It's not uncommon for a large crowd to gather to hear the gospel message and receive tracts.
Earlier in the summer I wrote to you about how fantastic Evening Beach Evangelism is.
You can see that post by clicking here.
Evening Beach Evangelism is over until next year, but God did amazing things at the beach this summer! I’d like to highlight a few so we can all praise Him and pray for the seeds planted.
We all want to see unreached people hear the message of Jesus, but one thing that excites me A LOT is for Christians to be built-up, equipped, and encouraged to share their faith! This happened quite a bit this summer at the beach. I was blessed to have a number of regular volunteers come out to help in all areas, from setting up and breaking down the equipment, to passing out tracts, sharing the gospel with people who pass by, and even preach from the sketch board!
One volunteer, Joe, is a Bible Study Leader at a local church, and he brought out a team just about every week! So lots of Christians got a chance to be part of evangelism-in-action and be used by God!!! 🙂
Please pray that all the Christian who came out will be emboldened to share Christ all the time in their daily lives because of their experiences at the beach.
Some notable people God sent our way that I’d like prayer for are:
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Stephanie: Stephanie is a young woman in her early 20’s. I had a long chat with Stephanie after a message, and she appeared receptive and interested in the gospel message. Stephanie told me that she didn’t have a Bible, but would like one. So I gave her one and wrote a note of encouragement to her in the inside cover. She appreciated the gift. Please pray that she reads it and receives Jesus as Savior!
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Dan: Dan is friends with Stephanie (above), and also is in his early 20’s. He was turned off by church because he said his mother was, quoting him, “kicked out” of church. I’m sure there’s more to the story, but we showed compassion. It turns out his mother left his father and she married a woman. I’m sure having a Lesbian mother would be a stumbling block, but not one that Jesus can’t reach through. Please pray for this young man, and his family.
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A Ukrainian Family: One of the coolest things that I saw this summer at the beach was when I heard a woman translating what I was saying into a foreign language. Afterwards, I approached her. She was with her husband and daughter. I asked her what language she was speaking, and she said “Russian.” She told me that they are from the Ukraine. She’s not even a Christian and God used her and our team to reach a family from the Ukraine in New England! How cool is that???!!! (There is a photo of this family below.)
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JT: JT is a young man in his late teens. He listened to the open-air preaching and stuck around afterwards nearly the whole night! I spoke with him after the message and he said he was very concerned about his eternal destiny. He said he’s absolutely consider what I shared very seriously. And here’s where it gets funny. After I was done talking with JT, my team member, Chris, spoke with him too. JT wanted to know how to grow as a Christian so Chris told him to read the Bible, of course, but also told him to tell others about Jesus. Chris handed JT some gospel tracts and right there JT started giving them out to people! JT came back to ask for more!!! (There is a photo of me sharing Christ with JT below.)
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Leonardo (and his friends): Leonardo came right up and started talking with us. I suspected he was a Jehovah’s Witness because he was asking what God’s name is. Sure enough, he and his friends are Jehovah’s Witnesses. I try to stick to the important subjects of “Who is Jesus?” and “What is the Gospel Message?” with Jehovah’s Witnesses, because often they want to go down multiple rabbit trails over topics that don’t matter in eternity. Chris and I chatted with Leonardo for about 20 minutes and we covered the origin of the name “Jehovah” (how it didn’t even exist until over a thousand years after Jesus and doesn’t show up in the original language of either the New or Old Testament.) We saw that the “gospel” he preaches is different than the Biblical one. And we showed him from the Scriptures that Jesus is God. But what often happens with people in cults is that they stay loyal to their cult even over the Bible. Leonardo wouldn’t even give me his email address or phone number, so I can’t contact him. But God can! Please pray that the Word of God planted in Leonardo will be used by God to rescue him and save him!
Here are some photos from recent weeks at the beach…
https://picasaweb.google.com/102024819319825275847/2013HamptonBeachWrapup
Here’s an example of what an open-air message looks like at the beach at night. This is a fun message with a clear call to respond to the gospel. It’s under 14 minutes and uses “three things we all know for sure” to call us to respond to God’s command to repent and believe the gospel!
all for Jesus,
Mark
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