Phew another year gone past! A friend of mine at work said the older you get the faster time flies. Sometimes it certainly feels that way.
You know when I started working in partnership with God I use to think like I was kinda doing Him some sort of favour. You know a lot of you out there kinda think this way. It took me a while to realise that God does not need me but He wants me. He wants me to be part of His great work of salvation by His grace alone and man (lets mebbe use person to be politically correct…..naw) that is pretty mind blowing!
Why He wants me is ‘cause He wants to bless me by using me to bless others and what an incredible blessing that is.
I remember one night before we started out on the street. We prayed for the evening while sitting in the car. I felt so tired, flat and frustrated. I openly asked God for forgiveness and told Him exactly how I felt but that I would try my best with His help to be true to His will. Well that night was such a wonderful blessing. When we arrived at the Goodwood police station, our last stop for the evening, we always invite the policemen and policewomen to join us in prayer. Normally we get about three or four to join us. But that night just about everyone on the shift joined us. We had about sixteen or seventeen policemen and policewomen joining us in prayer. God the father just touched my heart in such a special way that night.
There are so many memories of this past year. One of our group one night said that we could actually be bringing God’s last offer of salvation to someone. That was a pretty sobering thought.
You know God is in the detail He controls the universe and all that is in it, right down to the particles that are smaller than an atom. I like to borrow something from the mathematicians here and their chaos theory. Within their chaos theory there is something called the butterfly effect. The meaning of this is that just one flap of a butterflies wings can change the whole course of world history. Well we pray when we go out on Friday nights that just a couple of pieces of paper will open peoples’ hearts to the awesome, incredible and saving grace of God, which is found in Jesus Christ. God the Father is just waiting and wanting to adopt more children into His family.
I wrote this little piece/thing/thought below which kinda sums up a whole whack of feelings that well up within me when I work in partnership with God.
On The Road
Black tar under bright lights
Cars rushing by
People brushing past
Danger and desperation
Around ever corner
Oh when I look into your eyes
I see the brokenness of your heart
Your mouth is smiling
And you are saying ‘happy’ words
But the smile doesn’t make it to your eyes
Oh please, please just open up your heart
And let Jesus in
He will take your broken heart and make it whole
He will help you carry your heavy load
He will give you all the love you can hold
You will live with Him in eternity
All your dreams will come true
Far beyond what you can imagine
Oh please, please as I silently pray for you
Just open up your heart
And let Jesus in
As I walk away again
I feel your pain
I feel your loss
You have kept your heart closed
And not let Jesus in
Fear and pride have won again
And my heart just breaks for you
I can only walk by faith
Try my best to do my Fathers will
My desire is to see you in heaven one day
Worshipping God with me
So I pray please, please Jesus
Help me, use me to help open up their hearts
To You
LoCTY !!!!!!(=Love of Christ To You)
Showing posts with label Street Evangelism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street Evangelism. Show all posts
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Friday, November 4, 2005
Street Evangelism (4)
So another coupla months have gone by and we are still walking up and down Voortrekker Road whenever we can dishing out tracts about “Your Most Important Relationship.”
The devil is still whispering into my ear all the lies and doubts that he has at his disposal. “So do you really think these stupid pieces of paper are going to make any difference in people’s lives, hey who do you think you are to go and interfere without invitation in other people’s lives, it’s really cold tonight much more comfortable in front of the heater, something really good on TV tonight, do you know how dangerous Voortrekker road is at night?…..” and on and on. Just one thing if you are gonna do anything for God’s kingdom be prepared for the lies, the doubts, be prepared to do battle but remember this, that the devil has already been defeated (by Christ on the cross) and he only has as much power as you give him, also don’t go and be no Lone Ranger and do stuff on your own. You are part of the Body of Christ, always pray, always ask for help and if the only help that someone can give you is to pray for your protection then thankfully and gracefully accept it.
Lately God has blessed me with some new people who are as crazy for Christ as I am. So we have a bunch of ‘fruity’ Christians who go out together, normally on Friday evenings and really encourage each other and have wonderful fellowship at the same time.
When you ‘hit’ the street you really do not have any idea what to expect. We always pray for ‘divine appointments’ but I often feel that everyone we meet is a ‘divine appointment’. Just being there out on the street makes a huge statement for the Body of Christ.
