Everyday Evangelism- Fall Festival and Flying Tracts

We had our Family Fun Fall Festival today, and I was in charge of the evangelism tent. We had a lot of people that came to this event. I have a lot of things on the tables, and one of the items, the illusion poster with Einstein's picture on it, was there (although we had a hard time getting it to stay up). People would come by and look at it and start asking us questions on it. I also had the Lie Detector and that was neat. Kids were fascinated with it and would try to analyze it. Both of those items were great ice-breakers. What was really neat about today was that quite a few people signed up to help out, and many of them were able to share the Gospel with people that came to the table. One of my friends told me that this whole event was worth it, just for the time she got to talk to a Jewish lady named Barbara. She was able to share the Gospel with her. Barbara wasn't open to the Gospel yet, but she listened. One of the men was able to talk to a group of teens. He so enjoyed being able to share the Gospel with these kids. And they were open. I got to share with a couple of people too. Please pray for Barbara, and the others who heard the Gospel today, that they would have eyes to see who God is and their need for a Savior.
Another neat thing I did was to attach tracts to helium balloons and release them in the air. The tracts went way high in the air, then they disappeared and we have no idea where they landed (or when they came down). We prayed for them to land in the right places. Some of the tracts were attached to parachute men, which made it a little heavier. We did a couple of Giant Money tracts and it was funny to see them flying up in the air. One almost got tangled up in the telephone wire. They all went way up and then disappeared. I took some pictures, but only one you can really see the balloons in. Overall, this was a great evangelism event. I'm going to try to post my picture in this forum, but it might be too big. Feel free to look at the pictures I already have posted.
I think I am going to look further into helium balloons. Wouldn't that be cool if there was a helium balloon shaped like a blimp? Put a Giant Money tract under it and let it sail! Also thought about doing rocket balloons, but the rocket balloons didn't go up. It just kind of coiled like a snake. It would be hard to put a tract on that and have it go anywhere.

Everyday Evangelism-"I Thank God For You Telling Me.."

We had a great time at a jazz festival in Crane's Roost last Saturday evening. When we got there, it was nice and hot, and although we got to pass out a lot of tracts, it didn't seem like there were people there to talk to, or at least hold a conversation with. We had a table out, with tracts on it, and there were also toys, like the imprinted beach ball, which reads on one side, "What Can Wash Away My Sin?", and on the other side it reads, "Nothing But The Blood of Jesus" with the web site www.thegoodtest.net included. Out of the three toys offered (maracas, beach balls, and flying discs) the beach balls always win. The maracas have the Bible verse, 1 Timothy 2:5 imprinted on them, and the flying discs have John 14:6 on them. Both very important verses for this time in our culture. As the night went on, the music was loud, as expected, but we did have more conversations with people. Toward the end of the evening, I talked with a group of three young men who were full of energy. They looked to be college age, maybe, but one indicated that he was married. I was able to take them through the whole Gospel, Old Testament and all, and when I explained what the bad news was, one of the young men seemed really concerned about wanting to hear what the good news was. So I continued to explain, in detail, the Gospel to them. One of the young men had lots of questions about things, good questions, of course, but we had to stay on the Gospel. When I finally got done telling them the whole story, the one young man said out loud, something to this effect, "When I go home, I am going to thank God out loud for you telling me this". He seemed affected by the Gospel, and hopefully, the words will stay with him the rest of his life. I pray that he will never be the same, and that salvation will take root in his heart. I would request for you to pray for him, that God would grant him repentance and faith, and that he will bring much glory to God through his life. His name is Jaquan.

Everyday Evangelism- Winter Park Art Festival-03-20-10

"My job is to put a pebble in your shoe." says Greg Koukl. Today a group of us went to the Winter Park Art Festival on Park Avenue, and there were a lot of people there. The weather was great and I managed to put label stickers on 125 tracts this week, so I was ready. We prayed before we left to find a parking place somewhere out there. Well, it was interesting because for all the people we saw out there, there were only a few people who were interested in talking to us about the things of God. A couple of times, while I was talking with someone (and I could tell they really weren't into the conversation), they would just walk away. Just when I was getting to the good part about the 10 Commandments! And it happened more than once. I am guilty of prejudging people that I think would take the tract, as well as those who I would have thought would reject the tract. Only the opposite happened today. Many older men and women took the tracts gladly, and the ones I thought would take them didn't want them. I was able to share the Gospel with 2 men, but I could tell there wasn't a deep desire to stay in the conversation. And, of course, there is always one who will be nasty. I got her too. I offered her the tract and she asked what it was, so I told her. Then she told me to leave her alone, with which I left her the following; you need to think about eternity! I believe that today was ordained by God and we did not fail because there were no fish to catch out of all of those people, but, I can see that we sowed a lot of seeds. We were able to talk a little about eternity to people who, at this moment, were dull of hearing. Tomorrow or next week they might not be. Many took the tracts home and trustingly, someone in the home will read the tract and it will spark a thought about eternity, God, heaven and hell in their minds. So, even if no one was interested today, we trust that we were able to "put a pebble in each shoe" of the person we encountered, even the nasty lady.

