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What Time Is Purple?
Ministry Update April 14, 2019
Six of us participated in the What Time Is Purple? Outreach at Missouri State University on Wednesday and we praise God that 1,174 students took the booklets. The weather was great and I’m very thankful that Carla, Connie, Sebastian, Vinton and Jerry joined me for the outreach. We pray that God will use the booklets to reach unbelievers and also to encourage believing students in refuting evolution.
After I dropped off booklets to Vinton for him and Jerry to handout on the other side of campus, I went in front of the student union to meet everyone else that was helping with the outreach. I actually ended up there a little earlier than expected, so I started handing out booklets. The very first student I handed one to was sitting down and he immediately started reading it. He actually read quite a bit of it before he had to move on. Connie got there next and she grabbed a box and headed to a very busy spot and she was like a machine. Not only did she hand out all that I gave her, she actually called me at one point and asked for more booklets which I gladly brought to her.
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Witnessing Spot Double Booked
Carla showed up next and jumped right in. She’s always great at engaging students in conversations. When it was time for her to leave, she took 30 booklets and handed them all out before she got to her vehicle. She greatly appreciated knowing that the whole campus is a free speech zone when it comes to distributing items. Carla also pointed out the even most of the people who said no were polite and I found the same to be true.
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When Sebastian got there, we walked to our spot and to our surprise, there were games set up there and they were giving out food to the students. Even though the whole campus is a free speech zone, you still have to get permits for the three areas that you can preach at. Even though we weren’t preaching, I still wanted the permits to protect our spots. But evidently the event planning dept. at MSU double booked our spot.
It wasn’t a problem for Sebastian and I, we just started handing out booklets anyway. I actually handed them out at the usual spot where I normally open-air preach on Wednesdays. Sebastian walked around where the students were playing games and eating. He loved talking to students and they seemed to enjoy interacting with him. But the woman in charge of that event came charging up to me and told me that Sebastian and I had to move a half a block away. I told her that I had a permit to be at our spot and that we weren’t moving. She replied that she also had it reserved and repeated that we had to leave.
I pulled out my permit and told her that since we had permission to be there, we weren’t going anywhere. She was absolutely livid. So finally I told her that we weren’t going to be there much longer (which was true by the time she confronted me) and I suggested that they just keep doing their thing and we’d keep handing out booklets. I pointed out that we weren’t bothering them and they weren’t bothering us. But she told me she was going to find out who messed up and let them have it. With her demeanor with me, I have no doubt that she really chewed someone out.
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Never Met A Stranger
Sebastian had a great time and he’s one of those people who’s never met a stranger. He’s very comfortable with talking to people and I saw him striking up conversations all around. He talked with unbelievers and fellow believers alike. Vinton, Jerry and I all felt like the majority of students refused the booklets. Yes, most were very polite, but it was almost like it didn’t matter what we were handing out, they already had made up their mind that they weren’t going to take it. One guy told me no as he was walking toward me. I learned a long time ago to keep my arm stretched out because every now and then a student will change their mind. As he got right beside me, he said real loud, “I told you No!”
Another guy that I tried to hand one too held his hand up and shouted No, like somehow even getting close to the booklet was going to stress him out. The silent mocker that I encounter most weeks, walked right by me. I tried to hand him one and he refused. I told him he really should read it and told him that it won’t hurt him. Then to my surprise, the guy told me that he’s been a Christian for years. I probably could have handled it better, but I just immediately replied, “No you’re not. You can’t be a Christian and mock God’s word all the time like you do.”
Again, I probably could have handled it better, but it was an honest reaction. A true follower of Jesus would not heckle the Gospel being proclaimed, week after week. I love hearing Jesus Christ being lifted up in the open. How could any true follower of Christ mock the preaching of God’s word? I sincerely believe this man is lost. He may have said a sinner’s prayer years ago and he may think he’s saved (I was a false convert for 33 years), but a true Christian just couldn’t continually mock the Gospel. You just couldn’t do that.
