MSU

Can I Pray With You Real Quick?

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Can I Pray With You Real Quick?
Ministry Update November 19, 2024

It was a soggy day at MSU last Wednesday. I only handed out around 15 or 20 tracts before it was raining enough the students wouldn’t take anymore. So I brought an open-air message. I had been there about 15 minutes when a student walked up to me and asked, “Can I pray with you real quick?”  “Sure” I replied. I told him my name and he put his hand on my shoulder and then the young man said the most encouraging prayer that I’ve ever had a student pray. After he finished, I told him that he doesn’t know how encouraging that was. Praise God!!!

Then toward the end of the message a girl noticed my recorder and asked, “Are you practicing or preaching?” I didn’t catch her question, so she repeated it again. I told her that I was preaching, but thought to myself it must not be very effective if she’s asking me if I’m practicing. So I stopped the message and talked to her. I asked her how she came to faith and she said that she was an atheist who grew up in an atheistic home. But praise God that He reached her even then. She wanted to know how to share her faith with her friends. I pointed her to Ray Comfort’s Hell’s Best Kept Secret link and to the Way of the Master Videos. May God bless the young man that prayed for me and may He show the young lady how to share the Gospel.

One of Five Encouragers

The week before that, I had five encouragers during that one witnessing time. Three young men walked up and shook my hand and told me to keep preaching. One girl nodded and smiled as she walked by and one young man yelled, “Jesus Christ is Lord!” I was open-air preaching, so I didn’t catch it. I really thought he was a mocker. So I asked him what he said and he repeated it again. I said “AMEN!”.

Many students have taken tracts this year and a few weeks ago a young man stopped to talk while I was handing out tracts. He was afraid that he was a false convert. After talking to him, I think he is too. But I quoted scriptures to him and encouraged him to read the Bible and for him to cry out for God to reveal Himself to him. Earlier this year, a student heard Anand’s dad open-air preaching and got convicted. Anand’s wife witnessed to him. I’ve been going to the college since 2011 and I’ve never seen anything like this and I’m hearing this from other evangelists around the country. Some tell me they still get more mockers, but  more friends than not are seeing the same thing I’m seeing. May God save many of these young people!

Spiderman

Friday night Doug, Joshua and I were joined by Anand and three of his kids as well as Conner and three of his kids. Unfortunately it was a really quiet night. We had a great group and some good discussions amongst ourselves, but there just weren’t that many people downtown that night. Everyone handed out tracts when we had the chance. When I told the guys that I was going to head home, I spun around and there were two guys walking by me. One of them was wearing a Spiderman (full face) mask. I handed them both tracts.

Spiderman wanted to know what it was. I told him a Gospel tract. He didn’t say anything. So then I said, “It tells you about Jesus?” He still didn’t say anything. Then I asked, “Do you know Him?” Still no response. So then I asked him if he died tonight, would he go to Heaven? He replied, “I hope so”. I asked him how you get there and he didn’t know. I told him that I could clearly see that they were headed somewhere, but there’s nothing more important than your eternal soul. They both listened as I clearly shared the Gospel with them.

Afterwards, I asked him if he has a Bible at home and he said he does. I encouraged him to start in Matthew and read the New Testament, asking God to reveal Himself to him. Then I asked the young man his name and he replied, “Spiderman.” Even though I don’t know his name, God does and may the Lord save the young man and his friend. The friend never said anything, but he listened the whole time.

These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others. Not all encounters are encouraging, but you just keep witnessing!

Raucous Crowd

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Raucous Crowd

Ministry Update August 27, 2024

Joshua, Anand (and two of his daughters), Anand’s dad Moses, Nancy, Justin and I witnessed downtown Friday night. Justin wanted to head the other direction, so he went by himself. The rest of us headed toward the square a couple of blocks away, but we never made it there. We ended up about a ½ block short of the square and witnessed to a raucous crowd waiting in line at The Regency to see Waka Flocka Flame. I’d never heard of him, so later on I tried to listen to one of his songs on Youtube. I didn’t even make it 30 seconds, but it did shed some light on the wild crowd.

