Evangelism Explosion - Tuesday 2/21/2006

EE Report - You Won't Believe This One!!

Dot is absolutely correct when she says "you won't believe this one"!! It was a wild but wonderful night for Evangelism Explosion - not too chilly and there was no inclement weather (at least where my team was).


Donny, Mary and I went to an apartment complex in Ridgeland with the plan of doing door-to-door religious surveys.


We first met Manuel - who seemed hesitant to talk with us at first - especially when Donny was asking him personal questions - such as where he was from, etc. Later we talked as we moved the vehicle to another area and decided he might be in the US illegally and was unsure of whether we might really be INS folks. None of us are, by the way. Manuel is Catholic and he doesn't speak English very well plus none of us speak Spanish - so there were communication difficulties. We basically got nowhere with him as a result, so we moved on.


Then we met Charles. He had just moved to Jackson from Baton Rouge. It's unclear to me why he moved. I think he may have family in the area. When he said he had come from Baton Rouge, I pointed out my LSU necklace. Charles said he was a Southern University fan. But - he and I connected that way. We asked him the diagnostic questions and then went on to try to share the Gospel with him, but he said that it wasn't a good time and asked if we could return later. We said we would, thanked him and said we would return next week.


Then we moved the vehicle and when we got out, Donny passed a few EE tracts out to passersby. We were looking for a group of apartments that Donny and Mary hadn't been to previously, and found a set. The door we knocked on (at random) opened to us - after we identified ourselves, of course. There we met Kisha - a senior at Tougaloo College. She moved to Jackson from Cleveland, MS. Donny asked her the diagnostic questions, which revealed to us that she was lost, so we asked for permission to share the Gospel with her and it was given. After going through the presentation via a tag team effort, Donny asked if she would like to accept Christ and she said yes. So we led her through the time of commitment and she prayed to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior. Then we got the information for followup purposes and left some materials with her.


When you read Dot's notes below, it just might blow you away. It did me and I was there at report back time! I was shocked to learn that the total number of professions of faith were higher than Mary and I had counted.


Now - here's Dot's notes:


Twenty-three people prayed to receive Christ tonight! What a night!!


While our most important focus is on training our trainees to share Jesus, when someone wants to pray to receive Christ, we are, of course, thrilled!


Tonight Terri took her trainees, Jamie and Freddy, to the McDonald's at UMC. They were going to witness to four people who were there for supper because they had a family member in the hospital. Before they began to share the Gospel, these four asked them to please wait a few minutes until the rest of their family arrived, so that they might hear it too. Well, it turned out to be a family group of 15 people. They were all members of Baptist churches, but no one could answer the diagnostic questions correctly. After the Gospel presentation, all 15 of them wanted to pray to receive Christ!


This team also later visited with "Mattie" at UMC McDonald's. Mattie was lost and searching and also prayed to receive Christ.


Vic and his team, Diann and Guy, led "Gloria" to Jesus tonight. She is a Catholic from Colombia, South America.


Ken S. and his team, Chris and Beth, led "Tonya" a 26-year old graduate of MSU to Jesus. They met her as they went door-to-door in an apartment complex. She is looking for a job and is also a potential church member for us.


Bob W. and his team, Chris and Karen B., led "Steve and Emily" to Jesus tonight!


Team members Donny L., Mary B., and PJ met "Kisha" as they went door-to-door. Kisha is a senior in college and was lost. After hearing the Gospel, she prayed to receive Christ!


Bob T. and his team, Ed and Connie, met Nate as they went door-to-door. Nate was lost but accepted Jesus tonight. He is single and about 30 years old. They are hoping to meet him for church on Sunday.


Several of the other teams were either doing follow-ups with new Christians from last week's visits or planting seeds in new places.


I know you can see the urgency and importance we feel for becoming equipped to share our faith. There are so many people right here in our city who do not know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The harvest is so plentiful and our church needs to be busy equipping as many people to share the Good News. We are living in such uncertain times and people need the Lord.


This is not just a Tuesday evening event. Tuesday evening is just our training time, but we are to be on the alert everyday of the week, for whomever God puts in our path to hear His Word.


Our trainees are working so hard and are doing beautifully. Please do continue to pray for them as their memory work continues to grow.


"God does not give us a spirit of timidity...but of power and love and self- discipline."
2 Timothy 1:7