Encouraging Christians
But a lot of students gladly took the booklets. A few even looked at them as we were handing them out, read the title and then took one. How can anyone resist a title like: What Time Is Purple? It was also fun telling a fellow believer what the booklet’s about. Brittany encourages me frequently when I’m witnessing on campus, so I told her that she’s going to love the booklet. Another young lady took one and her fried that was with her also took one. The young lady was wearing a cross necklace and she said, “Can I ask what this is about?” So I told her how it does a great job of refuting evolution and clearly shares the Gospel. She grinned from ear to ear and thanked me. I truly hope it is a real encouragement to followers of Jesus.
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As I mentioned earlier, Vinton and Jerry said their spot was pretty during this outreach. The majority of students refused to take a booklet or to even hear what it’s about. Jerry said that one student parked her bicycle near him and refused one because she was in a hurry and had to get to an interview. Five minutes later she came back and told him that she had gone to the wrong building. Jerry took advantage of the opportunity and said, “Maybe you actually went to the right building! Maybe you weren’t actually here for an interview, you were here to get this booklet.” This time she accepted the booklet when offered. May God bless the booklets, cause students to read them, convict and convert lost souls and may He encourage the true believers.
Do You Have A Personal Relationship With Jesus?
Friday night Kelly and I had a great time witnessing and visiting together. We started out just handing out tracts and New Testaments and had a wonderful time just talking amongst ourselves. After probably 30 minutes or so, I finally asked Kelly to pray before we started open-air preaching. He prayed a wonderful prayer and specifically asked God to bless us with at least one good conversation. God answered his prayer and just like last week, it turned out to be the last conversation of the night. That was when Kelly asked a young man, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?”
But earlier I started off with a message and one couple appeared to be listening from across the street. In fact the woman recorded part of the message. Had a mocker or two and just as I was finishing up, a guy at the stop sign near us yelled at Kelly suggesting something disgusting. The guy was a vile mocker, but Kelly just told him no thanks. Then Kelly preached after me and he also had a couple of mockers, including a guy that was recording him as he mouthed off while passing by. One passenger of another vehicle did say Amen to Kelly as he was bringing his message and a couple of people stopped to listen to him.
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Serve Jesus Serve Others
Several people accepted tracts from Kelly, but I had more no’s to the New Testaments than those that took them. Typical responses were: I’m good, we’re not interested, no thanks. But nearly 20 people ended up with New Testaments, including one little girl. I love it when parents allow their kids to receive a New Testament. One guy took one from me and I asked him if he believed in Heaven and Hell and he said yes. So then I asked him how do you get to Heaven and replied by serving Jesus and serving others. I pointed out that Jesus didn’t say that. Jesus told us that we have to repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). Then the guy told me that he couldn’t stick around and talk, so I handed him a tract to go with his New Testament.
After Kelly finished his message, we crossed the street and handed out tracts and New Testaments there. Three people walked by us and the first two refused tracts, but the third one not only took a tract, but stopped to talk to us. His name is Jordan and Kelly asked him if he has a personal relationship with Jesus. Jordan replied that he’s gone to church since he was three years old and said we have to pray, read the Bible and do good. Kelly politely told him that those are all good things, but they didn’t answer his question about having a personal relationship with Jesus.
They talked for quite a while and Kelly shared with Jordan about how salvation is personally knowing the Lord Jesus and not just knowing about Him. They had a great conversation and then Kelly asked me to hand Jordan a New Testament which I gladly did. That’s about the time Jordan told us that his girlfriend Autumn and their friend were the two that said no to the tract and kept walking on past us. We were quite surprised that he stayed and talked as long as he did. Kelly told him where both of us go to church and Jordan said that he would visit both Macedonia Baptist Church and Crossway Baptist Church. We both gave him information for our churches. We also encouraged Jordan to read the tract and the New Testament.
(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the Gospel. We need to redeem the time because the days are evil – Ephesians 5:16)