Everyday Evangelism- Walmart Again

"I know that God sent you to talk to me today" was the words that I heard from a man yesterday whose name was Kyle. When I approached him, and offered him a tract, he said that he got one just like it while he was at work. Somehow it seemed as if his heart was being prepared for this day. As I talked to Kyle, I could see he was hungry for hearing the truth. After I shared the Gospel with him, he told me he was agnostic, but he did believe some parts of the Bible. He said there were parts that he didn't understand so he couldn't believe them. He also said that he had a lot of questions he wanted to have answers for. He seemed to understand the Gospel, and appreciated what I was doing. And it was amazing that he really believed that God sent me to talk to him that day. Please pray for him as he took the tract home with him, that he will consider the Gospel and think about eternity. Also, pray that someone else will share the Gospel with him again. God's word is at work in his heart and I hope to see him again, if not here on earth, one day in heaven.

Here is the tract I used called "Giant Money" https://www.livingwaters.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=100&category_id=8&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=199&lang=en

It has a little quiz on it and that is what I tell people when I give it out.

Everday Evangelism- Are Tracts Beneficial?

First, I want to make it clear that not everyone I offer a tract to will take it. Most of the time they do, and sometimes they will come to me and ask for more. At Sam's a couple of weeks ago, as I was entering the store, the lady who was the greeter noticed the Giant Money tracts http://www.livingwaters.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=100&category_id=8&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=199〈=en I had in the basket. I am somewhat apprehensive about boldly carrying in the tracts, especially the large ones, because one time when I was at a Sam's Club, upon entering the store, the lady who was greeting informed me that I was not allowed to pass them out (I didn't think I was passing them out in that area anyway). She assumed that I was and was angry about it. Back to the Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago. One of the cashiers must have received a Giant Money tract from me, and wanted to have more. Of course, she didn't know how to contact me, but mentioned this to the woman who was the greeter. This cashier asked the greeter lady if she would keep an eye open for the person who was giving them out. When I came in, this greeter told me about the cashier who wanted to have more tracts so she could give them out to her friends. I didn't bring in too many that time, so I gave her about 4-5 to give to this cashier. Interesting.
Another time, a couple of years back,at this same Sam's Club, upon entering the store, another greeter lady remembered me from giving out those tracts. She thanked me for that, and was affected by my doing that. I was unprepared for that event, and didn't know what to say. She didn't speak good English, but she gave me a hug.
Yesterday I went to Sam's Club and as I went in there was a new greeter lady. I had the tracts in the basket, remembering how the one greeter lady was angry about them. The lady showed an interest in them and wanted one, so I gave it to her. A few minutes later I could hear someone talking with this greeter and I knew it was about the tract that I just gave her. Before very long, a woman came up to me and wanted one. I gave it to her, and told her what it was, and also explained that the Gospel was on it. She was so grateful for it. She offered to pay me for it. I told her it was a gift from me. You would have thought that I gave her a piece of gold! Well, a couple of hours later, I was at another store, and noticed a small group of women talking in the parking lot. They obviously worked at the same place because they dressed alike. I don't like to give tracts to people who work at the places I visit while I'm in the parking lot because they could tell me that I am not allowed to do that in the parking lot of their store. I can't remember exactly what happened, but I gave one to one of the women and she was very excited! She wanted more for other family members. I explained that the Gospel was on it and she was very glad. She said that it was a good way to witness. There are many stories like this, and I could go on, but this is what happened to me recently in just passing out tracts. Of course, the neatest thing that can happen is when you pass out a tract, and use it as an ice-breaker in sharing the Gospel. That happened last week with a man named Shawn. He only went to church occasionally, maybe even only once in his life at Easter. He didn't know what the 10 Commandments were and I was able to explain the whole Gospel to him. It was great. So, do you think tracts are beneficial? You can decide.