We have recently added to our repertoire by going to visit the Goodwood police station after we have walked up to Vasco Boulevard. I remember the first time going in there (the cop shop) and the policeman behind the charge office counter asking me if he could help me. I answered that we would like to help them by praying for them and their families. By the look on his face you could see that this was not something that was covered in his training manual. Anyways God always comes through and the duty commander gave us his blessing and a policewoman joined us in prayer and we gave out a few Gospels of John and some tracts. I just want you to imagine if you can, standing in a passage at the police station on a Friday night praying out loud (and in tongues)to our Father in the name of Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit to protect and convict all those around you. Awesome stuff!!!!!
During another visit to the cop shop we met up with a woman whose 22 year old son had just been arrested. She was bringing him some McDonalds to eat as he was locked up in a cell. It reminded me so much of Allie and myself and what we went through with Adam at one stage. We invited her to join our prayer circle and afterwards we ministered to her and also prayed for her son. She just could not stop crying. My heart just ached for her. She seemed just so utterly forlorn and alone. Always remember though that Jesus is with you always and He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
So ja all I can say to you is that your faith is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise a muscle it does not get stronger. If you don’t test (do stuff for God) your faith then it isn’t gonna grow much stronger. So just do whatever God is calling you to do, use whatever God has given you for His glory and serve Him. If you are reading this and you reckon you got nothing to give, that’s a lie. Even if all you got is to clean toilets or wash dishes you can do it for the glory of God’s kingdom.
I just would like to thank all those of you walked with me this past year and also those who prayed for this ministry in anyway even if it was just for a second. I really appreciate your loving contributions.
The devil is still whispering into my ear all the lies and doubts that he has at his disposal. “So do you really think these stupid pieces of paper are going to make any difference in people’s lives, hey who do you think you are to go and interfere without invitation in other people’s lives, it’s really cold tonight much more comfortable in front of the heater, something really good on TV tonight, do you know how dangerous Voortrekker road is at night?…..” and on and on. Just one thing if you are gonna do anything for God’s kingdom be prepared for the lies, the doubts, be prepared to do battle but remember this, that the devil has already been defeated (by Christ on the cross) and he only has as much power as you give him, also don’t go and be no Lone Ranger and do stuff on your own. You are part of the Body of Christ, always pray, always ask for help and if the only help that someone can give you is to pray for your protection then thankfully and gracefully accept it.
Lately God has blessed me with some new people who are as crazy for Christ as I am. So we have a bunch of ‘fruity’ Christians who go out together, normally on Friday evenings and really encourage each other and have wonderful fellowship at the same time.
When you ‘hit’ the street you really do not have any idea what to expect. We always pray for ‘divine appointments’ but I often feel that everyone we meet is a ‘divine appointment’. Just being there out on the street makes a huge statement for the Body of Christ.
We have recently added to our repertoire by going to visit the Goodwood police station after we have walked up to Vasco Boulevard. I remember the first time going in there (the cop shop) and the policeman behind the charge office counter asking me if he could help me. I answered that we would like to help them by praying for them and their families. By the look on his face you could see that this was not something that was covered in his training manual. Anyways God always comes through and the duty commander gave us his blessing and a policewoman joined us in prayer and we gave out a few Gospels of John and some tracts. I just want you to imagine if you can, standing in a passage at the police station on a Friday night praying out loud (and in tongues)to our Father in the name of Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit to protect and convict all those around you. Awesome stuff!!!!!
During another visit to the cop shop we met up with a woman whose 22 year old son had just been arrested. She was bringing him some McDonalds to eat as he was locked up in a cell. It reminded me so much of Allie and myself and what we went through with Adam at one stage. We invited her to join our prayer circle and afterwards we ministered to her and also prayed for her son. She just could not stop crying. My heart just ached for her. She seemed just so utterly forlorn and alone. Always remember though that Jesus is with you always and He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
So ja all I can say to you is that your faith is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise a muscle it does not get stronger. If you don’t test (do stuff for God) your faith then it isn’t gonna grow much stronger. So just do whatever God is calling you to do, use whatever God has given you for His glory and serve Him. If you are reading this and you reckon you got nothing to give, that’s a lie. Even if all you got is to clean toilets or wash dishes you can do it for the glory of God’s kingdom.
