought God at the grahams but once we were on the streets didn't bother to ask him to lead and guide us- and yet we were His work! After 45 minutes we stopped to pray...asking God to move and guide us. There was a sense we were going to only be talking to one (possibly 2 ) person and perhaps they would be sitting down. We continued to walk around the lake and soon caught up with Daniel, Becka and Taylor. Daniel was engaged in a conversation so we just talked with Becka. Alex and Taylor continued to walk on, and Ben Becak and I stood there and passed out a few tracks.
Just then a gentlemen came down some steps that led to the pathway around the lake. It was his getup that caught my attention. He was a tall thin gentlemen with a "cowboy outfit" and a black cowboy hat. His hair was tied back, he had a bluetooth in his ear and was sipping a starbucks coffee. I looked over at becka and said "tell him how much you like his hat..." she said "No, you tell him how much you like his hat"- "Okay" I looked over at the gentlemen who was by this time sitting on a park bench directly facing him and said "I like your hat!" After that point we were able to get into a conversation with him. Soon we were to find out that his name was Marshall and that he was a Cherokee Jew and had some very interesting takes on who God was, who man was and who "white eagle" (Jesus) was. A lot of what he believe about God came because of his past where he would say "Well my Cherokee side believes this" or "My Jewish side believes this" or "a friend of mine says this.." To which we would reply "But what do YOU think?" He also thought that perhaps we were all apart of "God's Imagination" in which we replied "So you mean, were not real?" Daniel also joined into the conversation. We challenged Marshall on who Christ was, - "Is Christ who he says he is?- He only leaves us 3 options..he's either a liar and we don't take him for face value, he's a lunatic and should be locked away or HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS: THE SON OF GOD...and if your're right in saying he's a liar and a lunatic then we've wasted our life's but if you're wrong..you've not only lost heaven, but youre now going to spend eternity in Hell..that's a huge risk to take...so what's YOUR DECISION?" We thanked him for talking with us and left with that question hanging over his head. That was the person God had prepared for us to talk to.
The next week (this past Friday) we discussed Matthew 28:1-10. This time we were challenged to read over the scripture and to think of our own questions such as "Why did the woman go to the tomb first and not the men?" "What did the angel look like and why was he so frightening?" "Why did the woman not become like dead men like the soldiers?" " Why did the angel send the woman to go tell the men when Jesus was going to show up anyway in Galilee?" "Why Galilee?"
Then downtown, Jordan, Trameka and I were in a group. We walked only a little ways down the street and then began to talk with a homeless lady name Chrissy. We noticed her standing on the side of the rode with her head in her hands, looking like she was crying or just not feeling well. We stopped to ask her if she was okay and she said she was fine but was trying to get some money for some beer. As we tried to converse with her, we could defiantly tell she did not want to talk about the gospel..she wanted to stay in her life of sin and continue drinking and smoking. She didn't want a life of anything else. We asked if there was anything we could pray with her for and prayed to God just thanking him for allowing us to be able to speak with her. Then we left.
While we were praying for Chrissy, 4-5 guys were standing off on a corner smoking pot. They were yelling loudly "You guys are bringing that religious stuff" or something to that effect. They were very high on drugs, but after we were down praying for Chrissy we moved down the street alittle and prayed for them, that God would break the bonds of slavery to pot and it would not longer become desirous for them anymore.
After that we began to talk with another homeless lady named Wendy. She was definitely under the influence of alcohol but was sober enough to talk with us sensibly. She wanted to know if we were catholic, or if we were apart of a college..both answers we no. We talked with her alittle while and she told us that she was not feeling well, had been having the flu and was suffering for breast cancer. When we offered to pray with her she said, "No I'm going to pray for you" and wanted all of us to hold hands in a circle while she prayed for us. . She told she loved God and asked him everyday to help her and we gave her the gospel of John. "Oh I love John" she said and then kissed the trac. She said she loved the Lord and wanted to do what he wanted everyday. Then we prayed for her and thanked her, as we could not get gospel with her..she was very distracted by the amounts of people going passed us with Mardi Gras beads ..she would stop looking at us, look at the people and shout "Hey Jingles Bells..Hey YOU..where did you get all the jingle bells" - it was God's providence that most of the people ignored her, because then she would turn her attention to us. After we started to walk away she noticed the million dollar tracs in Jordan's hand. She said.."Does that have a prayer on it?" Jordan said "No..it has the million dollar question...are you good enough to get to Heaven?" " Well..I'm not sure. I don't think you can be sure you can get to heaven.." "Wait a minute" said Jordan "I thought you said you believe in God and were a Christian?" " Yes but I don't think I can know for sure that you can get to heaven,,,I hope so" "well wouldn't you like to know for sure?" " I don't think you can..." After that point we converse with her for a while about how we can never ever be good enough to be sent to heaven. Wendy mentioned many remarkable and kind things she had done for other homeless people downtown, but we explained even our best acts are like filthy rags. Only Jesus can remove our guilt and pardon our sin and set us right before the father. We cannot make up for all of our sins by doing good works. We could tell this hit a cord but she did not want to believe it. We went on the explain that only God can give us a regenerate heart and our lives are changed then. She was looking at us and seemed like she was listening but then went up to all three of us in the group and started giving us "prophetic words" that we very interesting... we sensed she might have been some sort of psychic. After that we thanked her and walked way. Continue to pray that Wendy's heart and eyes will be open up to the gospel and she may experience God's wonderful and redeeming grace.