Brother Moses had a small amplifier with him, so as soon as he saw the crowd, he started open-air preaching. Some of the people in the crowd immediately started going crazy, especially three women. They started cussing Moses and flipping him off. One of them even ran across the street and started twerking right next to him. But he didn’t miss a beat and kept on preaching! After a while the police showed up and told Moses that he couldn’t use amplification downtown. I’d forgot about the ordinance.

After the police shut him down, I started open-air preaching. I’ve only been handing out tracts the last couple of months, so it had been quite a while since I brought a message. But I really think it was righteous indignation that took over. The police weren’t rude or mean about the amplification, but it always bothers me when the Gospel is hindered. So I brought a message for as long as my voice held out. The crowd didn’t like that either. One the three women that heckled Moses, kept flipping me off and saying f-you. I told her “No thanks, I’m a happily married man.”

After I brought a message, brother Moses went right over next to the long line of people waiting to get into the show. He stood on a concrete platform that was right next to a temporary fence that the venue had set up. He preached right next to them. I love his boldness for the Lord. Moses is a soft-spoken person, so there was no way his voice was going to carry across the street, so he came up with the perfect solution.

Anand and his daughters, Nancy, Joshua and I all handed out tracts while Moses preached. We had a lot of rejections, but some people took them. Joshua got into a conversation with a young man that I had talked to a couple of times earlier. The young man was raised Amish and his girlfriend was raised Mormon. He took tracts and was willing to talk. He just kept saying that he doesn’t believe what he did when he was younger. Justin got into an hour long (plus) conversation with a person.

The raucous crowd reminded me of how witnessing downtown used to be. I have to admit that I enjoyed it. But mainly we pray that God will bless His truth that went forth through the Gospel tracts and the open-air preaching. Justin and I witnessed the two weeks prior and there wasn’t much to report except on Aug 9th we witnessed during the Route 66 Festival. There were so many people downtown that Joshua was there somewhere too, but Justin and I never even saw him. Justin and I handed out a lot of tracts. It was great seeing the crowd. Several of our group has been witnessing the last few months, we just haven’t posted about it.

Quiet First Week at MSU

I handed out tracts at MSU on Wednesday last week. Another group had a permit near Trottier where I had a permit. But MSU is adding onto or remodeling a building right next to the football stadium, so there literally was no traffic at the spot where I was at. Since the other group was where the students walk by, I moved up to different spot. It turned out to be a good place to hand out tracts. I gave out over 200 tracts in 30 minutes. I commented on the cross necklaces that some students wore and I also commented on any Christian t-shirts that I saw. I want to encourage them to be bold in their faith in Jesus. One student took a tract and took a few more steps as he walked away. He flipped the tract over and realized what it was and he gave out a hearty “Amen!” I really appreciated his willingness to speak up in public.

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with others. You may never open-air preach on a street corner, but all believers can hand out Gospel tracts and/or share their testimony with others.)

Agnostic

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Agnostic

Ministry Update May 28, 2023

Conner, his two oldest kids, Michael and I witnessed downtown Friday night. Right after Conner prayed to start the evening, two young women walked up and Conner’s kids gave them tracts. Conner told them why we were out there – sharing the Gospel. So he asked them if they were Christians and Bailey spoke up and said that she’s Agnostic. Conner wanted to clarify, so he asked her if she meant it was unknowable as to whether God exists or if she meant that she doesn’t know if God exists? Bailey replied that she didn’t have enough proof either way. Basically, she’s waiting for proof to decide which is right.

She wanted Conner to prove that God is real. I loved Conner’s response. He told her that he doesn’t like to get into trying to prove there is a God because Romans says that God has written His law on our hearts (Romans 2:15). In other words, we don’t have to prove God is real because God has written His law in your heart. You already know God exists! Then, without missing a beat, Conner went right into the Gospel – how we’ve all sinned against God and how Jesus is the only Savior. After witnessing to Bailey, Conner asked if she had a Bible. She said that she doesn’t have one, so Conner gave her the Bible that was in his hand.

