momentum shift

Today was HUGE for our team. it was huge because so many things happened in our team that were much needed. I was humbled before God in a couple of ways. Today (July 4th) five new people accepted Christ after out beach outreach (the beach is packed with people who come to see the fire works. people even camp out there for the whole day). To back track a little, let me explain how the day’s events went.

It started off after breakfast where Josh talked to us before we went out to spend the whole day evangelizing at the beach. He ranted a bit about filling out stats, but more importantly, reminded us to stretch ourselves and passionately serve Him. Just like a pep talk before a football game, Josh reminded us why we are here and what our mission was. That was much needed for our team.

While waiting at the bus stop, Josh challenged us to NOT use soularium. That meant that we had to initiate spiritual conversation without our most effective tool, and that we also needed to find our own ways of spurring spiritual conversation among strangers, instead of relying on the pictures that we normally use. That was scary for me. I was humbled when Josh asked us to raise our hands if we weren’t comfortable with that. Me among four others raised our hands. I looked around and honestly felt a little ashamed. The night before, I asked God to humble me…and He did.

I paired off with David, my discipler, and went off towards the beach and talked with a couple people. I soon realized that it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, and it was really cool because we could go straight into the Gospel…without wasting time..jk. I’ve gotten so comfortable with soularium, that I don’t really get nervous anymore. By taking away my comfort in using soularium, I was able to be stretched in a way that I haven’t been in a while. Today I had 2 gospel presentations and 2 spiritual conversation.

There are a couple things I learned through this experience. For one, soularium is a tool, and that is all it is..a tool. Sharing the gospel can’t be dependant on any single tool. By sharing without soularium, I was able to see how it can be done in any type of setting. When I had used soularium in the past, it had been through a set up event/time where soularium was the main tool used. Without it, I was able to see a clearer picture of how evangelism can be done in any setting, at any time, and through any conversation.

Today’s events were a huge momentum shift for us because we were all blown away at what we saw. We saw God move in big ways and surprise us all. I have gained more courage to talk to strangers, and I have become more anxious to share my faith. On the bus home, I even decided to talk to two strangers. The conversation didn’t really go anywhere besides me hearing their agnostic and atheist beliefs, but talking to them is something I wouldn’t have done before today. So praise God for reminding us how to rely on Him and leave the results up to Him. And praise God for our five new believers!