I promised to tell you more about my first evangelizing experience, and here’s the fulfillment of that promise. I went out with Lily and Anna into the downtown square, a cute place with little shops and giant trees everywhere!
The first woman we talked to didn’t want to hear it. “Can we tell you about–”
“No.”
“Okay, can we pray for yo-”
“No.”
“Okay, well, God loves you.”
“No, He doesn’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because of facts.”
“What facts?”
“I’m a witch.”
We didn’t know what to say to that, so we decided to honor her wish and leave her alone.
The person we talked with next was a much better experience. He knew exactly what we were doing (he’d already been prayed over and healed by 3 other people), but he still let us pray over him! He was very encouraging!
The next people we talked to, a dad and his daughter, weren’t hostile, but they weren’t very encouraging either. They let us talk and pray over them, but the dad looked so sad and hopeless, that it broke my heart! It sounded like he was a believer, but he didn’t want to go to church, and he didn’t sound enthusiastic about his faith.
Underneath the overhang of a building up for rent, we found a homeless man in a wheelchair. We’d only talked with him for a minute before Cimmie and Natalia came, with pizza and hot coffee for him. We prayed over his legs, helped him download the Bible app on his phone, and kept him company after Cimmie and Natalia had to leave.
He told us of all the broken things he’d witnessed in that very spot, and we tried to tell him about Jesus. He’d read the Bible hundreds of times, but he had trouble understanding how one got to heaven only on faith. No matter how many times we tried to explain, he didn’t have ears to hear.
Soon, his friend came over for a cigarette, and Meghan and Romy followed him, so we soon had a little evangelizing party.
He also had a deep knowledge of the Bible, but he got caught up in the little things, and so rejected the whole thing. If we tried to explain it, he would listen, then tell us why what we were saying couldn’t be true. It broke my heart to see the hunger for truth in their eyes, but the little things that stopped them from eating their fill.
We talked with them for a LONG time. Long enough that our leaders came to get us, then stayed to talk a little longer. Kait had the friend so close to accepting the Gospel. He believes in Jesus, believes in what he did, and believes he’s a sinner, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go of his sin.
When I left, I left feeling defeated, which is why I’m so thankful for my Squad! They cheered me up, and now, while my heart is still broken for them, my mind knows that Jesus is after their hearts, and I’m confident that one day he’ll get them!!
I share these stories, because we won’t always see the fruit of our labor when we evangelize, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening! It’s God who grows the plants; He just leaves it to us to plant the seeds!
Please be praying for these people. Pray for ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to be ready to receive! You’d be amazed at what God can accomplish through prayer!
Thank you for sharing! I prayed for the people you witnessed to. I pray their hearts will be softened and open to the message of the gospel. Thank you for planting the seeds and hopefully as time goes on and other people plant seeds they would receive Christ. Our ministry is to plant the seeds…the Holy Spirit will do the convicting. We cannot save them but hopefully you will have opportunities to see people open up their hearts to Christ! God Bless!