trips, adventures and stories ~ : )

Hello fellow laborers and prayer partners! ~ 05/01/2008

Greetings from the traveling Henry family! Well the last two weeks have been quite exciting! We were in St. Louis, MO April 19-20th and in St. Pete, FL April 25th - 27th. And we got to see the movie ‘Expelled’ ~ great movie. (Free movie review below ~ :))

(Steven’s update)
Our trip to St. Louis was pretty uneventful (except for the odd construction throughout Georgia. The other event was when we found out that we had a bad battery at a gas station in a small town, also in Georgia. :) God arranged it where we met a nice guy, named Jim Goodman. He was pumping gas next to us when he saw our car wouldn’t start. So, he borrowed some jumper cables to jump-start our car and then led us to the nearest auto parts store in that little farm town. We gave him a million dollar bill tract and had some great conversation with him. We enjoyed the fellowship, but we didn’t stay very long because we were trying to get to First Baptist Arnold in time for the conference. The drive to St. Louis was like 18+ hours, which was pretty cool, because we were listening to some Bible teachers, including Ken Ham on the way up. If you get a chance to hear Ken Ham or Kent Hovind, we encourage you to do so – they point out how true science and the evidence all around us strengthens our faith and proves the accuracy of the Bible.

Ø You can find Ken Ham’s ministry ‘Answers in Genesis’ info and resources at: http://www.answersingenesis.org/.
Ø And you can find Kent Hovind’s info and resources at: http://www.drdino.com/.Eric Hovind is scheduled to speak at Eastland Bible Church at 6PM this Sunday evening and we are planning to go to that and looking forward to it!

So (back to our trip ~ :)), we got to the ‘Transformed’ conference safely and really enjoyed it! We also got to meet some more soul-winners and had great fellowship with the ‘Way of the Master’ team. It was a blessed time. We also got to meet and fellowship with a friend I met online, named Janet ~ :). That was really fun too! She got adopted into our family! :) Then we drove home, which was mostly uneventful, except for another event – a flat tire. :) So, we got to share some of the gospel with the guy who came. And it was also in Georgia. :) Fun in Georgia. It’s pretty amazing how God arranges our schedule when we make ourselves available! :) Then we drove home and life was normal for a few days and then we went on another trip - :). Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the way home, we stopped at a gas station that had a sign challenging people to bless Israel. One side said: ‘GOD’S WORD SAYS HE WILL BLESS THOSE THAT BLESS ISRAEL & CURSE THOSE WHO CURSE HER.’ The pizza sign right next to it said: ‘POLITICALLY CORRECT IS OF THE DEVIL.’ The other side of the sign said: ‘PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM’ PSALM 122:6. It was pretty cool, very thought-provoking! And the best part is we got pictures of it! I hope to post them sometime soon!

On our second trip – last weekend, we had a 5th soul-winner - Deanna was able to join us. We left Friday evening, got delayed by rush-hour traffic, but we made it in time to hear most Darrel Rundus’ teaching. Then we found a hotel for the night. Darrel covered several different fears that would stop us from obeying Jesus Christ and they were though-provoking.

The next morning, we went to the meeting, sang some worship songs and then got to hear Mark Cahill. That was pretty cool! One main thing Mark communicate in a few different ways is that he could teach us all day, but the best way is to go out and do it, and ask God to teach us how to be more effective at reaching into people’s lives. Here are a few other things that stood out to me and I hope to put into practice:

Mark’s motto: ‘If you do not engage the culture, that culture is going to engage you.’ (He knows something about that – he used to be a part of the party scene and played basketball with Charles Barkley, so he knows this first-hand.)

Mark told a story of a friend that didn’t want to go a relationship with God for himself, but he said that he was going to drop his kids off at church so that they could. Mark told us that he pointed out that this plan wouldn’t work. The guy asked why and Mark told him that his kids will know instantly that it’s not important to him, so they will quickly conclude it’s not important for them or their life either. That got the guy thinking.

Mark pointed out that sharing our faith – our relationship with Jesus, is a conversation not a presentation. If it is real to us, then we aren’t presenting something, we are inviting them to turn around and start a relationship with Someone, and wanting to reach their heart. What makes that point even more clearly is how Mark talks with his audience the same way: conversation style, asking questions, getting responses. It was fun, challenging and engaging! And it emphasized that point that this passionate caring about others really works!