I just would like to thank all those of you walked with me this past year and also those who prayed for this ministry in anyway even if it was just for a second. I really appreciate your loving contributions.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Street Evangelism (3)
Ya so here I am with a million excuses as to why I have not written a report on the street ministry since last year. Actually I’ll spare you all and just tell it like it is. Just excuse the going back to the future bit.
On the 18th December last year just the week before Christmas we handed out Christmas cards and chocolate to the people we met. Helga and Sean were with me. We had quite a ball and struck up some interesting conversations with all types of people. Just about everyone we handed out to asked us, “How much do these cost?” Our reply was on these lines “ Absolutely free, gratis, no follow up calls, no telemarketing….” and so on. This gave us the gap to talk about God’s wonderful gift of salvation to mankind and His incredible love for us. We did not work this out before hand it just kinda happened.
I remember we handed out to the petrol pump attendant at the one garage and there was quite a well heeled dude filling up his BMW and I went up to him and gave him a chocolate and a card and I told him that this is for him as well. Christ died for everyone in the world. He just kinda smiled at me and said thank you.
Shortly after Christmas I had a fight with my Kreepy Krawly in our swimming pool and needless to say the Kreepy whipped my butt or actually broke my toe and bruised the rest of my foot. So it was very painful to walk for about two months even if it was just going to the toilet. So guess what? No street evangelism for a while.
Then we eventually got back out on the street in March again with Clint and Sean. By that time I could manage a very speedy hobble with not much pain. It was a blustery windswept night, the kinda lekker south easter that blows holes in your body. We met a young man early on in the evening who just rushed past us in a caste iron hurry. Saying he has no time even for just taking a tract. As he walked past me I was already praying for him without realising it. Suddenly he turned around and started talking to the three of us. Asking us tons of questions for about 10 to 15 minutes. I then invited him to give his life to Jesus. I would like to say that we led him to Christ there and then but sadly he declined the offer. We had quite a few encounters that night but that one has stuck in my memory.
Sometimes people throw the tracts away right there and then but we the wind often blows them back to us and we just pick them up and hand them to someone else.
After that evening in March we ran out of tracts and have just been waiting to get all the logistics sorted out to order some more.
During this time (Jan –Mar) one of the women who we met on the street has come to do Alpha and has had a wonderful renewal of her faith by His Holy Spirit. She gave her testimony during the Alpha celebration evening in February and is currently attending the cell group which I facilitate and coming to church with Allie and myself. God is good. All the time and all the time…..God is good. Hope you said it with me.
So as you can see when you serve Jesus everything is just plain sailing without any problems at all. So if you have any problems then our Lord doesn’t want you to do that ministry. Yeah…….right……..pull the other one. No not that toe it’s still healing, the other one. Jesus said “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life you will lose it ; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” He also said that in this world we will have trouble but that he has conquered the world. Go find the scriptures yourself.
So if you do have opposition and difficulties in your ministry pray and ask Jesus and listen to the gentle whisper of His Holy Spirit which will guide you through your trails and give you the strength to persevere.
LoCTY (= Love of Christ to You)
On the 18th December last year just the week before Christmas we handed out Christmas cards and chocolate to the people we met. Helga and Sean were with me. We had quite a ball and struck up some interesting conversations with all types of people. Just about everyone we handed out to asked us, “How much do these cost?” Our reply was on these lines “ Absolutely free, gratis, no follow up calls, no telemarketing….” and so on. This gave us the gap to talk about God’s wonderful gift of salvation to mankind and His incredible love for us. We did not work this out before hand it just kinda happened.
I remember we handed out to the petrol pump attendant at the one garage and there was quite a well heeled dude filling up his BMW and I went up to him and gave him a chocolate and a card and I told him that this is for him as well. Christ died for everyone in the world. He just kinda smiled at me and said thank you.
Shortly after Christmas I had a fight with my Kreepy Krawly in our swimming pool and needless to say the Kreepy whipped my butt or actually broke my toe and bruised the rest of my foot. So it was very painful to walk for about two months even if it was just going to the toilet. So guess what? No street evangelism for a while.
Then we eventually got back out on the street in March again with Clint and Sean. By that time I could manage a very speedy hobble with not much pain. It was a blustery windswept night, the kinda lekker south easter that blows holes in your body. We met a young man early on in the evening who just rushed past us in a caste iron hurry. Saying he has no time even for just taking a tract. As he walked past me I was already praying for him without realising it. Suddenly he turned around and started talking to the three of us. Asking us tons of questions for about 10 to 15 minutes. I then invited him to give his life to Jesus. I would like to say that we led him to Christ there and then but sadly he declined the offer. We had quite a few encounters that night but that one has stuck in my memory.
