Today was a typical day ministering in the subways, and when I say “typical,” I mean “EXCEPTIONAL!”
Subway ministry is amazing because there are hundreds and hundreds of people to reach out to, and God sends people from all around the world into the Boston subways. It’s really neat.
In addition to being able to share the gospel in the open air 10 or 11 times, we also had a number of note-worthy one-on-one discussions. Here are a sampling of the people I got to speak with today. Please keep them in prayer.
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Roopa: Roopa is a sweet older woman from Trinidad. When she saw us handing out gospel tracts, she immediately asked us where she could find a good church. Roopa recently moved to Boston and hadn’t found a church yet. We gave her a suggestion. She was really happy about that and I’m not sure who was more encouraged, Roopa or me!
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Craig: Craig is a young man in his early 30’s who listened to my open-air-preaching with a smile on his face from ear-to-ear. He and I chatted afterwards and he said he does some missionary work too. He gave me some of his literature, and I could tell he is from the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church.
The SDA can be tricky. There are members of the SDA who are saved, but if they follow the teachings of their founder, who they believe to be a prophet of God, Ellen White, then they follow another gospel. I’m not sure where Craig is, but I look forward to chatting with him again.
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Maria: Maria is a bold and excited woman in her 30’s. After I shared the gospel in the open air, she wasted no time coming right up to me, shook my hand, and thanked me for a “clear and interesting gospel message.” She was so excited! She even prayed for me right on the spot. I’m glad that our ministry can encourage Christians as well as challenge non-Christians.
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The “I’m Not Interested, I’m Jewish” Girl: When the trains are letting out, it’s so busy that we hand out gospel tracts. A young woman in her 20’s said fairly loudly, “I’m not interested, I’m Jewish.” So I went up to her and gave my “10-second testimony” that goes something like, “I’m Jewish too, and I didn’t believe in Jesus, and in fact, when I was in college, I tried to disprove Christianity. So I read the New Testament to write down all the ridiculous things in it but instead found that Jesus is the Messiah.”
I gave her a copy of my testimony in pamphlet form, called A Jew and His God, and I saw that she was reading it while waiting for her train. But perhaps she’s not ready yet because I noticed when she got on her train, she left my testimony tract on the bench. But if God can save me, He can save anyone!!! So I’ll keep praying for the “I’m not interested, I’m Jewish” girl!
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José: José is a young man in his early 20’s. When I asked him what he thought of the message I gave, he said he is a born-again Christian and was encouraged by our message. It’s always encouraging to be able to encourage other believers!
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Edgar: Today must have been “Run Into Born-Again Christians Day” because we seemed to talk to a number of them! As I had a stack of gospel tracts in my hand, Edgar came over to me with a stack of gospel tracts in his hand too. And they were the EXACT SAME ONES!!! So we chatted a bit. Edgar is from the Dominican Republic and appreciated us being out there in the harvest field. It’s nice to have fellowship in the subway. 🙂
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Teens: There were a group of teens who told me they could be forgiven if they go to a priest for confession. I encouraged them to look to Jesus and the Scriptures. They left when their train came, so I didn’t get their names.
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A Handful of Muslims: It seemed like there were a number of Muslims, (mostly women, but at least one man), who took Arabic Gospel of Luke booklets from us. Please pray that God uses His Word in their language to change their hearts and bring them to Christ.
God gave us a fruitful day witnessing. In addition to the quick open-air messages, and all the tract distribution, and all the one-on-one conversations, Aaron handed out a number of International tracts. Aaron gave out 5 Vietnamese language tracts, 2 Mandarin (Chinese), an Indonesian, and a number of Arabic.
Please join me in prayer that God will water the seeds planted.
Below are photos from today. Please click on one to enlarge.
Thanks for your prayers and partnership in the gospel!
all for Jesus,
Mark
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