Encouraging Lunch Hour
Ministry Update March 3, 2019
Some days street witnessing are tough and other times are a pure joy. Wednesday at Missouri State University was a very encouraging lunch hour. Thank God, 25 students took New Testaments. That would have been encouraging enough on its own, but while I was bringing a message, one student just said “Hello” and he seemed very sincere. He wasn’t mocking or trying to hinder the Gospel going forth. I took it as an encouragement.
Then toward the end of my message I was excited, talking about Heaven and how wonderful it will be for fellow believers and myself to worship Jesus for all eternity. A young man was walking toward me and he got excited to and heartily said, “AMEN!” But that wasn’t the end of the encouragement. When I first got to my spot, a student was handing out flyers. This isn’t uncommon, but generally when I start open-air preaching, students handing out flyers typically scatter immediately. But this day the student stayed the whole time. In fact, he was still handing out flyers on that cold day when I had to head back to work.
Handing Out Christian Flyers
So when I finished the message, I walked toward him and he was handing a flyer to a young woman. After he said what he wanted to say, I was nearby so I handed her a New Testament, which she took. Then I asked the young man where he goes to church and he named a local church.
Then I asked him what he was handing out and he told me invites to The Potter’s House. This is a Christian ministry for college students. It’s a coffee house near the campus where students gather to hear the Gospel and learn more about Jesus. I can’t tell you how encouraging it was to see a young person handing out Christian flyers on a cold day at the campus. May God bless this young man and the ministry and may the Lord save many souls at the campus. I also thank God for such an encouraging lunch hour of witnessing.
The Encouragement Continued
The encouragement continued Friday night witnessing downtown. I brought a short message and then decided to hand out New Testaments. I thought I handed out 25 of them and even handed out tracts when I thought I’d ran out of New Testaments. But when I got back to my car, I realized that I still had one in my back pocket. But regardless, it was an encouraging night.
Some people seemed really appreciative in receiving a New Testament. But the encounters that really stood out were the following ones. An atheist couple that I’ve talked to for several years walked toward me. I hadn’t seen them in a while, so they stopped to talk. I offered Jim and Kimberly New Testaments, fully expecting them to reject the offer, but to my surprise, both of them took one!
Then while the foot traffic was slow, I would hold a New Testament up in the air directed toward the cars at a stop sign right next to me. A guy on a scooter waved me over to him and after I handed him the New Testament, he said thanks and told me that he was wanting one these and he stuck in a holder on his scooter. He yelled “God bless” as he rode off.
Young Children Happy To Receive New Testaments
Then I noticed a woman with four young children crossing the street coming toward me. I quickly reached into my witnessing bag for some more New Testaments. But I was having trouble getting them out in time, so I just said, “I have something for you if you have a minute.” A couple of the kids were curious, so they walked over to me while their mom was just a few feet away. I pulled the New Testaments out and told the kids that I wanted to give these to them.
By that time three of the kids were near me and they all seemed really happy to receive the New Testaments. Their mom was holding a young child in her arms. I said I’d like to give this one to you for the young one for when she gets older. To my surprise, the toddler reached over and grabbed the New Testament out of my hand. Their mom seemed ok with all the kids getting them. May they grow up reading God’s word and may the Lord save them when they get old enough to surrender their lives to Jesus.
(Every week isn’t like this one, but that’s ok. We are called to share the Gospel and the results are up to God. This really was an encouraging week of witnessing. May God bless the New Testaments, the tracts and His truth that was proclaimed in the open.)