Then later our group ran into Chris, rebeka and cynthia. Awe were all standing on the street corner sharing stories when a man named William walked up. He was a christian that was on the streets. He had worked for a company that had issued him a forged check and he cashed it, then left the florida. They put a warrant out for him for trying to cash a forged check so he had come back to Florida and turned himself in. In doing so he didn't have anything on him. He had been on the streets for a day and a half and was afraid to fall asleep on the streets that he had stayed up the entire time. He had been trying to get work but people were turning him down and the shelters were turning them down. He had eaten anything and didn't have any money on him. We prayed that God would provide for him, not just money but a means to make money and a place to sleep.. Chris bought him a hotdog and we gave him the info for the church. Please continue to pray for William. It broke our hearts to see william and many others on the streets- pray God would open up means and give us wisdom on how to continue to help those in need downtown. Meeting these people challenges my faith, challenges me and convicts me of taking advantage of the blessings I have received from the Lord. How I want the Lord to work in this area in my life...how do we help the poor? Not only bringing the gospel - but also helping them financially/materially? In James it says that faith without works is dead...What can I do, Oh Lord? Am I willing to give it all?
Thank you for continuing to pray for us as the Lord has called us to continue to minister to those in downtown Orlando. There is So MUCH NEED! Not only for walls of resistence to be broken down, but chains of sin to be released, families and relationship put back together, broken hearts mended, the poor to be taken care of, purity to sweep among the streets and ultimately the Gospel's mighty power to ring true! We have faith the Lord can and will do above and beyond all of these things!! He is so very very good..is he not?
In Christ,
Kayla
The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to be able to share and go downtown 2 Fridays in a row..because of schedules our group went this week and the last. And to top it off more and more labors are being added to the harvest field..which is wonderful! (But makes it difficult to share stories- what a wonderful blessing technology is!) So to catch up..I will share alittle of the people the Lord gave me an opportunity to meet and then I want to hear from YOU! So definitely if you went downtown (or if you didn't) and the Lord led you to a person, or your prayed for a person (or 2 or 3 or 4...:) or got in a conversation or gave someone a trac or the Lord did something amazing then I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT the work the Lord is doing!
To start off with..last week was a very interesting night. It had almost been a month since the previous evangelism excursion that I had gone on. Rich sent out an email stating to read over and mediate on Psalm 126. His main question was "what makes you weep?" Are we really weeping for and having compassion for the lost? Are our hearts groaning for the saved? Do we even wish for ourselves to be "cut off" from Christ to bring others to him? It was a very really sense of grief that seemed to accompany me that night- a grief of seeing these people and their futures in Hell. The thoughts of the reality of death seemed to be weighing on me that week and when Psalm 126 came to view I couldn't help but to see the unsaved cascading themselves in the pits of hell. What a sorrowful and grieving thought! This weighed heavily on me, even while we were downtown. After we broke up into teams Ben, Alex and I began to walk near the Lake (Lake Eola) and walked and walked and walked. We walked for about 45 minutes trying to start conversations here or there but they didn't get anywhere. We realized that we had skipped the most important aspect- talking to God our Savior to lead and guide us..we had sought God at the grahams but once we were on the streets didn't bother to ask him to lead and guide us- and yet we were His work! After 45 minutes we stopped to pray...asking God to move and guide us. There was a sense we were going to only be talking to one (possibly 2 ) person and perhaps they would be sitting down. We continued to walk around the lake and soon caught up with Daniel, Becka and Taylor. Daniel was engaged in a conversation so we just talked with Becka. Alex and Taylor continued to walk on, and Ben Becak and I stood there and passed out a few tracks.
Just then a gentlemen came down some steps that led to the pathway around the lake. It was his getup that caught my attention. He was a tall thin gentlemen with a "cowboy outfit" and a black cowboy hat. His hair was tied back, he had a bluetooth in his ear and was sipping a starbucks coffee. I looked over at becka and said "tell him how much you like his hat..." she said "No, you tell him how much you like his hat"- "Okay" I looked over at the gentlemen who was by this time sitting on a park bench directly facing him and said "I like your hat!" After that point we were able to get into a conversation with him. Soon we were to find out that his name was Marshall and that he was a Cherokee Jew and had some very interesting takes on who God was, who man was and who "white eagle" (Jesus) was. A lot of what he believe about God came because of his past where he would say "Well my Cherokee side believes this" or "My Jewish side believes this" or "a friend of mine says this.." To which we would reply "But what do YOU think?" He also thought that perhaps we were all apart of "God's Imagination" in which we replied "So you mean, were not real?" Daniel also joined into the conversation. We challenged Marshall on who Christ was, - "Is Christ who he says he is?- He only leaves us 3 options..he's either a liar and we don't take him for face value, he's a lunatic and should be locked away or HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS: THE SON OF GOD...and if your're right in saying he's a liar and a lunatic then we've wasted our life's but if you're wrong..you've not only lost heaven, but youre now going to spend eternity in Hell..that's a huge risk to take...so what's YOUR DECISION?" We thanked him for talking with us and left with that question hanging over his head. That was the person God had prepared for us to talk to.
The next week (this past Friday) we discussed Matthew 28:1-10. This time we were challenged to read over the scripture and to think of our own questions such as "Why did the woman go to the tomb first and not the men?" "What did the angel look like and why was he so frightening?" "Why did the woman not become like dead men like the soldiers?" " Why did the angel send the woman to go tell the men when Jesus was going to show up anyway in Galilee?" "Why Galilee?"
Then downtown, Jordan, Trameka and I were in a group. We walked only a little ways down the street and then began to talk with a homeless lady name Chrissy. We noticed her standing on the side of the rode with her head in her hands, looking like she was crying or just not feeling well. We stopped to ask her if she was okay and she said she was fine but was trying to get some money for some beer. As we tried to converse with her, we could defiantly tell she did not want to talk about the gospel..she wanted to stay in her life of sin and continue drinking and smoking. She didn't want a life of anything else. We asked if there was anything we could pray with her for and prayed to God just thanking him for allowing us to be able to speak with her. Then we left.
