More Evangelism Stories

So, it has been awhile since my last blog post (like 3 weeks....) but I have had a bunch of cool stories from Evangelism that I would love to share:

Okay, so a couple weeks ago we went to the mall for evangelism, as we do every Thursday. The night had been going decently, I had some conversations with people, but none that really lasted. I went and sat down at a table beside this guy in the food court, and just started talking about God and Jesus. He was eating, so he didn't talk THAT much, but it was cool because he just kind of listened. I shared what God has done in my life, where God has brought me peace, joy and purpose, and what that means to me. I talked about God being a perfect lover, and you know the really cool thing? He RECOGNIZED that God was the only perfect lover. I think he was the kind of guy that had gone to church before, but it wasn't really something important to him. Eventually, his wife came down and sat down, and she asked me to leave, so I did... but it was a really cool experience!


Last Thursday, we were at the mall again. Before Evangelism this time, we had been talking about different styles, and one of the "approaches" was to pray about a person you see, get a word for them from God, and then go and share it with them. I think this idea really just encourages a more Spirit-led approach to sharing Jesus' love. So, I have two different stories. The first, I walked by a coffee shop, and I saw this couple, probably about 50s, sitting and doing a crossword, and immediately they stood out. I kind of ignored that at first, but then the people I was with decided to sit down on a bench near them. I started to pray that God would give me a word to share with this couple. I felt like I got something, and went and sat down beside them. I started talking to them, and they told me they were just about to leave, so I was like, "well I better get on this." So, I was like, "okay so this might be weird, I'm a Christian, and I was sitting over there praying for you guys." And then they were like, "We are too." So now I am thinking, "cool, this either means they really love God or they are where a lot of the western world stands, they are "christian" but they don't live it out"... and I don't mean to judge, but let's be honest. So I told them I felt like God wanted me to share that he was proud of their hard work in their life, and that he didn't want them to stress out about anything. The lady, whose name was Linda, told me that it was very applicable in the time that they were at right now. AWESOME! So, we talked a bit about what I was doing, and I learned that they actually know the base leader at the base I am at. TALK ABOUT CRAZY. So that was a pretty encouraging conversation, and as they (Paul and Linda) told me just as they were leaving, it really was a divine appointment, it isn't very common to have encounters like that.

Near the end of that same night, I saw this one teenager, maybe about my name, just standing outside of a store. I wasn't sure if he was alone or not, it turns out he was waiting for his girlfriend to come out, but I felt like God wanted me to share just how much he loved him. He received it fairly well, he said he didn't really follow Christianity, but he did believe in a God. I asked him if he was interested in that, he wasn't really, but I think it is still cool that I got a chance to share what God's heart is for EVERYBODY.


Just last night, we were at Night Care, the ministry where we give sausages to drunk people, and then some not drunk people too. I had a couple pretty cool conversations. One, me and Nathan (a friend of mine here) sat down beside and Dad (Matthew) and his daughter, who was probably about 7. We talked a little bit about what they were up to, learned that the Dad got a chance to hang out with his daughter for the first time in awhile. Him and his wife had been divorced, and so he was really excited about the time they spent. That is pretty awesome I thought. So we talked about religion, and he said he believed in all the faiths, took parts from all of them. I started praying about what I could say... and I didn't really know what I could say. I shared that I was a Christian, and he respected that. I wish I had known what to reply to stress the importance of Jesus being the only way, but I didn't know what to say. Before they left though, I got a chance to pray for him, which was pretty sweet.


Last night, I had a couple other conversations with people, but the most memorable was probably with a guy named Dave. He was an older man, but he was a pretty strong Christian, from what I understood. He had done missions around the world, and some awesome stuff. He had a friend, April, who had recently attempted to commit suicide. He asked us to pray for her, her 4 children, and it was really inspiring to see his openness and his willingness to share the things that were going on in HIS life with us... complete strangers. As we prayed, I felt like God wanted me to let Dave know HOW proud he was of him for his caring for his friend, and also just how much God loved Dave. Not just an everyday love, but his unconditional, CRAZY love.


So... at the end of all this, I want to share a couple things I have learned about Evangelism. We just finished Evangelism week last week, and there are a couple things that I think you really need to keep in mind. Evangelism isn't a formula, there are SO many ways you can approach it. Keep a couple things in mind though. Evangelism should make people feel valued, not DEvalued. Evangelism is about making friends. And we don't always have to "hear God on it." God is NEVER going to be upset if you share with somebody his love. Don't over-spiritualize it, Jesus didn't.