Sometimes people throw the tracts away right there and then but we the wind often blows them back to us and we just pick them up and hand them to someone else.
After that evening in March we ran out of tracts and have just been waiting to get all the logistics sorted out to order some more.
During this time (Jan –Mar) one of the women who we met on the street has come to do Alpha and has had a wonderful renewal of her faith by His Holy Spirit. She gave her testimony during the Alpha celebration evening in February and is currently attending the cell group which I facilitate and coming to church with Allie and myself. God is good. All the time and all the time…..God is good. Hope you said it with me.
So as you can see when you serve Jesus everything is just plain sailing without any problems at all. So if you have any problems then our Lord doesn’t want you to do that ministry. Yeah…….right……..pull the other one. No not that toe it’s still healing, the other one. Jesus said “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life you will lose it ; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” He also said that in this world we will have trouble but that he has conquered the world. Go find the scriptures yourself.
So if you do have opposition and difficulties in your ministry pray and ask Jesus and listen to the gentle whisper of His Holy Spirit which will guide you through your trails and give you the strength to persevere.
LoCTY (= Love of Christ to You)
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Street Evangelism (2)
This year we started doing street evangelism. John Lawton, Clint Gibson and myself (Raymond White). That is the team!
The broad (and very flexible) plan was to go out on the street every other weekend on a Saturday or Friday evening alternating between ministry work at the soup kitchen and walking up Voortrekker Road (using the soup kitchen location as a starting point) up to Vasco station on one side of Voortrekker Road and then back down to the soup kitchen location on the opposite side of Voortrekker Road, just basically talking to people about the Gospel and handing out tracts. Unfortunately the team never got big enough to do both street work and effective ministry at the soup kitchen so we concentrated on the ‘sowing of tracts’ up and down Voortrekker Road. Doing this kind of thing leaves one with a whole lot of snapshots of life.
The first time we did this was on the 24 January 2004. We opened in prayer and asked God for His protection and for His Spirit to go before us, we also asked for divinely appointed encounters. We started off at about 7.30pm. We spoke to roughly 100 people and handed out about 70 tracts (The Way to God, in English). We had some incredible meetings and chats with some people, many of the people had had a few drinks and were rushing off to go to another ‘jol’. There were very few people who outright rejected our ‘free’ offer (about three or four) and we were amazed and stunned at how some people just opened up to us. Quite a few of them asked us if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and when we replied that we were not and explained who we were and where we were from they immediately became more relaxed with us.
This became roughly the pattern for subsequent ‘outings’ on the street on the following weekends. Clint joined us during the year and then John was not able to continue with us.
Here are some snapshots for you.
Taking home a young mother who was hitchhiking to Summer Greens, we had previously, briefly met her on the street. Giving her supper (burgers) and then helping her to reconcile with her own mother and giving her a lift back home again. We finished at 11pm that night.
Being treated to a song and dance routine by some ladies who were celebrating a birthday.
Praying for an elderly man who had lost everything and had also been rejected by his family.
Many a night the first person that we spoke to told us that what we were doing was so important. Like the well-dressed dude who was on his way to Grandwest who told us his favourite Bible story in a very colourful and entertaining way.
Coming across a wedding reception and congratulating and blessing the bride and the family.
Pushing a Muslims car out of the traffic after it had broken down, yea Jesus died for you too!
The many Christians that we met who were encouraged by what we were doing and in turn encouraged us. Just imagine if you can, having a discussion on eschatology on a street corner in a howling south-easter.
The prostitute who answered me when I offered her a tract that it was too dark too read, I said she could read it later, she then countered that she did not have anywhere to keep it. Taking one look at her I knew then to give up.
Chatting to the ladies at the Laundromat and leaving a couple of tracts there after they had asked us.
Praying for a lady and she in turn asked if she could pray for us. She then proceeded to knock our socks off with prayer of such passion and power, wow goose bump stuff.
We don’t force ourselves on anybody, we don’t chase after people, no preaching, we give everyone the option of saying no to the tracts and we say it’s for free. When we mention the word free this often gets peoples attention.
