Amazing Outreach Underground in the Subways

Chris is sharing Christ using a rope object lesson. As you can see, many people pay attention and hear.

This is Maria. When Eric asked her how she was planning to make it to Heaven, Maria said that she tries to be a good person. After listening to Maria list off the good things she does, Eric asked her, 'Who are you trusting in for salvation?' Maria said, 'Hopefully God.' Eric pointed out to her, 'But that's not what you told me. You told me you're trusting in your good deeds.' Maria asked Eric, 'What can I do then?' And Eric explained to her the great news of Jesus dying for us in our place, and of salvation by grace through faith. Maria was so excited, she said, 'I can't thank you enough for telling me!' And she gave Eric a big hug! Now that's a Divine Appointment!!!

This gentleman video recorded my whole open air message on his phone and had a big smile on his face the whole time. I assumed he was a Christian because he seemed to enjoy so much what I was saying. When I was done he approached me (still recording - you can see his phone) and took a gospel booklet from me. He said, 'What you said was great!' So this also made me think he was a Christian. But you never know, so I asked him what I ask everyone, 'Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior,' and he responded, 'I just heard about him now with what you said.' I wasn't expecting that at all! He shook my hand and thanked me. I gave him my card, and he got on the train. I didn't get his name, but please pray for this man. He appeared to be very open to Jesus!

It's a bit inconvenient to lug a wooden manger into the subways, but it's a powerful object lesson at Christmastime, and people really do listen. It's so worth it!

Joshua, one of our Volunteers, is sharing a gospel message, using the manger to point people to the true meaning of Christmas!

You never know what's gonna happen in the subway. I had just begun an open air message when the gentleman in the beige coat stood in between me and the people and started SHOUTING! His name is Dowuda and he is a member of a dangerous cult called 'Black Israelites.' He wouldn't let me get a word in by his constant yelling at the people. Yelling that I'm 'of the devil' because I'm white. I did manage to tell him that I'm Jewish, but he told me I'm a fake Jew. All Jews are fake Jews, he said. He yelled to the crowd that only Black people are true Jews. Jesus, Moses, Abraham, were all Black. (More details below...)

Chris tried to diffuse the situation by telling Dowuda that God saves people from all nations and there is only one race, the human race. This man hatefully responded by calling Chris a 'White Devil.' He told Chris that he is 'food for the slaughter' and that he was 'going to be cut in half.' Chris commented afterward that 'the whole experience provided quite a contrast to Jesus' message of 'Love your enemies.'' This man made some loud racial slurs and got in the train. Please pray that this man will repent and believe in the true gospel of grace, available to every person, regardless of color skin. And please pray for the people who witnessed this debacle, that they would see the clear difference between the true gospel and the racist hatred this man was yelling. Many people came up to grab gospel booklets! And if you want to know more about 'Black Israelites,' here's an excellent article: https://carm.org/black-hebrew-israelites (More to the story below...)

Remember Dowuda, the Black Israelite who was so disruptive? The next week we ran into him AGAIN! At first he was civil, asking Eric to look up Bible verses. But that didn't last long. He began YELLING to the crowd that Eric is a paedophile. I tried to reason with him that it's not godly or even polite to make such a charge with no evidence, and he called me a "Fake Jew" and YELLED to everyone that I'm a paedophile too. He YELLED that Jesus was black, and Moses was black. And he told us to read the King James Bible only, and that King James was black. (Uhm, we have paintings of him - he wasn't black.) Sadly, this is what Black Hebrew Israelites are taught to do. They yell and swear and use disgusting name calling. Please pray for Dowuda, that he'll know the true love of Christ. And to learn more about his beliefs, https://carm.org/black-hebrew-israelites.

Of course we want to reach a lot of people with the gospel message when we open-air preach in the subway, but we also want to get Biblical booklets into people's hands. This woman came right up to me and took a gospel booklet from my hand. A number of others did as well. What I didn't expect was having a Pastor come up to me with literal tears and tell me, 'I preach the same message you just did every Sunday, and I try so hard to reach unbelievers. You reached more unbelievers here in the subway than I do at Church. Keep it up!' That was very humbling for me and very encouraging as well. All praise to King Jesus!

This is Dominic and Sheila, and they believe that forgiveness comes only through their church, the Roman Catholic Church. They also had a bunch of strange conspiracy theories about how the world works and even how the church works. I encouraged them to stick to the simple gospel in the Scriptures and that salvation comes through faith alone in Christ alone apart from our works.

I love bringing groups of Teens down into the Subways so they can see for themselves that people really are open to the things of God, and that God can and does use us to reach them!