While we were praying for Chrissy, 4-5 guys were standing off on a corner smoking pot. They were yelling loudly "You guys are bringing that religious stuff" or something to that effect. They were very high on drugs, but after we were down praying for Chrissy we moved down the street alittle and prayed for them, that God would break the bonds of slavery to pot and it would not longer become desirous for them anymore.
After that we began to talk with another homeless lady named Wendy. She was definitely under the influence of alcohol but was sober enough to talk with us sensibly. She wanted to know if we were catholic, or if we were apart of a college..both answers we no. We talked with her alittle while and she told us that she was not feeling well, had been having the flu and was suffering for breast cancer. When we offered to pray with her she said, "No I'm going to pray for you" and wanted all of us to hold hands in a circle while she prayed for us. . She told she loved God and asked him everyday to help her and we gave her the gospel of John. "Oh I love John" she said and then kissed the trac. She said she loved the Lord and wanted to do what he wanted everyday. Then we prayed for her and thanked her, as we could not get gospel with her..she was very distracted by the amounts of people going passed us with Mardi Gras beads ..she would stop looking at us, look at the people and shout "Hey Jingles Bells..Hey YOU..where did you get all the jingle bells" - it was God's providence that most of the people ignored her, because then she would turn her attention to us. After we started to walk away she noticed the million dollar tracs in Jordan's hand. She said.."Does that have a prayer on it?" Jordan said "No..it has the million dollar question...are you good enough to get to Heaven?" " Well..I'm not sure. I don't think you can be sure you can get to heaven.." "Wait a minute" said Jordan "I thought you said you believe in God and were a Christian?" " Yes but I don't think I can know for sure that you can get to heaven,,,I hope so" "well wouldn't you like to know for sure?" " I don't think you can..." After that point we converse with her for a while about how we can never ever be good enough to be sent to heaven. Wendy mentioned many remarkable and kind things she had done for other homeless people downtown, but we explained even our best acts are like filthy rags. Only Jesus can remove our guilt and pardon our sin and set us right before the father. We cannot make up for all of our sins by doing good works. We could tell this hit a cord but she did not want to believe it. We went on the explain that only God can give us a regenerate heart and our lives are changed then. She was looking at us and seemed like she was listening but then went up to all three of us in the group and started giving us "prophetic words" that we very interesting... we sensed she might have been some sort of psychic. After that we thanked her and walked way. Continue to pray that Wendy's heart and eyes will be open up to the gospel and she may experience God's wonderful and redeeming grace.
Then later our group ran into Chris, rebeka and cynthia. Awe were all standing on the street corner sharing stories when a man named William walked up. He was a christian that was on the streets. He had worked for a company that had issued him a forged check and he cashed it, then left the florida. They put a warrant out for him for trying to cash a forged check so he had come back to Florida and turned himself in. In doing so he didn't have anything on him. He had been on the streets for a day and a half and was afraid to fall asleep on the streets that he had stayed up the entire time. He had been trying to get work but people were turning him down and the shelters were turning them down. He had eaten anything and didn't have any money on him. We prayed that God would provide for him, not just money but a means to make money and a place to sleep.. Chris bought him a hotdog and we gave him the info for the church. Please continue to pray for William. It broke our hearts to see william and many others on the streets- pray God would open up means and give us wisdom on how to continue to help those in need downtown. Meeting these people challenges my faith, challenges me and convicts me of taking advantage of the blessings I have received from the Lord. How I want the Lord to work in this area in my life...how do we help the poor? Not only bringing the gospel - but also helping them financially/materially? In James it says that faith without works is dead...What can I do, Oh Lord? Am I willing to give it all?
Thank you for continuing to pray for us as the Lord has called us to continue to minister to those in downtown Orlando. There is So MUCH NEED! Not only for walls of resistence to be broken down, but chains of sin to be released, families and relationship put back together, broken hearts mended, the poor to be taken care of, purity to sweep among the streets and ultimately the Gospel's mighty power to ring true! We have faith the Lord can and will do above and beyond all of these things!! He is so very very good..is he not?
In Christ,
Kayla
What God Did Last Night-Feb 1st
Hello Everyone,
Here is the latest update on what God did when the group from Metro went out to evangelize last night.
Last night the Graham house was overflowing with people who came to evangelize! It was a wonderful thing; we could not even fit all the people in the room! When we got to downtown, I was grouped with Julia Knowles and Alex Corbett. It was Julia’s first time out and God used her in many ways!
Each time we go out it is different. One week it can be so simple to get in conversations, the next time more difficult. This time we found it a bit more difficult and it seems some of the other groups did as well. Rich reminded us before we left if we found things hard, to stop and pray. That is what our group did soon after we began. Right after we prayed, God answered our prayer!
We stopped and prayed asking God to bring people into our path, to help us with fear, to guide and direct us. What happened next is the story I want to tell you about this time, the story of Ebony. It was the shortest encounter we had, but to me the most stunning one of the night. After praying, we walked down the street and there was Ebony. We handed her a tract, a large one hundred dollar bill. She said she had seen one of these before. When asked what it was Ebony said either something from a law office or a bible verse. We explained it was a Bible verse. Immediately Ebony exclaimed, I am sinning, I am going to hell! The three of us were stunned and knew not what to do. She began to cry and said again, I am serious I am going to hell as she grabbed on to her friend. At first I thought she might be joking, but when I saw the tears running down her face, I knew it was real. She did say she was a Christian. We asked why she thought she was so affected by this? Why did she think God was affecting her in this way? Ebony said she did not know, she just knew she was sinning and going to hell. The whole time Ebony continued to cry. She asked for a way to contact us, which we gave her and then she said she had to go, her friends were there. She said she would be in touch. Her friend did mention Ebony was not normally emotional like that, which lead us to believe it was God affecting her. She left the three of us there, stunned. We were awed by what God had done, and what He could do.