This has been a really exhilarating experience for John, Clint and myself, we just step out in faith on a Friday or Saturday night and we know that it is God who is doing the work, Christ the redeemer is calling the lost, His Holy Spirit works through us and touches complete strangers. All we do is try our best to listen and be obedient to His Spirit within us. We are so grateful for this opportunity to do His will. We can only encourage you to join us.
LoCTY!!!!!
The broad (and very flexible) plan was to go out on the street every other weekend on a Saturday or Friday evening alternating between ministry work at the soup kitchen and walking up Voortrekker Road (using the soup kitchen location as a starting point) up to Vasco station on one side of Voortrekker Road and then back down to the soup kitchen location on the opposite side of Voortrekker Road, just basically talking to people about the Gospel and handing out tracts. Unfortunately the team never got big enough to do both street work and effective ministry at the soup kitchen so we concentrated on the ‘sowing of tracts’ up and down Voortrekker Road. Doing this kind of thing leaves one with a whole lot of snapshots of life.
The first time we did this was on the 24 January 2004. We opened in prayer and asked God for His protection and for His Spirit to go before us, we also asked for divinely appointed encounters. We started off at about 7.30pm. We spoke to roughly 100 people and handed out about 70 tracts (The Way to God, in English). We had some incredible meetings and chats with some people, many of the people had had a few drinks and were rushing off to go to another ‘jol’. There were very few people who outright rejected our ‘free’ offer (about three or four) and we were amazed and stunned at how some people just opened up to us. Quite a few of them asked us if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and when we replied that we were not and explained who we were and where we were from they immediately became more relaxed with us.
This became roughly the pattern for subsequent ‘outings’ on the street on the following weekends. Clint joined us during the year and then John was not able to continue with us.
Here are some snapshots for you.
Taking home a young mother who was hitchhiking to Summer Greens, we had previously, briefly met her on the street. Giving her supper (burgers) and then helping her to reconcile with her own mother and giving her a lift back home again. We finished at 11pm that night.
Being treated to a song and dance routine by some ladies who were celebrating a birthday.
Praying for an elderly man who had lost everything and had also been rejected by his family.
Many a night the first person that we spoke to told us that what we were doing was so important. Like the well-dressed dude who was on his way to Grandwest who told us his favourite Bible story in a very colourful and entertaining way.
Coming across a wedding reception and congratulating and blessing the bride and the family.
Pushing a Muslims car out of the traffic after it had broken down, yea Jesus died for you too!
The many Christians that we met who were encouraged by what we were doing and in turn encouraged us. Just imagine if you can, having a discussion on eschatology on a street corner in a howling south-easter.
The prostitute who answered me when I offered her a tract that it was too dark too read, I said she could read it later, she then countered that she did not have anywhere to keep it. Taking one look at her I knew then to give up.
Chatting to the ladies at the Laundromat and leaving a couple of tracts there after they had asked us.
Praying for a lady and she in turn asked if she could pray for us. She then proceeded to knock our socks off with prayer of such passion and power, wow goose bump stuff.
We don’t force ourselves on anybody, we don’t chase after people, no preaching, we give everyone the option of saying no to the tracts and we say it’s for free. When we mention the word free this often gets peoples attention.
This has been a really exhilarating experience for John, Clint and myself, we just step out in faith on a Friday or Saturday night and we know that it is God who is doing the work, Christ the redeemer is calling the lost, His Holy Spirit works through us and touches complete strangers. All we do is try our best to listen and be obedient to His Spirit within us. We are so grateful for this opportunity to do His will. We can only encourage you to join us.
LoCTY!!!!!
Monday, February 23, 2004
Street Evangelism (1)
Introduction: Presently there are two of us doing street evangelism, John Lawton and myself (Raymond White). This is the team!
The broad (and very flexible) plan is to go out on the street every other weekend on a Saturday evening alternating between ministry work at the soup kitchen and walking up Voortrekker Road (using the soup kitchen location as a starting point) up to Vasco station on one side of Voortrekker Road and then back down to the soup kitchen location on the opposite side of Voortrekker Road, just basically talking to people about the Gospel and handing out tracts.
