On Thursday was our latest outreach at Brookhaven College. This is becoming one of our favorite fishing spots. I was joined by Todd, Brian and David. Todd met me at the car and helped me carry the things from the car to the free speech area. I pulled the cooler of water and carried two new “Free Water” signs that I just got from Watchman Gospel Signs. By the way, as an aside, Watchman Gospel Signs does a great job printing signs. You can order from a large selection of inventory or request custom signs. I highly recommend them! Todd pulled the wheeled crate which had an extra case of water, tracts and Bibles in it as well as a box of books and DVD’s stacked on the top. I know you are probably wondering, “Carl why are you giving so much detail as to what was in the cart?” Well it becomes critical.
As we were walking to the free speech area we were discussing an interesting question (that I may blog about later) that I had brought up with Todd. We eventually reach the area and I set up the easel and put one of the free water signs on it and put the other free water sign leaning up against the table. I got out the box of tracts and start putting stacks of tracts on the table. Then I am looking around for the box of books and DVDs. Not finding it, I ask Todd, “where is the box of books?” He’s not sure, but remembers specifically it being on the cart. So he goes to back track our steps. He gets back to the car and calls me on the phone. “Have you found it?” “No”, I respond. So I suggest he come back and I’ll go look.
About the same time he got back, a woman and a police officer come walking up to me. “Is this your box” this police officer asks? “Yes!” Turns out that the box had fallen off the cart. As a security measure they pick up anything unattended and bring it to the woman’s office. She then asks “are you giving those books away?” I told her we were. She asked for a copy of Ray Comfort’s World Religions in a Nutshell that we had to give out. Todd was then able to talk with her for 10-15 minutes. She was a believer in Christ from Europe. It was really amazing because we are really only supposed to talk to people in the free speech area. The fact that the box of books dropped and then delivered to us allowed us to speak with her. Todd says that the conversation was a real encouragement to her.
With that excitement over, we got the books and DVDs set up on the table and got to work handing out bottles of water and tracts to the students as they passed by. The ones that appeared to be in not too big of a hurry we would engage in conversation. All four of us were actively engaged in conversations the entire time we were there.
With two young ladies that I was talking too they agreed that there is a God and a Heaven and a Hell. We discussed how to get to Heaven and they started talking about being good. So I asked if they are good enough to go to heaven? They thought that they were. I then asked,. “can I get my lie detector and check?” They got this funny look on their face and were saying no no. But I turned to the table, opened my camera bag and pulled out my lie detector. The look on their faces was incredible. So I handed the wand to one of them and said, “if you are good enough to go to heaven just point to the yes”. Of course the magnets in it points the wand directly to the NO! Same with the other one. As I was talking with them, a large crowd of 15-20 students gathered. This allowed me to share the Law and the Gospel with the whole group. If you don’t have one of these Lie Detectors, I highly recommend getting one.
One woman came by, saw the sign that quotes John 14:4 and asked “are you giving out water that will make me never thirst again?” I said, “no, this is regular Ozarka bottled water. Would you like some?” I really like the way the sign draws people to us to talk with us. I had a good conversation with her about how Jesus is the Living Water!
One guy who was agnostic picked up one of each tract from the table. He said they were “inspirational” to him. We had seen and talked to him before. He was not really interested in getting into conversation with us. But he sure did like the different tracts. I pray that he reads them and that through reading he is lead to repent and trust Jesus alone to save him.
I had a long conversation withe a Bhuddist name Sonny. Sonny listened intently to the Law and the Gospel and readily admitted his destiny would be Hell. He seemed unconcerned because he said, “I don’t believe that.” We had a great conversation about the difference between what you believe and what is true. So he asked “how do you know the Bible is true?” I gave him some basic proofs. He said he had never read the Bible. So I gave him a copy to read. I encouraged him to start with John. He said he felt bad taking it, but I told him it was my gift to him. I told him if nothing else, it is the most widely distributed book in the history of the world and therefore was worth his time to check out. I also told him that it was a good example of literature and would be good for his literature class and reading skills (since he was a foreign student and had admitted he was trying to learn English and literature).
We handed out all 100 bottles of water in about an hour. Todd had already headed out to get back to work. Brian and David were wrapping up conversations. So I started to put everything away. Even in the midst of putting things away another two young ladies came over to the table and asked what we were doing. I asked if they liked movies. They said yes. So I gave them each a copy of Fly Wheel. As I talked to them, it seemed like one professed to be a Christian and the other was fairly agnostic having had a Christian background. Eventually I asked if they considered themselves to be good and if I could get my Lie Detector to check. They were astonished when I pulled the Lie Detector out of the camera bag. Again a small crowd gathered as I shared the Law and Gospel with them.
David and Brian finished their conversations. We picked the rest of the stuff up and headed out. We handed out 100 bottles of water, a couple hundred tracts, three Bibles, and I am not even sure how many copies of DVD’s (The Board, Why Christianity?) and books (One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, One Heartbeat Away, World Religions in a Nutshell). Plus we had countless one on one conversations! Please pray that these students will repent and believe the Gospel. We walked back to the car praising God for a great time of sharing the Gospel!