Her Friend Also Wanted A Bible

Her friend Nola was standing right next to her, so I asked if she had a Bible and she didn’t have one either. She said she wanted one too. I only had New Testaments in my witnessing bag, but I gave her one. Conner had earlier encouraged Bailey to read the book of John and I reiterated that too. Then I think Bailey asked Conner for one his tracts that was different than the ones his kids had given her. It was a great encounter. That’s what you hope and pray for, a chance to clearly share the glorious Gospel.

When Michael joined us, we walked around downtown. We handed out tracts to a group of homeless people on the square. Most refused tracts, but one guy took one from me. I tried to engage him in a conversation. He just kept saying that he is a “common preacher.” Don’t know what he meant by that unless he meant that he’s a lay pastor. I kept trying to see if he’s really a Christian or not and he basically acted like it was a stupid question since he’s a common preacher. I politely pointed out that some pastors are pastors, even though they aren’t really saved. Sadly, I didn’t really get anywhere with him.

Conner got into a conversation with three teenagers after that. One professed to be a Christian, but he doesn’t attend church and doesn’t read the Bible. But Conner was able to share the Gospel with all three of them. While that was going on, Michael and I were off over the to the side talking when I noticed two lesbians holding hands heading in our direction. I tried to hand them a tract, but they just walked away and acted like they didn’t see me. Then we walked around downtown some more and handed out more tracts. About the time Conner and his kids and I were leaving, Lisa showed up to witness too. So her and Michael witnessed some more after that.

High School Graduations

On the previous Saturday, Michael and Anand along with a couple of their friends from Sedalia wanted to go witnessing. Friday night had gotten rained out, so Anand wanted to go to MSU and witness there. Thankfully they went because they got there right in between two high school graduation ceremonies. All four guys were very excited about so many people being on campus. They handed out every tract they brought with them and one of the guys from Sedalia had about 40 Gospel booklets too and they handed all 40 of those out after the tracts were gone. Praise God they were faithful and made it over to the campus, even though they were worried that there wouldn’t be very many students there since the school year was over.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others)

What If They Were On Fire?

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Joshua Witnessing To The People From Mongolia After Anand Said What If They Were On Fire? (Anand Is Standing Next to Joshua)

Joshua, Lydia And Michael Witnessing To Chris

What If They Were On Fire?
Ministry Update February 26, 2023

Friday night was one of those great nights of witnessing. It was Spirit filled and there just isn’t anyway to write this up nearly as good as the night really went. But Joshua, Lydia, Michael, Anand and I had a wonderful time witnessing. We prayed before we started that God would bless us with at least one good conversation and really prayed that He would give us many on that cold night. (The week before we didn’t have any conversations). Thank the Lord, He answered our prayer with many conversations and the line of the night was “What if they were on fire?”

 

Joshua and Lydia crossed the street after we prayed and I was going to bring a message. Before I even got started, Michael got there the same time a homeless guy Chris stopped to talk to them. Since I was going to open-air preach in their direction, I waited until they were done witnessing. Chris wanted to know what truth is and Joshua pointed him to Jesus – who is truth. It was great to watch them from across the street because all three of them – Joshua, Lydia and Michael all got to share truth with Chris. I think Lydia also gave Chris a blessing bag from their church.

Joshua, Michael And Lydia Talking To Tyler

Conversation With Another Homeless Person

I brought a message after Chris left and shortly right after that Tyler stopped to talk to my three friends. Tyler said that the Lord is working on him and again, all three of them shared the Gospel with Tyler. He listened respectfully and Tyler and Chris both took Gospel tracts. I had one drive by mocker while this was going on. He yelled something about not shoving my religion down other people’s throats. But the mocker wasn’t seeing the beautiful display of witnessing that I got to see across the street from me.

Anand Talking To A Gentleman

By the time I finished open-air preaching, Anand showed up and he quickly got into a conversation with a gentleman across the street from where Joshua, Lydia and Michael were witnessing at. The gentleman said that he believed in a higher power so Anand told him that you have to believe in more than a higher power. You have to believe in Jesus. Anand talked to him about the need for repentance and belief in Jesus. Then Anand joined the rest of us and told us about his encounter with the gentleman. While he was relaying his conversation with the gentleman to us, Joshua handed tracts to several people. They politely took the tracts, but didn’t seem to want to visit. They went straight toward the scooters you can rent that were directly behind us.