The first time we did this was on the 24 January 2004. We opened in prayer and asked God for His protection and for His Spirit to go before us, we also asked for divinely appointed encounters. We started off at about 7.30pm. We spoke to roughly 100 people and handed out about 70 tracts (The Way to God, in English). We had some incredible meetings and chats with some people, many of the people had had a few drinks and were rushing off to go to another ‘jol’. There were very few people who outright rejected our ‘free’ offer (about three or four) and we were amazed and stunned at how some people just opened up to us. Quite a few of them asked us if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and when we replied that we were not and explained who we were and where we were from they immediately became more relaxed with us.
Well we finished at about 8.30pm and came back to John’s car at the soup kitchen feeling pretty much on ‘top of the mountain’ but God had not finished with us yet. There were some stragglers at the soup kitchen and we chatted, prayed and encouraged these guys for about 20 minutes. Then eventually we got in the car and John was going to drop me at home in Bothasig. On our way there we noticed the same young woman who we had encountered earlier on the street, walking on the side of the road. When we first saw her on Voortrekker Road she had rushed by us in tears not wanting to talk to us. We stopped and she came running to the car, she recognized us and climbed in. She was very distraught and told us that she had had a terrible fight with her mother and she was on her way to her uncle in Summer Greens. We said that we would drop her off there. When we arrived at her uncle’s place he was not at home. We then took the young woman to my home where Allie gave her supper. We then acted as go betweens as she phoned her step-father to ask him to speak to her mother. After a few phone calls and prayer John took her home to Parow at about 10.30pm, where he saw the mother and her daughter cry and hug each other and be reconciled. John informed me over the telephone (round about 11pm) as to what had transpired. God is a god of peace!
The next time we went out was on the 7 February 2004. We then wanted to just bring the Gospel message to the people at the soup kitchen. Easier said than done. We talked to them informally and told them that we would be reading from the bible on the steps of the FNB bank. Well we had about three people pitch up who basically sat on the steps with their backs to us, slurping their soup, as we read alternating between English and Afrikaans from John’s Gospel chapter three. Talk about a captive audience! However God’s word never goes out with no return. One young guy was moved to ask for prayer for his drug problem and we ministered to him.
We went out again on the 21 February 2004. Again the we followed the same pattern as our first outing and this time I said to John that God was just telling us to walk slower and take more time with the people.
This time we had another tract to hand out, Your Most Important Relationship, in both English and Afrikaans as well as The Way to God. We had also received a stamp with the church’s contact details on it and we stamped all the tracts in preparation before we went out.
The first man we met told us what an important job we were doing (message from God) and told us his favourite bible story. We chatted to the security guards who remembered us from the first time around. We came across a wedding reception and congratulated and blessed the bride and the family. The groom was apparently waiting (hiding?!) inside the restaurant.
We met quite a few people who said they were Christians. One guy was studying the end times and we chatted a bit and encouraged him and I recommended some authors to him.
The street was surprisingly busy in spite of the fact that a really nasty south-easter wind was blowing and we spoke to just over a hundred people and handed out about 80 tracts.
A nasty incident was avoided when one young man decided he was going to pick a fight with some guys who had just passed him on the street. John overheard him and told him to leave it. I basically told John to stay out of it. I think I was praying in my heart and spirit (without realizing it) and then a police van pulled up (the cops just wanted to buy something to eat) and this stopped everybody from doing anything stupid.
We had some wonderful conversations and points of contact with people and again only about three or four total rejections. By the time we were finished on the street it was about 9pm. We then took some soup up to a homeless couple that lives under the stands of the Goodwood sports grounds. John has brought this couple to church twice now. There were also three parties going on there of various noise and intensity and we chatted to some of the folk who were standing outside smoking and drinking.
We don’t force ourselves on anybody we give everyone the option of saying no to the tracts and we say its for free. When we mention the word free this immediately gets peoples attention.
So far this has been a really exhilarating experience for both John and myself, we just step out in faith on a Saturday night and we know that it is God who is doing the work, Christ the redeemer is calling the lost, His Holy Spirit works through us and touches complete strangers. All we do is try our best to listen and be obedient to His Spirit within us. We are so grateful for this opportunity to do His will.
LoCTY!!!
The broad (and very flexible) plan is to go out on the street every other weekend on a Saturday evening alternating between ministry work at the soup kitchen and walking up Voortrekker Road (using the soup kitchen location as a starting point) up to Vasco station on one side of Voortrekker Road and then back down to the soup kitchen location on the opposite side of Voortrekker Road, just basically talking to people about the Gospel and handing out tracts.