God was able to reach Ebony without a word from us. In an instant He fell on her in the middle of the streets of downtown! He convicted her of her sin with just a tract in her hand, not a word of the Gospel was spoken to her. I have not witnessed anything like that before, such immediate conviction of sin. She was truly undone. God answered our prayer and put her right in our path.
After Ebony we presented the Gospel to two other gentleman named Josh and Patrick. At the end of the night God brought us into what I hope was a very fruitful conversation with a young guy named Dre.
There are no words I know to describe how small I feel today as I reflect His Greatness in what He did last night through all of us. In the difficulties many of us had in the beginning, and the encounter with Ebony I see how very much I need Him and how little He needs me. But oh what a privilege it is to be a part of His work! Thank you all for your prayers, I am so grateful.
The group led by Rich goes out again on Feb 15th. The Henry Family, which attend Metro, are dowtown every weekend witnessing to the lost. Your continued prayers are appreciated!
With much gratitude,
Jackie
Here is the latest update on what God did when the group from Metro went out to evangelize last night.
Last night the Graham house was overflowing with people who came to evangelize! It was a wonderful thing; we could not even fit all the people in the room! When we got to downtown, I was grouped with Julia Knowles and Alex Corbett. It was Julia’s first time out and God used her in many ways!
Each time we go out it is different. One week it can be so simple to get in conversations, the next time more difficult. This time we found it a bit more difficult and it seems some of the other groups did as well. Rich reminded us before we left if we found things hard, to stop and pray. That is what our group did soon after we began. Right after we prayed, God answered our prayer!
We stopped and prayed asking God to bring people into our path, to help us with fear, to guide and direct us. What happened next is the story I want to tell you about this time, the story of Ebony. It was the shortest encounter we had, but to me the most stunning one of the night. After praying, we walked down the street and there was Ebony. We handed her a tract, a large one hundred dollar bill. She said she had seen one of these before. When asked what it was Ebony said either something from a law office or a bible verse. We explained it was a Bible verse. Immediately Ebony exclaimed, I am sinning, I am going to hell! The three of us were stunned and knew not what to do. She began to cry and said again, I am serious I am going to hell as she grabbed on to her friend. At first I thought she might be joking, but when I saw the tears running down her face, I knew it was real. She did say she was a Christian. We asked why she thought she was so affected by this? Why did she think God was affecting her in this way? Ebony said she did not know, she just knew she was sinning and going to hell. The whole time Ebony continued to cry. She asked for a way to contact us, which we gave her and then she said she had to go, her friends were there. She said she would be in touch. Her friend did mention Ebony was not normally emotional like that, which lead us to believe it was God affecting her. She left the three of us there, stunned. We were awed by what God had done, and what He could do.
God was able to reach Ebony without a word from us. In an instant He fell on her in the middle of the streets of downtown! He convicted her of her sin with just a tract in her hand, not a word of the Gospel was spoken to her. I have not witnessed anything like that before, such immediate conviction of sin. She was truly undone. God answered our prayer and put her right in our path.
After Ebony we presented the Gospel to two other gentleman named Josh and Patrick. At the end of the night God brought us into what I hope was a very fruitful conversation with a young guy named Dre.
There are no words I know to describe how small I feel today as I reflect His Greatness in what He did last night through all of us. In the difficulties many of us had in the beginning, and the encounter with Ebony I see how very much I need Him and how little He needs me. But oh what a privilege it is to be a part of His work! Thank you all for your prayers, I am so grateful.
The group led by Rich goes out again on Feb 15th. The Henry Family, which attend Metro, are dowtown every weekend witnessing to the lost. Your continued prayers are appreciated!
With much gratitude,
Jackie
stories from the harvest fields
Hey prayer partners and fellow laborers, 01-31-2008
(Barbara’s update)
This Friday was so encouraging to see all the believers talking and praying for the lost and seeing them talk with them and plead with them about their eternal destiny. What a privilege it is to be ambassadors of Christ reconciling people to God. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." 2nd Corinthians 5:20
As we talked about where our hearts are at in the Bible study and how much are we really concerned for those who are lost and going to hell, it reminded me that we need to also compel whomever God puts in our path to be concerned with their eternal destiny hopefully Heaven not Hell. We need to not only tell them about their sin, and how they fall short of God's glory as a Holy Righteous Judge, but plead with them that they need to turn from (repent) their sin and turn to God. Michelle and Jackie and Jordan talked with Kenny (a homeless guy) and he's heard the gospel at the shelters many a time, but we weren't sure if he is really taking the truths for himself. We found ourselves pleading with him to take another look at his relationship with God and how he is in bondage of sin and that is keeping him from God. Kenny almost died a couple times this week of seizures because of alcohol taking a toll on his liver. We challenged him that if he had died during those seizures, would he be with God in Heaven for eternity or in Hell. Also only God knows whether Kenny has repented and turned his life to God, would he be found to be a faithful servant or just entering Heaven so as by fire (the thief on the cross just made it into Heaven not having time to be a servant).
Talking with people for their souls reminds me that we have to first care about them and then to show them that they need to care too, even plead with them that they need to care about their souls also. Ristela and I also talked with another homeless guy who has AIDS, and he really enjoyed listening and talking about scripture. He said, " I could be going off and getting another drink, but this is really fun to me."
God compels us to encourage one another daily as we see the day approaching. Plead with the non-believer to accept and follow Christ with all their life and Plead and challenge the believer - are they serving and telling others about Christ? Are they taking anyone with them to Heaven or are they keeping it to themselves?
Please take extra tracts with you as you leave for the night on Friday, so you can share with someone at the store or wherever you go. And pray for those people God allowed you to talk with or give a tract.
