Last night was a good reminder that our immediate feelings about the effectiveness of our service to the Lord are not a good indication of the work that He is doing. As we started knocking on doors last night, we began with a long string of rejections and failures – which was especially discouraging after instant excitement at Andy’s house last week. But at the end of the night, during our wrap-up prayers, it became apparent that the Lord had done His work, perhaps even more so than last week. This is partly due to the fact that we didn’t spend an hour at our first house 😊, and also due to the Lord granting us Ms. Jana as our 4th evangelist, so we were able to break up into 2 teams. A good illustration of our take away from last night, “just be faithful and have faith that the Lord will do His work,” was our encounter with Chris, the satanist. As we approached his small, run-down, dimly-lit house, I was stunned by the image I saw prominently displayed in the front window – a large satanic pentagram/goats-head flag. I hesitated (Ms. Jana was utterly unperturbed), thinking that no good could come from this encounter: would he yell at us, or just tell us to go away and quit wasting his time? But something compelled us move forward, after all surely this house needed the gospel as much as any other. Knocking on that shadowed door frame wasn’t easy, and was done so prayerfully. Chris opened his door and received us politely, he seemed even a little embarrassed over the satanic flag, as if it was more for show than for practice. We chatted for a while and asked him for his take on Christianity. He said his dad was a Baptist minister. He had some vague knowledge of church, but didn’t know the gospel, so we shared it with him. Actually we got to share the gospel with the full spectrum of the “coexist” bumper sticker! And apostate Methodist, satanist, a Catholic Priest, a Buddhist, and a smattering of nominal Christians and “nones” (those who wouldn’t ascribe to any religions).
Please pray for the neighbors we spoke to last night:
***Update on Andy*** – Stopped by to check on him again and Torin had a bible to give him. I felt bad – like we’ve been bugging him too much – but a little later he sent me text saying that the bible was an “… exceptionally thoughtful gift.” And also “It meant a lot and it came at a very good time. I will cherish it…” Please be praying that he will read about our Savior and that he will love the Christ he encounters in the scriptures
David and Mila – Nominal Christians gave a nod to Jesus but don’t believe repentance is required for salvation – that they would repent, believe, and come to church
Jeff and Debbie – worship leaders at E.V. Free church – they asked for us to pray for: 1)their son Bo for his spiritual health as they worried about him and his physical health. 2) their older son Scot who is in Italy who has M.S. and recently got COVID and was having trouble finding care. 3) their daughter’s college ministry would continue to be fruitful and glorify God
Catholic priest who was very convinced of his own righteousness through his good works – that the Lord would show him the depth of his depravity and the grace that saves
Cherrie who answered the door slightly hostile but once we got to asking her if there about her needs and prayers needed, she relaxed and listened to us share the Gospel with her. She does not have heat in her house
Lamont answered the door and was quite intrigued as to why somebody would do this and even came outside to hear the gospel and listened intently. Pray he would take the gospel seriously and repent of a fruitless sinful life apart from Christ
Carlos and his wife and 2 kids – that they would find a good church to go and for material grace as things have been rough for him and his family. He claimed to be a Christian and agreed with the gospel. He asked for prayer finding a church, Sarah got him a church invite card
Chris the satanist – that he would convicted by the gospel he heard and be saved
Kevin the apostate Methodist – who was rejecting the bible because he believed it to be advocating for child sacrifice, slavery, rape and war crimes. He was passionately and ardently against human trafficking and the abuse of the vulnerable, but I fear part of that may be an attempt to reject God’s word. Please be praying for him to be submitted to the scriptures and to be saved and to come to church.