Everyday Evangelism- Christmas Caroling Project

It's time to open presents.. Well, not quite yet. It's definitely time to start wrapping. Ever wonder why we open presents and celebrate? Usually, we are celebrating a birthday, or a special holiday. Christmas is like that. We celebrate in many ways. We have parties, open presents, get together as families, go caroling, and a host of other things. Ever wonder why Christmas is so special? When I was a kid, it was the looking forward of getting presents. It was so exciting. Definitely, the best time of the year, even better than my birthday! Well, I hope to have a present to offer to 30 people at Christmas time. It is the book, "More Than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell. It is a small book describing who Jesus is. It is a great defense book for the deity of Christ. Actually we have about 18 of them, along with the John Piper books. I am going to wrap them and put them into bags when we go Christmas caroling in December and give them to the people in the homes we get to sing to. What are we celebrating when we celebrate Christmas? We are celebrating the most important event that ever took place. It was the beginning of God's plan for mankind's redemption. God had to come down to earth, and take on flesh (which is where we get the word, 'incarnation'), and live a perfect life so He could take on Himself the sins of the world. We are celebrating that whole event in December. There is speculation that Jesus was born in December, but only God really knows, and it doesn't really matter. That is the time that was chosen for the event to be celebrated. Now here is a question for you. Will the devil be celebrating the day that you leave this planet? Is your life having an impact for the Kingdom of God in such a way that is making the devil unhappy? How is your life being lived today? Is is for your own desires and glory, or is it for the glory of God? Is Jesus living big in your heart, or is there still darkness there? Is your life like a light that shines the Gospel to those around you? " For me to live is Christ...To die is gain". "Only one life twill soon be past; Only what's done for Christ will last"

Everyday Evangelism- Telephone Evangelism

Over the weekend, I didn't get to spend time talking to people one-on-one like I would have liked to have done, but, instead, my phone rang a lot, and I usually don't answer those phone calls, unless the number is familiar, but this time I did. The first phone call was from a woman who wanted my husband to do a survey. He wasn't available to come to the phone, so I asked her if anyone had ever shared the Gospel with her. She didn't speak English very well, and I don't think she understood my question. She tried to ask me something about it which I didn't understand. Oh well. She hung up on me : (
Well, right after that, the phone rang again. This time it was The Republican National Committee. I was sorry I picked up the phone because they don't take "no" for an answer, but I gave it a shot anyway. I explained that we weren't going to do that, but my husband is supporting individual candidates. I was surprised at the end of the conversation when I asked her if I could ask her a question, then I brought up the Gospel. She listened and didn't mind taking a few minutes to hear it. I tried to get as much in as I could in a short amount of time. She thanked me for the conversation, and seemed to really appreciate it to some degree. Well after I was done talking to her, not too much later, the phone rang again. This time is was a call supporting a particular candidate. At the end of the conversation, I asked the woman the same thing, and went into the Gospel with her, as well. She listened, and I was able to communicate the parts of the Gospel that were important. Well, I trust I did anyway. Well, yesterday, the phone rang, and my son picked it up and answered it. It was for me, and it was a person asking about the hike in our electric bill. It was actually a salesperson for a solar heating company. I would not have answered the phone, but since it was already in my hand, hey, why not preach the Gospel again! So I let this lady talk, and tried to be friendly. Again, I asked her if she would mind if I asked her a question. She was fine with that, and I was able to tell her the Gospel too! She listened, even though she should have been careful about the time she spent because the call was being monitored, she took the time to listen. I was amazed. I didn't look for these opportunities to talk to these people, but they came my way, and 3 of them listened and heard the words of life. Not everyone responds to phone call evangelism like these 3 did, and I am grateful for that opportunity to have ministered the Word of God to them. Now, to pray that God will work in their hearts, and that they will have other opportunities to hear the Gospel again! God is at work!

Everyday Evangelism-September 1, 2009

Today I was at Walmart, as usual, and as I was getting ready to pay for my items, the cashier, a young African American lady noticed the MDB (million dollar bill tracts) that I had in my basket. I actually give cashiers, at least most of the time, a Giant Money tract, but this lady noticed the million dollar bill tracts. So she looked at the MDB and I said she could have it. She went back to the cash register (she was by my basket scanning a large bag) and she was reading the tract. I was concerned that people behind me would become angry. I explained that it was a Gospel tract. She did finish ringing up the items, but seemed a little disturbed. She couldn't seem to get over the fact that "lusting" was the same as "committing adultery". She seemed really concerned and I felt helpless in trying to help her. I asked her if she had a Bible at home, and she said she did. I encouraged her to read it. Now what I really wished I had was a web page set up, with the basic Gospel on it, that I could have given her the URL to. I wished I would have had made up business cards with my name and email address so I could have given that to her and encouraged her to email me with any questions she has. I think her name was Stacy if anyone would pray for her. I hope to see her again, or hope someone else will come along and share the Gospel with her.