2012 Evangelism Training Week

A few weeks ago Open Air Campaigners hosted our annual evangelism training seminar week in Boston. It was a superb week where God did amazing things!

Please pray about carving out vacation time next year to come to Boston for this. It’s a superb week, and you don’t have to be a super-star evangelist to go… you just need to love lost people.

The following people stood out and I’d appreciate prayer for them please:

• James: James, a young man, was unusually hostile. Typically people chat with us in a friendly manner, but I could sense anger in him immediately. After a very short while, he brought up a bunch of questions about homosexuality. And I mean harsh questions, like “I bet you hate homosexuals, don’t you?” I was a bit shocked, but said, “No, I don’t hate homosexuals.” Then he accused me, saying, “I bet you think homosexuals are sub-human.” I tried to assure him that I don’t think homosexuals are subhuman, but he was angry and ended up leaving. Please pray for James. It’s obvious he’s been hurt in the name of “religion” and certainly needs to know Christ as Savior.

• Luke: Russ, one of the seminar students, and I approached Luke, a young man in his early twenties. He was visiting the big city from Vermont, and it was his first time in Boston. It didn’t take long to determine that he wasn’t concerned at all about his sins, and that he believes in, what he called, “the earth.” After chatting longer, he revealed that his parents are Christians, but he rejects their beliefs. I couldn’t help but think that his parents must have prayed many times that their son Luke would run into someone to share the gospel with him. Luke wanted to leave, so I told him I’d be praying for him, and for his parents as well. When I said I’d pray for his parents, he reacted nervously. I’m not sure what the story is with that, if it was conviction or not, but please uphold him in prayer.

• Elijah: Elijah is a homeless man who was very flippant and not at all concerned about sins. He kept changing the conversation to irrelevant topics, like plainly false claims about the Bible being written in the dark ages, and silly claims like that. I tried to bring him back to the important message of the gospel, but then he’d awkwardly talk about monks changing the manuscripts, etc. He also had a habit of spitting as he talked and when he left, my face was literally covered in spit. Not the most pleasant conversation! Still, I care for his soul.

• Monique: Monique was a 30-something woman who stopped and listened to our preaching. When I approached her to chat, she said she was a believer, but is struggling with smoking and anxiety. I gave her some Bible verses and prayed with her on the spot and she told me that running into our team made her day. 🙂

• Jinnell: It’s not often that we get hecklers, but one day this week we did. A woman named Jinnell. She was being rude during one of the open-air gospel presentations. Afterwards I pulled her aside to get to know her better. Get this, Jinnell claimed to be a Christian, but also asserted that Jesus is for Christians, Allah is for Muslims, etc.

• Paul and John: After one of the open-air messages, I chatted with an older man named Paul and his dad, John. Paul excitedly pointed out that his dad is 91 years old! We talked for about 20 minutes. They both attend a Roman Catholic church every day, but they say they’re not Catholic. I had a tough time telling if Paul was being sincere with me or intentionally giving me a hard time. When this happens I ‘err on the side of sharing the gospel’ and so I chatted with Paul for some time bringing him through the gospel of Christ. Please keep them in your prayers.

• Ingrid: We weren’t the only ones handing out literature in the streets. Actually, often there are others handing out fliers. There was an elderly woman from Russia named Ingrid. She was handing out fliers promoting some sort of international organization promising to teach the world to get together and work peacefully towards global unity. I talked with her about being at peace with God and she promised to think about it and read the literature I gave her.

• Thomas: I witnessed to a man in his 40’s named Thomas. At first he was nice enough, admitting that he has a hard time believing. (I suppose that makes him a Doubting Thomas, right?) He was cordial at first, but then quickly degraded into profanity, telling me that God is “bull****.”

• Birhani: Aaron had a long conversation with Birhani, a young woman from Ethiopia. Birhani was very tender-hearted and open to the gospel. She gave Aaron her email address so that he could connect her with discipleship.

• Jesse: Jesse is an African-American man in his early 20’s who asked me to recommend a good church for him. Typically when people ask for a good church, it means they are new in town. But Jesse isn’t new in town. He told me that he has been thinking a lot about God and salvation and Jesus lately and wants to know where he can learn more. I love that about God – how He directs people where He wants to direct them at the right time! Jesse gave me his email and took my email address too. Before I had the chance to email him that evening, he had already emailed me! I sent him information on a good church in his area. Please pray for him, that he comes to know Jesus and grows in his faith!

• Derek: This is too good! In fact, I posted a separate blog post on Derek.

  This 9-year-old boy is one of the coolest encouragements God has given me in the ministry!

  To read about this exceptional situation, please click here: http://Luke-15.org/2012/06/derek-the-boy-with-the-firemans-helmet

Here are some photos from the week with some comments:

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouraging notes, and financial support!

I thank God for you!

all for Jesus,

Mark

P.S. Please do pray about coming to our Evangelism Seminar next summer (most likely the first week of June, 2013). Contact me if you have any questions.