'E' is a Teenager, so I won't put her full name in, but she was soooo excited sharing gospel booklets and talking with people about Jesus! One man said to her, 'I didn't want to take one [of your booklets] but you look so happy about it that I changed my mind.'

'A' is giving out gospel booklets like a Champ!!!

This is Kyle, and when I gave him a gospel booklet, he immediately asked to study the Bible with me. He claimed to know the Lord. So I asked him how he came to know Jesus, and he stressed water baptism. That made me think, International Church of Christ (ICOC). The ICIC believes in 'Baptismal Regeneration,' which means you become Born Again only after being baptized in water in their church. It's a dangerous and unbiblical doctrine that churches like the ICOC use to hurt people. Kyle denied being a part of the ICOC, but he did agree that water baptism is necessary for salvation. I had him open to Acts 10:44-48 where Cornelius clearly received the Holy Spirit BEFORE being water baptized. Kyle wanted to flip to other passages but I asked him to stay in Acts 10 and explain. His only explanation was that one can receive the Holy Spirit but not be saved yet. I had him use his smart phone to go to http://luke-15.org/baptismal_regeneration/. He said he would read that. And Kyle emailed me back. I googled his name and found out pretty quickly that he is a Missionary with The Church of Christ. So I emailed back and asked him why he was dishonest with me? He denied being part of the Church of Christ, yet he clearly is. I warned him not to use cunning or deceit in his ministry. Please pray for Kyle.

John, one of our Volunteers, opens the Scriptures and shares the gospel with this man.

Eric was sharing Christ with a woman whose primary language is Spanish. Not only did she take a Spanish Gospel Booklet, but she wanted to know where to find a Biblical Church that preaches in Spanish. Well, we know a GREAT one close to where this woman lives, and you can see Eric writing down the address and phone number to the Church for her. Praise God!

This is Donald (middle) and Ralph (right) is reasoning with him while an eavesdropper listens in. Donald believes Christianity was stolen from Egyptian religions. He also believes that our soul goes off to cling to others. Rather than wade through the mish-mosh of his beliefs, I asked him straight-out, 'how do you get forgiven?' Donald said we need to do good for others. (Every religion other than Biblical Christianity is ALWAYS about our need to earn our own salvation.) Ralph and I talked to Donald about grace through Christ. Then the train came and he left. Please pray for Donald. He's confused and believing many deceptions. If you want to know more about whether Jesus was copied from Egyptian gods, here's a great article: https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-myth.html

This is Kirsten, and she's a Stripper. How do you share Christ with a member of the Sex Industry? The exact same way you share Christ with anybody else! Kirsten told Eric that she thinks she's going to Hell. Eric got to explain the great news that Jesus died for sinners, was buried, raised, and is alive today! No matter what we've done, we can and must come to Jesus with repentance and faith and He'll save us from Hell, but also change us starting immediately. Kirsten missed her train to keep talking to Eric.

This gentleman (right) spoke of belief in 'The Divine.' Eric (left) asked him questions about 'The Divine.' The man said 'The Divine' was unknowable. So Eric asked him about sin and justice. The man said that 'The Divine' doesn't care about sin and justice and we can do whatever we want. Eric wisely asked, 'You said The Divine is unknowable, but you claim to KNOW that The Divine doesn't care what you do.' It was a friendly conversation and a seed was planted. Please pray for this man. We sadly didn't get his name but God knows who he is.

It's always encouraging to see people reading the gospel booklets we give them. Praise God!

My own daughter, Juliana, and her friend, 'K,' handing out tracts in the subway.

This is Ilene. She told me that she had to leave home because her husband beating her. She lives at a shelter. She's a good Catholic but never heard of being Born Again. Ilene goes to mass every day. When I offered her her own Bible, she said she wanted that! I exhorted her to get to know Jesus, not a Church or a saint or a priest. She said she'd read the Bible because she wants to get to know Jesus.

When you're in a HUGE city, but you keep running into the same person, you take notice! Chris had met this man a number of times. This day they had a healthy chat about faith and science.

This is David. He lost his mother and 3 brothers this past year. David came to know Jesus as Lord back in the 70's through the ministry of Teen Challenge. We encouraged one another in the Lord!

This is Alex, and he asked Chris questions for 30 minutes, letting a number of trains go by! Alex has a wife in the Dominican. He's trying to stay faithful. They've been apart for 6 months. Chris encouraged him to seek God. Alex had been studying about God recently. Chris got to clearly share the gospel with Alex. Praise God!