I got back from the World Race training camp about a week and a half ago. It was an awesome experience getting to meet all of my squad mates! Training Camp prepared us for many of the situations and scenarios we will encounter overseas. There was also a lot of teaching and worship throughout the 10 days. We also did a lot of team building excersizes to help place us in our smaller ministry teams. I have no doubt God will use us in amazing ways. Theres so much more that happened at training camp but I’m going to skip over most of that for the sake of a cool story.
I have another financial deadline quickly approaching and this one is a big one. Its stretching me in some very uncomfortable ways. However God always prepares a way even if its not how we anticipated so I’m trusting God with this one. I have to be $10,000 funded by August 21st. I’m currently around $5,500. So thats an additional $4,500 by August 21st! Yikes! I can’t completely fund myself but I want to start MATCHING other people’s donations! So if you’re able to donate for example $20, I’ll donate $20 and match your gift! I want to get this fundraising over with and I’m willing to make the personal sacrifice to see that happen! Help me reach my goal of $10,000 by August 21st and then $16K by December 31st I will match your gift! I ask that you please pray about it and consider donating whatever you can!
So heres the real treat of the blog…
My first witnessing experience!!
I was on my way back from a motorcycle road trip in MI exploring the upper peninsula and all of Gods stunning creation. I was tired and sore after riding for over 1000 miles the last two days. I stopped at a gas station to fill up and grab a snack. I bought a Mountain Dew and a Butterfingers and sat down inside to relax for a few minutes. I noticed a few guys that looked pretty rough and ragged buying a lottery ticket and a few other items at the counter. When they walked outside they gave the food that they’d just bought to a man sitting on the sidewalk outside the gas station. They chatted for a few minutes then got in their beat up car and drove off. I quickly realized that the man sitting outside was homeless. I was impressed that these guys who clearly didn’t have a lot of money were buying food and giving it to a homeless guy.
So there I sat in the AC eating my candy bar drinking a cold drink enjoying life. The table was placed directly in front of where the man was sitting outside. So as I’m sitting there staring at my drink if I were to lift my eyes just a little I’d be staring at the back of this homeless man. It was such a powerful moment for me. Instantly, I had a feeling inside of me saying “this is wrong”. I sat there for a while watching and observing this man interact with other motorists that stopped to get gas. Some were kind to him and asked him how he’s doing and others just starred at him or waved as they drove off seemingly mocking his situation.
A very intense battle began inside of me at that point. The Holy Spirit was convicting me to do something about this, go out and talk with him. Everything else inside of me was screaming NO! I stopped to relax. I don’t want to go out of my way and talk with this stranger who was homeless. It would be incredibly uncomfortable and awkward! Well, that battle ragged on for a solid 10 minutes. Finally, I knew that if I didn’t do this I’d regret it for a very long time. I stood up, threw away my trash and walked out to say hello.
I was very nervous because I don’t do things like this, like ever! I said “hey, what’s up? What’s your name?” His name was Nick. I asked Nick if he cared if I chilled with him for a bit. He seemed almost excited as I sat down next to him. He saw that I was the guy that rode in on the motorcycle and asked me where I was headed because it was obvious I was on a trip because of my bags strapped to the back.
So we sat and chatted for a while, I got to hear some of his story. I didn’t quite understand or follow everything but he was in the Marine Corps. and was shot in the shoulder and then he either accidentally or on purpose shot his commander. He was discharged from the military in 2009. I asked about his family and he kind of scoffed and said anyone is better than his family. His family won’t talk to him and he has basically no where to turn. He was trying to get a ride to a friend’s house up in Michigan. At one point the gas station owner came outside and told us to leave because there’s no loitering. Nick said he’s already been kicked out of every other place in town and was at the end of his chain, he didn’t know what else to do. He said it’d probably be better if the police just came and picked him up. So he ignored the gas station owner and we just kept sitting outside the gas station talking.
Again, very nervously I asked Nick if he believed in God and what he thought of God if he existed. Nick said he does believe in God and he thinks He’s a good God. That honestly surprised me that someone in his position still thinks God is still good! I asked him what he thought of Christians. He asked me if I meant modern day Christians or what Christians should be like? So I clarified and asked what he thought about Christians now a days. He said he thinks that they are “arrogant hypocrites”. I kind of nodded my head and told him that unfortunately agreed a lot of the time. We both agreed that that’s not how it’s supposed to be however. I talked about how the Bible says christians are supposed to live and he agreed with me. I asked him if you could know whether or not you’re going to go to heaven or not. He thought for a while and said “I don’t think you can ever KNOW, it’s kind of a faith thing”. I then asked him if he knew what the Bible said about getting to heaven. He kind of quoted a conglomeration of a Bible verses that he mixed up and jumbled together but it missed the mark in my mind.
At this point, I’m still super nervous and really uncomfortable because I realize that I’m about to tell someone how they can have eternal life and I have NEVER done this before and I literally had no idea what I was doing. I felt like every Bible verse I knew by memory had escaped my mind suddenly! I was really frustrated for not knowing more scripture memorized. But I lead him through a few Bible verses about salvation and I made it clear that getting to heaven is not based on works or how good or bad of a person you are. Getting to heaven is all about believing in Jesus Christ and in his death, burial, and resurrection and if you call upon the name of the Lord and confess your sins, He WILL save you and forgive you of your sins. He seemed to understand that. Nick then turned and looked at me and asked if I had a Bible on me. I said no, just on my phone. He asked if I wanted a Bible. I said “oh no, it’s ok I have lots of Bibles back home”. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a brand new Bible and gave it to me! I was thinking inside “THIS ISNT HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO WORK!” Haha. I witness to a guy and he ends up giving me a Bible!? I really tried to resist but he said he had three of them and he wanted me to have it. He also wound up giving me his ham and cheese sandwich. I also tried to refuse that as well but he was very persistent about me taking it. This whole time we were both expecting to see a police car rolling up but that never happened.
As our conversation wound down, I asked if I could pray for him, he agreed. I prayed for him and then Nick said he should probably get going before the police came. I told him I’ll continue to pray for him and I hope things start improving in his life then Nick walked off. I breathed a huge sigh of relief! My first time witnessing to someone…I looked down at my hands holding the brand new Bible and the ham and cheese sandwich and just kind of laughed to myself. I honestly don’t know if Nick is saved or not. He seems a little confused about salvation and some other issues but I think God is definitely working in his life. I pray that I somehow pointed him in the right direction because I probably won’t ever see Nick again. This just shows that God controls the situation! I was a complete rookie and I felt like God guided my words.
It was great for me though because I’ve always been so scared to witness to someone for fear that they’ll get mad at me and throw it back in my face. That didn’t happen which was a relief! I was honestly pumped for that experience though! I felt like I had conquered that fear in my life. I’m not ignorant and I realize that it won’t happen like that every time though. I’m so excited to have countless opportunities overseas to share the gospel and I know what I need to work on now!
