Below are excerpts from e mail we have received relating incidents and encouragments as the gospel has been shared in many situations and in many areas. We pray that as we share these things together it will be an encouragment to all. Please keep visiting and see the continuing stories of God's grace and power through the gospel. To respect privacy and protect identities some details have been removed.
June 2006
I just wanted to say thank you for the work you are doing by the grace of God. The Basic Training Course I bought REALLY helps me share the gospel in a way which is non threatening, effective and Biblical. Since I bought it I've been able to speak to family, friends and co-workers and it really helps me to know what to say. A small group of us from my church have started going into the streets on London on a Saturday and spreading the gospel, the tracts you provide are so useful especially the million dollar bill and using the scripts used in the WOTM, we have been doing some open air preaching and it was both scary and exhilarating!!
Please pray for us that this can be something that we incorporate into our daily lives and it therefore becomes a way of life rather than a designated day. I pray that the lord will multiply the workers and that he will bless you for all you are doing to help us spread the word.
I've been in the faith 3 months and evangelizing continues to renew my zeal and fire for the Lord! It is such a blessing to be serving our Father's purpose and having the tools in order to do it. Thank you for all you are doing to edify the saints and keep doing what your doing cause the tools your providing is showing me it doesn't have to be as scary as I though it would be!!
Thank you and God bless
From Germany
The pedestrian zone in Munich is wall-to-wall people almost every day. There
are literally football/soccer fans here from all over the world. One brother
counted people from 18 different countries in just one hour.
I ordered some Spanish tracts today from the states, but it is all just a
drop in the bucket compared to the need.
Once things settle down, I'll be sending a report on how God has been using
the materials from Living Waters (long before the World Cup).
May 2006
Norway Again
Our last O/A-session (Tuesday 25th of April) went very well, and as I
mentioned, I got to talk with a muslim whose name is Fahrat.
When we left church after cleaning up the coffee mugs and so on (after
an outreach evangelism event on Friday 28th of April), we took the tube
home. First I talked with two muslims from Ethiopia. I managed to talk
some with them in Ethiopian languages, but the ice was hard to break.
However, I got the phone number of one of them and was invited to
"seriously discuss religion". They both got coins and they shared a pair
of the optical illusion.
THEN WHO DO YOU THINK SITS DOWN NEXT TO ME AND MY FRIEND? It's Fahrat,
the muslim! He smiled and we picked up the conversation as if we were
still on the streets. He went right ahead and said that some of the
commandements were "difficult". I asked "what do you mean", and I think
he explained that they were "difficult", as he didn't agree with them. I
told him about the holiness of God, the severity of the punishment that
fell on Christ, and I also told an analogy of how great the sacrifice
God did for him was.
He got more serious and he received a "Are You good enough" tract with a
"thank you", and said that he would read it.
Oh man, this was incredible.. I asked another guy from our school who
took the tube with us: "What do you think the odds are for this to
happen?" His reply put a smile on my face: "About the same as
evolution." Fahrat also commented this: "It's strange, I meet you out of
the blue on the street and you just approach me... And now I meet you
again"..
I just pointed beyond the roof of the tube.
The "are you good enough tract" was from the first package of that kind
of tracts I ordered from livingwaterseu.com. I got them in the mail 12
hours before I met Fahrat on the tube. Can you imagine? God is indeed
glorious!
April 2006
The UK
It was Easter Day and I was preaching at a small local church. We had a congregation of around a dozen, elderly people who spent a lot of time complaining about local gangs of youths who rode motorbikes through their graveyard and shot at their windows with BB guns. After the service was over and the congregation was safely on their way home for Sunday lunch, I wandered into the aforementioned graveyard to pray for this situation. I discovered a small group of these "youth" resting against a low wall, behind some overgrown gravestones. They were typical of what are commonly called "chavs" or "townies", dressed in tracksuits and baseball caps with loads of jewellery.
As it was Easter Day, I determined to present them with the gospel of the risen Christ. I greeted them and apologised for not having any Easter eggs, but I handed each of them a gospel of Mark or John and one of the shiny Ten Commandments coins. That certainly aroused their interest and, for the next ten minutes or so, we had an interesting conversation about sin, righteousness and repentance. I think it is possible that I was the first person to actually present the gospel to these people as they looked pretty blank when I mentioned anything Biblical. As I left, a couple of them promised to read the gospels that I'd given them. One even took an extra copy for "a friend".
My prayers now are for this small group of young people, that they may be convicted of their sins and come to a state of biblical repentance and salvation. My prayers are also for the church there that they might stop seeing the kids as the "enemy" and open their doors a bit more.
I go into two local first schools and a middle school, I have taken the presentation Commandments for Kids and have shown it too years 4 5 6 and 7 in the middle school well over 250 children with good response and good discussion taking place.