I love this song below it reminds me that God loved me and forgave me and He gave me truly an abundant life. Let's share that with others
I Will Serve Thee
(Bill and Gloria Gaither)
I will serve Thee because I love Thee
You have given life to me
I was nothing before You found me
You have given life to me
Heartaches, broken pieces
Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary
Your touch was what I longed for
You have given life to me
May God greatly bless each of you and give you a real LIFE as you tell others and pray for the lost and wayward believers.
With love, a servant of Christ,
Barbara Henry
(Steven’s update)
I can hardly believe it ~ January is already gone! Where does the time go? J As some of you know, I have been reading at Mark Cahill’s book, ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ Wow! It’s really good! Well, I should say it’s really good and I enjoyed it! I finished it this week! (and started reading ‘One Heartbeat Away’. ~ : ) ) Wow… Here are a few more highlights.
Ø Mark explained a simple answer we can give to show that there is a Creator. He based it off of Romans 1:19, and I'm quoting from the book ~ “Every time you see a shirt [name an item around you], you know it has a creator. Every time you see a watch, you know it has a designer. Every time you see art [point to something around you], you know it had an artist. Every time you see order, like 20 Coke cups in a row, you now there is an orderer. When you look around the universe, what do you see? You see creation, design, art, and order. If every other thing has a creator, a designer, an artist, and an orderer behind it, why would we not think there is a Creator, Designer, Artist, and an Orderer behind this universe….” ~ I liked that! It was simple and to the point!
Ø Mark points out always try to use the 10 commandments when witnessing, because it is only when people understand the law and that we have broken it and deserve punishment, that they realize they are in trouble and need forgiveness ~ which makes grace amazing (as Kirk Cameron says). And
Ø Mark points out that we need to make sure that we aren’t too timid to talk about Hell and how it is a very real place Jesus described 30 (something) different times in the gospels! Luke 16:19-31 is a vivid literal story about someone who went to Hell and his conversation with Abraham.
Ø Mark also mentions one (among many) illustration that helps him keep a passion for talking with the lost and keeps his eyes open to the opportunities around him. As the prophet Ezekiel, we too have an important message to communicate. When we communicate the message, the responsibility is on them of how they will respond. But if we don’t communicate the gospel, then we carry some responsibility because we didn’t speak up. We need to ask God to help us share the good news of the gospel more!
Ø Mark also mentions what he calls the 4 deadly questions that when used properly, can not only be effective, but create an atmosphere for a deeper, more effective conversation.
o What do you mean by that?
o How do you know that to be true?
o Where do you get your information?
o What if you are wrong?
These are general ideas not necessarily a set format. I’m hoping and praying for opportunities to use them soon! J There were so many more very interesting stories, examples, points, and illustrations ~ that’s a teaser! I hope and pray that you will read it for yourself or keep challenging and educating yourself more and more how to share the blessed, most-amazing-news of all!
From what we heard, there were plenty of stories to go around! It was a pretty cool evening! Brittany, Cynthia and I walked around and prayed a lot for the teams and other soul-winners and for the lost, confused people all over downtown. And we also had some interesting conversations. One of them was a brief conversation with a guy named Arnie, who is really mad at God, but appreciates that we care. Another was a conversation with several people who said they are saved, but appear to really be running from God. Another conversation was with a guy named Flavio, a hot-dog vender, and we were able to give him some ideas on where to start in studying God’s Word and how to get more. And our last conversation was with Dina, the newest club-worker on the corner. She is new here and appreciates us because we are friendly and she seems to be thinking a lot about spiritual things ~ which is really good!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thank you to our prayer partners ~ we appreciate your prayers very much! And we look forward to seeing what opportunities God will bring across our paths this week, and next week, and… ~ : )
Your friends and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul ~ the Henry Family
Men's retreat and one thing you can't do...
Hey fellow laborers and prayer partners! (01-17-08)
As most of you already know, we aren’t expecting to be downtown tomorrow evening, because we are expecting to be at the men’s retreat at Metro Life. But, we are expecting to be downtown next week as usual. We are going to miss not being down there this week!
(Steven’s update)
Well, another week has gone by. I (Steven) have been reading at Mark Cahill’s book, ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ Wow! It’s really good… Mark has been sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through conversations several years. Mark grew up playing basketball, including being on Charles Barclay’s team. Mark has been good friends with Charles and keeps challenging Charles to give his whole life to Christ and to follow Him with all his heart, but Charles is apparently reluctant… But anyway, God finally got Mark’s attention several years ago, and Mark gave his life to Christ – completely sold out to be a bold, effective servant of Jesus Christ. If you ever get to hear Mark speak, I encourage you to do your best to get there – incredible teaching of God’s Word and his testimonies. You can find some of Mark’s audio messages online – youtube has some. We got some full-length messages from www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com, but that’s a paid-subscription thing that is well worth it I might add! Back to ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ ~ In 3 days, I’ve read to page 80 in my ‘spare time’ – it’s a good book! A couple highlights from it, though there are many good points:
Ø As Christians, we have a unique opportunity. We not only care about people, but those who follow Christ are also learning to care about where a person will spend eternity and how it will go for them. That is unique. Those who think from the world’s carnal-selfish perspective will likely ask the people they care about, how their finances are doing, if their families are in good health, etc. Only a Christian will care about the person’s soul and their soul’s future. The surprising part here is – that means a whole lot to people when they know you not only care about them as a person, but you even care where they will spend eternity. Mark points out (as do others) that people constantly (consciously or sub-consciously) think about death and either think about where they will spend eternity or they avoid it because the unknown scares them. Mark points out that we as Christians obviously aren’t scared because we have the Creator’s handbook and living Letter – the Bible. God’s Word tells us about the two places people go after death and how to make sure we go to Heaven. Those are answers people will appreciate hearing about when they realize that you care about their eternity.