Mark told a story about a kid who said he used to attend youth group, but now he’s an atheist. Mark asked why he became an atheist, and the guy explained that his youth leader was rude to him, among other things, so he left, looked up some stuff on the internet and became an atheist. Was he really an atheist? No, just wounded. So, Mark reached out to him. Mark also pointed out to us that hypocrites are not a problem for those who share the real Jesus Christ, because the real Jesus isn’t hypocritical. That was a pretty thought-provoking point! It was encouraging to realize that he is right – hypocrites are only a problem to those who are not following Jesus Christ, and daily learning to build an active relationship with Him. That challenges all of us to keep learning so we can be the salt of the earth – tasty seasoning in a tasteless, cold, selfish world.

Mark mentioned how some of the people he talks with say they are just sitting on the fence – not ready to accept or reject Jesus. But Mark pointed out that sitting on the fence is making a choice. And he also mentioned how a friend once said to him: ‘If someone says they are sitting on the fence, remind them that Satan owns the fence.’ Interesting point.

Then we got to go to 2 different session groups and then we got to go out soul-winning! That was a blast! I hung out with those who stayed in the downtown section of St. Pete. It was a bit different from Orlando, but of course the people were similar, just different attitudes. Jason and I got to talk with a guy and challenge him to run from his lifestyle and surrender all of his life to Jesus Christ. He left thinking. Then I go to talk with a few people who were just hanging around waiting for their friend who was talking with one of our fellow soul-winners. I think they left thinking, but I couldn’t tell for sure – all I can do is pray for them, though I do wish I could remember their names. :) Then I got to talk to John and his wife Carrie. John was going to go through seminary, but didn’t - he didn’t tell me why, but he did tell me that he has traveled the world and thinks that all religions are the same. He didn’t know what was after death, or rather he wanted to escape the topic, but we had a fun conversation. I did get to remind him that we are all rebels and the first time we knowingly rebelled against God and broke His law we lost everything. I also got to point out that we could get into Heaven 2 ways: 1) if we are 100% perfect or 2) if we are 100% forgiven. He thanked me for the ‘debate’ as he left. (Debate was his word. :))

I also got to talk to a girl (named ‘Q’) and her mom. They seemed to understand salvation, but they didn’t understand that we could be sure that we are saved, and that after we are saved, sin affects our relationship. They appreciated talking and I gave ‘Q’ a copy of the John 10 study God gave me.

The last couple of conversations were the best! When we were all headed back to the small buses, we stopped by what they call ‘the rock’ – a huge bolder that you can climb on. Apparently, one of the other soul-winners made someone mad (or they were convicted) but that allowed Paul and I to talk with a number of them and show them the love of God. They seemed to be a group of broken-home kids and it was wonderful to be able to allow them to insult us, and then to keep showing them the love of God and even to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with a girl named Danielle and her friend Dina. A few others came and listened in on our conversation, here and there. A few of their faces will probably stay etched in my mind for quite a while. My heart goes out to them and I’ve been praying for them.

Then we (evangelists) gathered together, talked shared stories, took pictures and then prayed and headed back to the church. Mark shared some more at the morning services – good, refreshing teaching, including the reminder that we live in a dying, broken world where people are being snatched into eternity everyday.

On the way home, we got to talk about some stuff we learned and our conversations with fellow evangelists – fun stuff!

And last, but not least ~ :) ~ the free ‘Expelled’ review. It was great! Ben Stein talks to several people who were fired and excluded because they even considered the question that there was a Creator. Talk about a crazy world! It’s hard to know all the damage they are doing to all the students who go through their ‘public’ school system – or more correctly: re-education system. Ben also included some background on the Holocaust and it’s ties to the Darwinism and some computer animation of what all goes on inside the very complex human body! Amazing! We truly are “fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:14)

Thank you all for your prayers. We have heard that there are more conferences and exciting events to come, so we’ll try to keep you posted!

Your friends, prayer partners, and fellow laborers in this vast harvest,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul ~ the Henry family