Anand Asks The Question “What If They Were On Fire?”

Joshua was telling us that they didn’t seem like they wanted to talk and frankly I agreed with him. But praise God, Anand said the line of the night and we are convinced it came from God. He said, “What if they were on fire?” Joshua immediately walked around the rest of us and went right up to the people before they got on the scooters. It turns out that they are from Mongolia. One guy really listened to Joshua and not only did he listen, but he seemed genuinely convicted over his sins.

As soon as they left, a couple of homeless people stopped by. Their names are Jackie and Zachariah. We tried to find something for Jackie to eat, but we didn’t have anything.  Michael gave Zachariah some money so they could get something to eat. Michael had a good conversation with Zachariah and I think Joshua may have talked to him too. Then two more of their friends showed up, Nancy and Ryan.

Used To Go To The Same Church

By the time it was done, Joshua had a really good conversation with Nancy and I also shared some truth with her. Nancy was getting a little side tracked because she felt like she knew me. I felt the same way. But Joshua did a great job when she’d look at me and say I know you. Joshua just told her that I’ve been coming out here for years and he directed her right back to the Gospel. I loved it. It was great. But after we finished witnessing to Nancy, her and I figured out that we used to go to the same church. I wonder what happened in her life that she ended up out on the streets?

Michael ended up having a good conversation with Ryan and after they left, Michael said Ryan was much more receptive this time around. Evidently Michael and Joshua had talked to him in the past. Lydia also had sleeping bag in her car, so she ran and got it and gave it to Nancy. Joshua prayed for all four of them before they left and he prayed a great prayer for God to save all of them and that God would help them with any addiction problems they are facing.

Joshua and Michael Talking To Nancy and Zachariah

Nancy Jackie and Ryan They Were With Zachariah – Pic is Before Michael Had A Good Convo With Ryan

Says That He’s Saved But Can’t Say How

After the four homeless people left us, the five us were just standing around talking about what an amazing night of conversations it had been. Just one right after another. After a few minutes, I turned around and there were two young men standing right behind me. I handed both of them tracts and asked them, “Who is Jesus?” The one young man named Trent said that Jesus is his Lord and Savior. I said that’s great and asked him how he came to faith. He replied about a year ago. Again, I asked him how God reached him and sadly, the young man couldn’t really answer. He just said that he started going to church. I told him that I wasn’t making fun of him, but you don’t just go to bed one night and wake up the next day a Christian.

So I shared the Gospel with him and he seemed to nod his head, but I’m not sure that he really gets it. I was also trying to see if he reads his Bible every day and he said that he doesn’t. Then he admitted that he doesn’t have a Bible. I told him that I normally hand out New Testaments but that I had a full Bible in my car if he had time for me to run and get it.  He said that he did. So I encouraged him to talk to my friends while I ran to get the Bible. When I got back, Joshua was sharing truth with him and I handed him the Bible and witnessed some more to him too.

While this was going on, Anand was witnessing to Trent’s friend named Garrett. When we finished witnessing, they both shook our hands and Trent said something to the effect that he thinks God put him on that corner to talk to us. Trent also asked me why we all come out on the streets and witness. (This fit right along with my message tonight Why Share The Gospel?). I told Trent that we once walked in darkness but that we’ve seen the Light. Jesus is the Light. We love God because He first loved us and we are so grateful that God saved sinners like us that we want to share the Good News with others. It really was one of those special nights of witnessing and we thank and praise God for it. We hope and pray that God will save lost souls. The best line of the night still was “What if they were on fire?” This should be the motto for our evangelism group.

Jesus Isn’t Real

It rained the whole time that I witnessed at MSU on Wednesday. One girl yelled “Hail Satan” as she walked by. Later on, I was talking about how Jesus is the only Savior and student turned around and said “God isn’t real.” I told him that it’s interesting that atheists are anti-God. So they affirm that there is a God by their hatred toward God. There is no tooth fairy, but I’m not anti-tooth fairy, there just isn’t one. Even though I didn’t have any takers on tracts in the rain, that’s what I like about open-air preaching. The students may not want to hear the Gospel, but they can’t unhear the truth. Since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, they need to hear it. May God convict and convert lost souls.

