Ministry Update December 13, 2015
Like many of our evangelistic friends around the country, we read the Bible, pray and prepare all week for witnessing. But sometimes witnessing doesn’t turn out the way we anticipate. Sometimes our best laid plans are thwarted, but that’s ok. Because our desire above all is to honor and glorify God and to be used by Him for His kingdom work and we ask that His will be done; whether it goes according to plan or whether our Lord changes everything or a combination of the two.
Best Laid Plans
On Friday night we were witnessing in downtown Springfield, MO. We handed out tracts before we really got started and then we sang carols to start the night. After that I brought a message All My Righteousness. While I was on the box, Aaron started talking to a young man and Erica also got into a conversation with someone. After I finished, Aaron was still around the corner talking to the same person and Erica was talking to a different man.
Diana, Elise, Serenity and I handed out tracts. After a while, I decided to get back on the box because there was still a good crowd across the street. So I read John 1 and brought a message from that. Some people stopped and listened for a while and then Aaron finished talking to another man that Erica had also talked to and we sang carols to end the night.
So Aaron didn’t get to preach the message that he had prepared, but that was alright. He had a great discussion with Ivan – the first young man that he talked to. Ivan was from Russia, but he spoke very good English. Aaron preached at a Russian church in Sedalia, MO recently and he had memorized the words in Russian for the beginning of John 3:16: For God so loved the world. Early in his conversation with Ivan he spoke those words in Russian and they hit it right off.
Aaron asked Ivan if he thought he’d go to Heaven after he died. Ivan thought he was about 40% good enough to go Heaven. They had a great conversation, a long conversation and they ended it with Ivan realizing that he is lost and that he needs to be saved. Aaron prayed for him at the end of the conversation. Ivan also understood that even though he has been hurt badly by a couple of different people that he needs to forgive them and Aaron read him Scriptures about that too and Aaron invited Ivan to come to his church. We hope and pray that Ivan will do so and that the Lord will grant him repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Biggest Question DVD
On Wednesday, Aaron couldn’t join me at MSU, so I brought a message for about 40 minutes. While I was preaching, the man that was on the forklift last week that said he believed in Jesus but not the Bible, was driving a different vehicle this time and he stopped right in front of me and just stared at me. I guess he was trying to block me, but I ignored him and kept speaking. After I finished, I handed out tracts and I had 10 or 15 of The Biggest Question DVD’s and I handed those out.
On Tuesday, Aaron and several other men preached at MSU at the Bear Paw where they can use amplification. They intended to be there for five hours, but they only made it 2.5 to 3 hours. They were shut down because students were preparing for finals. Thankfully I didn’t have that problem on Wednesday, but it may have been because I was in an area where we can’t use amplification.
Sometimes our best laid plans are hindered by Satan, like Aaron’s plans were thwarted on Tuesday and when the MSU worker tried to interrupt me on Wednesday.
God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways
But other times our best laid plans are changed because God intervenes. Obviously we much prefer God to change our plans because God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His best is always what we desire. Oh how we hope and pray that Ivan will repent and put his faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. I’m sure Aaron would agree with me when I say we would gladly forego street preaching in order to have a really good one on one conversation.
We do open-air preaching because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). We street preach because many times it leads to one to one conversations. But in all things, our desire is for God to use us for His honor and glory and we are more than happy to change our best laid plans for God’s higher plans. Our desire is for the Holy Spirit to guide us, lead us and for God the Father to draw lost souls to Himself through the power of the Holy Spirit.
(These ministry updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith with others.)