Ø Mark also points out that if we can’t do anything else in a conversation, there is one thing we ought to do – mention to the person(s) we are talking to about how death is un-escapable and remind them that eternity is much longer than this life, so we ought to get ready here and now. If that leads to conversation – great! If not, then pray that God won’t let them forget that thought and that He will use others to tell them more.
Ø Mark also tells that when he gets up in the morning, he will pray that God will arrange who He wants him to talk to, and then Mark says that he will engage with those in his path as though they are a new-found friend he hasn’t met. Kind of an interesting perspective. I plan to put that more into practice!...
There are more things, but those were some highlights and I wish I had time to tell you some of the stories! Really good stuff….
(You can buy ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ and Mark’s newest book, ‘One Heartbeat Away’ online. We got ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ from www.livingwaters.com, but we had to buy ‘One Heartbeat Away’ from www.amazon.com for 10 each, plus change – we chose the free shipping option because we bought more than $25…)
This week, God blessed us with a lot of good conversations! It was so much fun, but always challenging of course.
Some of the YWAM team joined us this past week and we got to meet some of the new team that is here for training for a couple of months. Our friend, Bart, was there and he brought his friend Blake, who also preached some. Sean Kelsey joined dad and they apparently had some really good conversations!
I talked to a group of teens that turned out to be a gang… interesting conversation. They all gathered around me to take the ‘Smart Card’ test and then most of them stood around and listened while I talked with two of them. I had the opportunity to give each of them a tract and take them through the 10 Commandments before they wandered off. I know their doing some thinking. Please join me in praying that God will convict their hearts and show them how they need to commit their lives to Him.
Mom and I also got to talk with 4 guys who listened and interacted, and seemed to be taking it more seriously that if they died, they would spend eternity in Hell. I’m praying God keeps bringing that thought to their minds until they repent and follow Christ with all their hearts.
We also had the opportunity to meet one of the local YWAM leaders – Rob. It was good to talk to him and get to know him a little. Also, Rob got to use the flipchart for the first time. A couple of guys walked up and asked about the flipchart, so they went through it and apparently had a great conversation!
(note from Paul)
Paul wishes he had time to add to this update, since he had some really good stories from last Friday. He’s taking an electrical class, which is occupying his evenings. Homework – such fun! ~ : )
As always, we so much appreciate your prayers! God has been showing us more and more opportunities to share the gospel and God’s truth throughout the weeks, so we wanted to say thank you to our prayer partners for your part! We are praying that God uses each of you where He has you to talk to those He brings across your path!
Your friends, and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul
As most of you already know, we aren’t expecting to be downtown tomorrow evening, because we are expecting to be at the men’s retreat at Metro Life. But, we are expecting to be downtown next week as usual. We are going to miss not being down there this week!
(Steven’s update)
Well, another week has gone by. I (Steven) have been reading at Mark Cahill’s book, ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ Wow! It’s really good… Mark has been sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through conversations several years. Mark grew up playing basketball, including being on Charles Barclay’s team. Mark has been good friends with Charles and keeps challenging Charles to give his whole life to Christ and to follow Him with all his heart, but Charles is apparently reluctant… But anyway, God finally got Mark’s attention several years ago, and Mark gave his life to Christ – completely sold out to be a bold, effective servant of Jesus Christ. If you ever get to hear Mark speak, I encourage you to do your best to get there – incredible teaching of God’s Word and his testimonies. You can find some of Mark’s audio messages online – youtube has some. We got some full-length messages from www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com, but that’s a paid-subscription thing that is well worth it I might add! Back to ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ ~ In 3 days, I’ve read to page 80 in my ‘spare time’ – it’s a good book! A couple highlights from it, though there are many good points:
Ø As Christians, we have a unique opportunity. We not only care about people, but those who follow Christ are also learning to care about where a person will spend eternity and how it will go for them. That is unique. Those who think from the world’s carnal-selfish perspective will likely ask the people they care about, how their finances are doing, if their families are in good health, etc. Only a Christian will care about the person’s soul and their soul’s future. The surprising part here is – that means a whole lot to people when they know you not only care about them as a person, but you even care where they will spend eternity. Mark points out (as do others) that people constantly (consciously or sub-consciously) think about death and either think about where they will spend eternity or they avoid it because the unknown scares them. Mark points out that we as Christians obviously aren’t scared because we have the Creator’s handbook and living Letter – the Bible. God’s Word tells us about the two places people go after death and how to make sure we go to Heaven. Those are answers people will appreciate hearing about when they realize that you care about their eternity.
Ø Mark also points out that if we can’t do anything else in a conversation, there is one thing we ought to do – mention to the person(s) we are talking to about how death is un-escapable and remind them that eternity is much longer than this life, so we ought to get ready here and now. If that leads to conversation – great! If not, then pray that God won’t let them forget that thought and that He will use others to tell them more.
Ø Mark also tells that when he gets up in the morning, he will pray that God will arrange who He wants him to talk to, and then Mark says that he will engage with those in his path as though they are a new-found friend he hasn’t met. Kind of an interesting perspective. I plan to put that more into practice!...
There are more things, but those were some highlights and I wish I had time to tell you some of the stories! Really good stuff….
(You can buy ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ and Mark’s newest book, ‘One Heartbeat Away’ online. We got ‘One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven’ from www.livingwaters.com, but we had to buy ‘One Heartbeat Away’ from www.amazon.com for 10 each, plus change – we chose the free shipping option because we bought more than $25…)
This week, God blessed us with a lot of good conversations! It was so much fun, but always challenging of course.
Some of the YWAM team joined us this past week and we got to meet some of the new team that is here for training for a couple of months. Our friend, Bart, was there and he brought his friend Blake, who also preached some. Sean Kelsey joined dad and they apparently had some really good conversations!