The first time we did this was on the 24 January 2004. We opened in prayer and asked God for His protection and for His Spirit to go before us, we also asked for divinely appointed encounters. We started off at about 7.30pm. We spoke to roughly 100 people and handed out about 70 tracts (The Way to God, in English). We had some incredible meetings and chats with some people, many of the people had had a few drinks and were rushing off to go to another ‘jol’. There were very few people who outright rejected our ‘free’ offer (about three or four) and we were amazed and stunned at how some people just opened up to us. Quite a few of them asked us if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and when we replied that we were not and explained who we were and where we were from they immediately became more relaxed with us.
Well we finished at about 8.30pm and came back to John’s car at the soup kitchen feeling pretty much on ‘top of the mountain’ but God had not finished with us yet. There were some stragglers at the soup kitchen and we chatted, prayed and encouraged these guys for about 20 minutes. Then eventually we got in the car and John was going to drop me at home in Bothasig. On our way there we noticed the same young woman who we had encountered earlier on the street, walking on the side of the road. When we first saw her on Voortrekker Road she had rushed by us in tears not wanting to talk to us. We stopped and she came running to the car, she recognized us and climbed in. She was very distraught and told us that she had had a terrible fight with her mother and she was on her way to her uncle in Summer Greens. We said that we would drop her off there. When we arrived at her uncle’s place he was not at home. We then took the young woman to my home where Allie gave her supper. We then acted as go betweens as she phoned her step-father to ask him to speak to her mother. After a few phone calls and prayer John took her home to Parow at about 10.30pm, where he saw the mother and her daughter cry and hug each other and be reconciled. John informed me over the telephone (round about 11pm) as to what had transpired. God is a god of peace!
The next time we went out was on the 7 February 2004. We then wanted to just bring the Gospel message to the people at the soup kitchen. Easier said than done. We talked to them informally and told them that we would be reading from the bible on the steps of the FNB bank. Well we had about three people pitch up who basically sat on the steps with their backs to us, slurping their soup, as we read alternating between English and Afrikaans from John’s Gospel chapter three. Talk about a captive audience! However God’s word never goes out with no return. One young guy was moved to ask for prayer for his drug problem and we ministered to him.
We went out again on the 21 February 2004. Again the we followed the same pattern as our first outing and this time I said to John that God was just telling us to walk slower and take more time with the people.
This time we had another tract to hand out, Your Most Important Relationship, in both English and Afrikaans as well as The Way to God. We had also received a stamp with the church’s contact details on it and we stamped all the tracts in preparation before we went out.
The first man we met told us what an important job we were doing (message from God) and told us his favourite bible story. We chatted to the security guards who remembered us from the first time around. We came across a wedding reception and congratulated and blessed the bride and the family. The groom was apparently waiting (hiding?!) inside the restaurant.
We met quite a few people who said they were Christians. One guy was studying the end times and we chatted a bit and encouraged him and I recommended some authors to him.
The street was surprisingly busy in spite of the fact that a really nasty south-easter wind was blowing and we spoke to just over a hundred people and handed out about 80 tracts.
A nasty incident was avoided when one young man decided he was going to pick a fight with some guys who had just passed him on the street. John overheard him and told him to leave it. I basically told John to stay out of it. I think I was praying in my heart and spirit (without realizing it) and then a police van pulled up (the cops just wanted to buy something to eat) and this stopped everybody from doing anything stupid.
We had some wonderful conversations and points of contact with people and again only about three or four total rejections. By the time we were finished on the street it was about 9pm. We then took some soup up to a homeless couple that lives under the stands of the Goodwood sports grounds. John has brought this couple to church twice now. There were also three parties going on there of various noise and intensity and we chatted to some of the folk who were standing outside smoking and drinking.
We don’t force ourselves on anybody we give everyone the option of saying no to the tracts and we say its for free. When we mention the word free this immediately gets peoples attention.
So far this has been a really exhilarating experience for both John and myself, we just step out in faith on a Saturday night and we know that it is God who is doing the work, Christ the redeemer is calling the lost, His Holy Spirit works through us and touches complete strangers. All we do is try our best to listen and be obedient to His Spirit within us. We are so grateful for this opportunity to do His will.
LoCTY!!!
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