Girl Yells Hail Satan

Student Yells Jesus Isn’t Real

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others)

One Legged Woman Knocks Over Witnessing Sign

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One Legged Woman Knocks Over Witnessing Sign

One Legged Woman Knocks Over Witnessing Sign

Ministry Update August 27, 2022

Friday night was one of those stranger than fiction nights and it’s hard to know where to even start. There were eleven of us witnessing downtown Friday night and there were several strange events, but one that I’ve never seen before was a one-legged woman walked up and knocked Trevor’s witnessing sign over with one of her crutches. The sign was leaning against a pole. The sign said Repent From Your Sin Turn To Jesus Christ. As the woman crossed the street, I yelled, “What did you do that for?” She said something along with claiming that she’s a Christian. I told her there’s no way that she’s a Christian. No true follower of Jesus would knock over a sign that says turn to Jesus Christ. She just kept mouthing off as she walked away. [Read more…]

Jesus Forgave Everybody?

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Jesus Forgave Everybody?

Ministry Update October 26, 2019

“Isn’t it supposed to be about love?” asked the student while I was open-air preaching at MSU on Wednesday. He continued, “So why are you preaching hate and disobedience and everything? Why are you liking that stance of hate over love because Jesus forgave everybody?” So I replied, “Is everybody forgiven?” Then he nodded toward the Bible in my hand and said, “Isn’t that what it says?” [Read more…]

I Will Own It Like A Boss!

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I Will Own It Like A Boss!

I Will Own It Like A Boss!
Ministry Update September 29, 2019

The week before, I witnessed at MU with some friends in Columbia, MO and we had some really obnoxious mockers. So frankly, I was looking forward to witnessing at my usual spot at MSU this week. Yes, I typically have mockers, but not as bad as at MU. Well the students and a worker were wound up this week. I was trying to get the students to see that we have all sinned against God and that Jesus is the only Savior, so I quoted the 10 Commandments. Right after that, I said, “What will you do with your sins on Judgment Day?” A student was already mocking as he walked by, acting like he was kicking dirt at me and other gestures and loudly said, “I will own it like a boss!” [Read more…]

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas!

Ministry Update December 16, 2018

I looked at the bell tower at MSU on Wednesday and it reminded me of the Christmas Song: I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day. Well, it wasn’t Christmas day and the bells didn’t toll like they normally do on Wednesdays. It was finals week so instead of bringing a message, I handed out Gospel tracts and said Merry Christmas! several hundred times. Merry Christmas! After saying this, sometimes students would take a tract, even after they initially were shaking their head no and getting ready to refuse one. But Merry Christmas! seemed to disarm some of the students. Others still said no to the tracts, but I still said Merry Christmas to them anyway.  [Read more…]

Pleasant Conversation

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Pleasant Conversation

Ministry Update October 21, 2018

Many times we encounter mockers while street witnessing. For example, on Wednesday at MSU while I was bringing a message, Quinn the skateboarding atheist skated by and shook his fist at me. I just pleaded with the students to not continue shaking their fists at God. That they need to repent and trust Jesus. We also encounter mockers downtown (like Conner and I had Friday night). But after open-air preaching at MSU, I walked over to a student who listened to the end of the message. I handed him a tract and he gladly received it. Then we ended up having a pleasant conversation for the next 15 to 20 minutes.  [Read more…]

Blessed More Ways Than One

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Blessed More Ways Than One

Ministry Update June 10, 2018

Friday night it was a real blessing to have Rich join Kelly, Conner and I witnessing downtown. Rich and his family have been living in China for nearly three years and they just got into Springfield on Wednesday and I’m sure he was still jet lagged. Now that I think of it, Rich witnessed with Kelly and I at MSU just a few days before he left for China in August 2015. So he came back and joined us the same he joined us before he left. But Friday night we were blessed more ways than one.  [Read more…]