I talked to a group of teens that turned out to be a gang… interesting conversation. They all gathered around me to take the ‘Smart Card’ test and then most of them stood around and listened while I talked with two of them. I had the opportunity to give each of them a tract and take them through the 10 Commandments before they wandered off. I know their doing some thinking. Please join me in praying that God will convict their hearts and show them how they need to commit their lives to Him.
Mom and I also got to talk with 4 guys who listened and interacted, and seemed to be taking it more seriously that if they died, they would spend eternity in Hell. I’m praying God keeps bringing that thought to their minds until they repent and follow Christ with all their hearts.
We also had the opportunity to meet one of the local YWAM leaders – Rob. It was good to talk to him and get to know him a little. Also, Rob got to use the flipchart for the first time. A couple of guys walked up and asked about the flipchart, so they went through it and apparently had a great conversation!
(note from Paul)
Paul wishes he had time to add to this update, since he had some really good stories from last Friday. He’s taking an electrical class, which is occupying his evenings. Homework – such fun! ~ : )
As always, we so much appreciate your prayers! God has been showing us more and more opportunities to share the gospel and God’s truth throughout the weeks, so we wanted to say thank you to our prayer partners for your part! We are praying that God uses each of you where He has you to talk to those He brings across your path!
Your friends, and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul
Updates for a new year - 01-10-08
Happy New Year to all of our fellow soul-winners and prayer partners,
(01-10-08)
It’s hard to believe that it is already 2008! Time flies so quickly. Our family is truly enjoying working alongside each and every one of you all. We are excited to see what all God showed us last year, and we are excited about the future events, challenges and training He has for us this year too! The new year is always a great time to review last year and the lessons and experiences in preparing for a new year of serving Christ!
A few catch-up points before we tell some of the stories from the last two weeks and a brief update from Scott on a great conversation last week:
We are looking for some schedule ideas on what week in January or February would work well for a ‘Worship Music and Street-preaching’ event. We would actually like a lot of feedback from you all on that idea. Steven and Paul have practiced 4 songs (at least 2 of which are apparently done at Metro). So, as we get those ideas going and feedback, we can work together on planning that event sometime soon. And we plan to start sending out the ideas as the plans become more complete. Also, after we can find a date that works best, we are going to be needing to send out an alert, because we are going to need as much of team that night as possible, because we are expecting God to bless that in ways we probably can’t even imagine!
Next week, we will not be going downtown, since David, Steven and Paul have signed up for the Metro Men’s retreat and we’re really looking forward to that.
Also, there has been some discussion of possible extra ministry event opportunities for spring break, so just to keep some ideas in our minds…
Also, some of you have noticed our friend Bart on our corner lately. He is a traveling missionary. He and his wife minister a lot to Spanish speaking groups in South America and probably some other places. He has such a wonderful heart for God – inspiring! And, by the way, Bart loves meeting you all and getting to know you – it encourages him that there is hope and that he can keep serving Christ! His preaching style is interesting, but what’s even more interesting is to see how God uses Bart. We have seen people just sit near him and just listen and cry and get their lives right with God, so we appreciate and pray for him. He is probably going to be traveling back to South America soon, but he’s expecting to be back with us around March.
Also, we have mentioned them before, but YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is another group that we have been teaming up with and they are an interesting ministry. They are training people from across America and countries all around the globe, through their two schools: DTS (Discipleship Training School) and SoME (School of Ministry and Evangelism). We are thrilled to have them out there and to be working alongside them sharing the gospel. The more we can work as team to share the gospel of Jesus effectively, the more we learn and the more we are able to share our own faith more effectively. So, that’s pretty cool too! The new group of YWAM-ers just got in last Friday, so they are getting ready and we need to keep them in our prayers.
(Steven’s update)
Lately, my dad and I have been listening to Josh McDowell, and (his son) Sean McDowell, and Norman Geisler, among others, and have been trying to learn how to more effectively explain God’s logic as compared to human reasoning. What’s been most interesting though, is that as we have been listening to them, God has been putting us in situations where we have been able to use it along with His Word. The reason I mention that is to encourage you that God wants to continue teaching all of us – He is a God of new horizons, and that’s good! The main thing I keep finding is that whether we can answer using God’s reasoning (aka worldview) or not, we need to remember that God promises that His Word won’t come back empty. “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11) This is, of course, what we are called to do, sow God’s Word. God will work on the person, because He is responsible for the increase! I’ve just been reminded of that lately, so I thought I would pass it on…
I’ve been using the flipchart still. It’s doing a couple of things for me – training me for speaking to larger groups, teaching me how to be more effective in my one-2-one conversations, and even challenging me to keep digging deeper in God’s Word. It’s great! My mom and Ristela even have been trying it! It’s pretty simple and then the transition to their condition comes right off of it, just by making one point. Pointing out that the chart shows that our senses can fool us, leads right into asking them if they think they are a good person and then taking them through the 10 Commandments. If any of you are curious to try it and would like tips, you can just ask me.
