New Friends New Spot?
Friday night Polly and I went witnessing downtown. Another group was at our usual corner, so my plan was to go one block closer to the square at South and McDaniel. We got there before 8 pm and it was busy. This was the first Friday in August and Artwalk. So, several tracts were handed out on the corner. Unfortunately, the band that was playing on the square was too loud for me to preach at this corner.
So, Polly and I talked about it and I said maybe we should go to Founders Park and see if anything’s going on there. As we walked a couple of blocks we ended up at the corner of St. Louis and Jefferson. Even though it was also one block from the square it wasn’t as noisy there. It’s almost a park like setting on the east side of Jefferson. Polly mentioned it a couple of times that maybe we should witness there so I said why not.
New Friends
I plopped the stool down and jumped and started bringing the message – Just the Facts. Several people walked by and there was a good amount of vehicle traffic there as well. Polly hadn’t done this before, but she sat down in front of me and sort of to the side. After a bit, a young couple walked up and stood behind her. Their names were Ryan and Kaitlyn and after a bit they sat down beside Polly. They were shaking their heads in agreement with the message. It was very encouraging to have them listening along with Polly.
Vile Young Woman
Shortly after that a vile young woman walking along with her friend stopped, pulled out some chalk and wrote f Jesus on the sidewalk in front of me. As soon as she did that, Polly walked over with her bottle of water and poured it on the f word until it disappeared. The vile woman had walked across the street, saw what Polly did and immediately came back over and wrote it again along with some other wicked messages. I kept preaching the whole time. I pointed out to the people walking by that you may not be as aggressive as the f Jesus vile woman, but I asked people if they are rebelling against God by their words and actions. By their sins.
After the vile woman wrote her filthiness on the sidewalk she looked over at Polly and said, “Do you have enough water for all that b____?” The vile woman and her friend walked off laughing. This time Ryan and Kaitlyn got up and helped Polly wipe out the filthy words. Ryan even went back to their car to get a drink to pour on the filthy words. While this is going on, a vehicle pulled up in front of us on Jefferson and the passenger in the back flipped me off the whole time they sat there at the stop sign. I just kept preaching.
New Friends Had Been Watching Open-Air Preaching Videos
After my message, I walked up and introduced myself to Ryan and Kaitlyn. I’ve never had anyone say this to me before out street witnessing, but they said that they have been watching open-air preaching videos online and were quite intrigued by it. How’s that for God’s providence and sovereignty? Another group was in our usual spot, the secondary spot I picked out was too noisy, so God directed us to the spot He wanted and where He sent this young couple that He’d given an interest in open-air preaching to. Thanks be to God and we praise Him!
New Spot
So, it appears that Polly and I made new friends and found a new witnessing spot. Again, there was good foot traffic there. One man sat by a light pole across the street messing with his phone but he heard a good part of the message. Also, a teenager looked like he was downtown selling something or maybe peddling a cart to carry people in stopped for a while and listened. After we said goodbye to Ryan and Kaitlyn (and after I invited them to join us next week handing out tracts at the Route 66 Parade), Polly and I walked around downtown and handed out more tracts. May God bless and multiply the tracts (have people show them to friends and family) and may He bless the message and draw lost souls to Himself as only God can do.
Keep Both Hands On The Wheel
Brian joined Doug and I at Planned Parenthood on Wednesday. Brian and I were walking on the sidewalk to get there and I was holding a sign that says “Life Begins At Conception.” A driver honked at us and when I looked over the driver was flipping us off with both hands. I relayed what I just saw to Brian and he said, “keep both hands on the wheel” then we both laughed. But the hatred of life in our country is very sad. It’s sad that a driver felt the need to flip us off with both hands while he was driving by us.
I wish I could say that was the only mocker of the day, but it wasn’t. A few more drivers honked while Brian and I brought messages and Doug held the sign. One guy leaving the shopping center next door yelled for us “bigots to leave and go somewhere else.” The bigotry of those who hate Christians always amazes me, even though it shouldn’t after all this time. Do you see the irony of the man calling us bigots while his bigotry toward us came out? Another guy in the far lane of the four-lane busy road behind us nearly stopped while he yelled at us.
No Reaction
Sadly, we received no reaction from the handful of people going in and out of Planned Parenthood. Sometimes I prefer that they act like the God mockers and scoffers because at least you’d know that they had some sort of conscience. But they didn’t react at all. I brought a message from John 11 where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and how life is precious to God. Then Brian talked about how the Satanist of all Satanist, Aleister Crowley, even as wicked as he was, even he was against abortion. As repulsive as this human being was, even he understood that killing a baby in the womb was murder and it was wrong.
One man walking down the sidewalk behind us received a tract and God’s truth went forth. A young man next door recorded part of the message as he was getting into his car. At one point, there were cars in the drive thru at both business where Planned Parenthood is sandwiched in between. The Gospel went forth and may God be glorified above all.
(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with this lost and dying world. Please, hand out a tract, hand out Bibles, tell someone your testimony, share the Gospel with others. Redeem the time while you still can).