~ a fellow servant of Christ, Steven : )
(Brief update from Scott Anderson a really cool conversation they had)
So here's the main conversation I was in the other night when we went out evangelizing. We came across a band that had just finished up their set inside one of the clubs down off central and started up conversations with them. I ended up talking to a kid, whose name was Josh, and his girlfriend (Jessie) who couldn't have been more than 18 years old. When he found out that I wanted to discuss the person and work of Jesus Christ, he said that it was really weird that I'd be coming up to him to talk about this, because he had just started reading his Bible again three days ago. So I made sure that he clearly understood the gospel, and things really took off from there. He had so many questions. We discussed the mystery of the trinity, fear of man, the power of the Holy Spirit, and even nominalism. We discussed fear of man from something he had mentioned. He had told me that he felt uneasy reading his Bible at work during his breaks because people were apparently giving him some weird looks. I was able to encourage him to continue on in his Bible reading in spite of the looks he was getting, reminding him that approval from God far surpasses any momentary approval from men. I couldn't believe it when we ended up talking about nominalism. We discussed how the faith must be more than just a name we give ourselves, but it must affect every aspect of our lives, transforming us into the image of Christ through sanctification. I was quite encouraged by this conversation, because throughout our entire conversation, he kept mentioning how he was wondering if what he was beginning to do was worth it, and that our conversation was a clear sign to him that this wasn't something for him to abandon. Praise God for the divine appointments he gives us! Your brother in Christ,Scott Anderson
~ your friends and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul ~ : )
(01-10-08)
It’s hard to believe that it is already 2008! Time flies so quickly. Our family is truly enjoying working alongside each and every one of you all. We are excited to see what all God showed us last year, and we are excited about the future events, challenges and training He has for us this year too! The new year is always a great time to review last year and the lessons and experiences in preparing for a new year of serving Christ!
A few catch-up points before we tell some of the stories from the last two weeks and a brief update from Scott on a great conversation last week:
We are looking for some schedule ideas on what week in January or February would work well for a ‘Worship Music and Street-preaching’ event. We would actually like a lot of feedback from you all on that idea. Steven and Paul have practiced 4 songs (at least 2 of which are apparently done at Metro). So, as we get those ideas going and feedback, we can work together on planning that event sometime soon. And we plan to start sending out the ideas as the plans become more complete. Also, after we can find a date that works best, we are going to be needing to send out an alert, because we are going to need as much of team that night as possible, because we are expecting God to bless that in ways we probably can’t even imagine!
Next week, we will not be going downtown, since David, Steven and Paul have signed up for the Metro Men’s retreat and we’re really looking forward to that.
Also, there has been some discussion of possible extra ministry event opportunities for spring break, so just to keep some ideas in our minds…
Also, some of you have noticed our friend Bart on our corner lately. He is a traveling missionary. He and his wife minister a lot to Spanish speaking groups in South America and probably some other places. He has such a wonderful heart for God – inspiring! And, by the way, Bart loves meeting you all and getting to know you – it encourages him that there is hope and that he can keep serving Christ! His preaching style is interesting, but what’s even more interesting is to see how God uses Bart. We have seen people just sit near him and just listen and cry and get their lives right with God, so we appreciate and pray for him. He is probably going to be traveling back to South America soon, but he’s expecting to be back with us around March.
Also, we have mentioned them before, but YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is another group that we have been teaming up with and they are an interesting ministry. They are training people from across America and countries all around the globe, through their two schools: DTS (Discipleship Training School) and SoME (School of Ministry and Evangelism). We are thrilled to have them out there and to be working alongside them sharing the gospel. The more we can work as team to share the gospel of Jesus effectively, the more we learn and the more we are able to share our own faith more effectively. So, that’s pretty cool too! The new group of YWAM-ers just got in last Friday, so they are getting ready and we need to keep them in our prayers.
(Steven’s update)
Lately, my dad and I have been listening to Josh McDowell, and (his son) Sean McDowell, and Norman Geisler, among others, and have been trying to learn how to more effectively explain God’s logic as compared to human reasoning. What’s been most interesting though, is that as we have been listening to them, God has been putting us in situations where we have been able to use it along with His Word. The reason I mention that is to encourage you that God wants to continue teaching all of us – He is a God of new horizons, and that’s good! The main thing I keep finding is that whether we can answer using God’s reasoning (aka worldview) or not, we need to remember that God promises that His Word won’t come back empty. “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11) This is, of course, what we are called to do, sow God’s Word. God will work on the person, because He is responsible for the increase! I’ve just been reminded of that lately, so I thought I would pass it on…
I’ve been using the flipchart still. It’s doing a couple of things for me – training me for speaking to larger groups, teaching me how to be more effective in my one-2-one conversations, and even challenging me to keep digging deeper in God’s Word. It’s great! My mom and Ristela even have been trying it! It’s pretty simple and then the transition to their condition comes right off of it, just by making one point. Pointing out that the chart shows that our senses can fool us, leads right into asking them if they think they are a good person and then taking them through the 10 Commandments. If any of you are curious to try it and would like tips, you can just ask me.
~ a fellow servant of Christ, Steven : )
(Brief update from Scott Anderson a really cool conversation they had)
So here's the main conversation I was in the other night when we went out evangelizing. We came across a band that had just finished up their set inside one of the clubs down off central and started up conversations with them. I ended up talking to a kid, whose name was Josh, and his girlfriend (Jessie) who couldn't have been more than 18 years old. When he found out that I wanted to discuss the person and work of Jesus Christ, he said that it was really weird that I'd be coming up to him to talk about this, because he had just started reading his Bible again three days ago. So I made sure that he clearly understood the gospel, and things really took off from there. He had so many questions. We discussed the mystery of the trinity, fear of man, the power of the Holy Spirit, and even nominalism. We discussed fear of man from something he had mentioned. He had told me that he felt uneasy reading his Bible at work during his breaks because people were apparently giving him some weird looks. I was able to encourage him to continue on in his Bible reading in spite of the looks he was getting, reminding him that approval from God far surpasses any momentary approval from men. I couldn't believe it when we ended up talking about nominalism. We discussed how the faith must be more than just a name we give ourselves, but it must affect every aspect of our lives, transforming us into the image of Christ through sanctification. I was quite encouraged by this conversation, because throughout our entire conversation, he kept mentioning how he was wondering if what he was beginning to do was worth it, and that our conversation was a clear sign to him that this wasn't something for him to abandon. Praise God for the divine appointments he gives us! Your brother in Christ,Scott Anderson
~ your friends and fellow laborers in the harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul ~ : )
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