In one School I have also shown the presentation and the headmaster asked me to produce poster size prints of the 10 commandments to put up around the school which I have done and they are on display and the next time I go back the children are keen to show me how many of the commandments they can remember. Please pray as I do this presentation with the children the headmaster and the teachers that stay in the assembly will come under conviction. There are about 50 children in this school.
I intend showing the presentation to another School after the Easter holidays another 100 or so children.
thank you for this great material and wonderful tracts to help us in our work for the kingdom
More from Norway
Thank you for prayers! Today, we've given out between 100 and 200 tracts
I think. My friend, ....., bought "monas" (da vinci tracts) and the "are
you a good person comic"-tract, and they went like hot cakes.. Also, he
told me he had walked past a book store with stables of da vinci code
books on display.. He went in and asked the man behind the counter "Do
you mind if I put some da vinci flyers inside the books?" The guy just
said "Sure, no problem", and they got to put tracts inside of the books
in the store! GLORY TO GOD! :) It's just great, God is amazing!
March 2006
The Way of the Master DVD's Series 1 & 2 have been such a blessing to me personally. For years in my Christian life I always got tongue tied when trying to witness - partly because of the evangelical language and from not knowing what to specifically say. Since studying the programmes, I now have a format to follow in my mind which guides the conversations.
Every 1st Sat night in the month about 10 people attempt street evangelism in our local town. What a blessing the LORD gives.The Smart cards are such an excellent way of starting conversation with total strangers. 2 people use the WDJD approach and have by far and away the longer conversations. Sure, I have made mistakes (pointing a finger at 1 young woman which caused offence) but the majority of conversations have been inoffensive and thought-provoking for the listeners. On quite a few occasions, it was obvious that the Law had humbled the listener causing real concern. What I feel I need however, is the annointing of God on my life to enable the listener to flee their sin life and turn to Christ.
The other tracts are really innovative and are real hits with my unsaved friends and enable me witness. One unsaved man told me that he gave the Smart card to his colleagues - and they read the whole lot!! I have had opportunity to give a smart card to a well known Ireland rugby player and a well known Gaelic football player. Please pray that the LORD will cause them to read and accept His truth.
A brother who has been running an introduction to christianity course writes..
"one of the people on the course was interested in the tracts i carried around in my coat pocket that i recently purchased from living waters... and then asked me for a load of them!! this was someone who a few weeks ago didn't know anything really about Christianity...
I am also planning to run a weekly / fortnightly screening of 'the greatest gamble' in my local library hopefully attracting business people on their lunch break.
I have also encorporated the 10 commandments gospel message into my online business - as a free gift!!
Thank you Living Waters for the tools i have been waiting for!!"
SCHOOL WITNESSING
Anyway, I have been using the teaching and tracts in two secondary schools, a middle school and with family. We have seen two young people join our youth group through a school. I go into the schools during lunch hours and use the IQ tests etc to begin conversations with new groups of young people.
I enjoy watching large groups gather as we do the Smart Card!! They all compete against one another to be the only 'good' person in the crowd! And as we know, not one is good! Which creates a great opportunity to use a few minutes to explain the truth of the gospel.
One lad aged 13 as I took him through, 'Are you a good person?' and finally to the 'Guilty or not guilty... Heaven or hell'... He said Hell and welled up with tears amongst all his friends. Something a 13 year old boy would not normally do - especially among friends! I went on to share more with him via MSN!!! discovered he didnt have a Bible but really wanted one, to which we have been able to provide for him.
FINLAND?
I asked my two flatmates ........ & .......( Russia) to watch Gambler's game-dvd and it was really amasing see that it was so real that it made them speechless.
So after that I asked whether they would like to give up from playing game with their precious lives and ask Jesus their saviour and God.
They were quite astounded and they tried to mess up with their arguments, but God through Holy Spirit gave me wisdom to answer against those arguments. They did not receive Jesus in their hearts, but at least I got two more loved by God who knows who can save them from eternal punishment.
I have thrown some coins of yours to the libraries and different places. Have not been so much active spreading those so called " wallets" for people to answer, but i used those "wallets" for people to answer to different questions. Those "wallets" open the discussion quite easily. I have not tried School master.
HONG KONG
I'm a member of an international evangelical church in HK. I think we need to be better equip to share the Lords word and I hope that this material will help. I'm also going to get involved in Christianity Explored in HK which is the first time its been introduced here. Alpha is very popular here but I'm concerned people are not made aware of the need for repentance and what that really means. I've been looking at the way of the Master web site and this clearly makes this clear. This was the way I was converted (at 32) and know from scripture that this is the narrow gate.
I am still very new to this rediscovered use of the law but I gave copies of 'Hell's best kept secret' to my fellowship group to listen to, then to discuss. One Christian lady, who had been brought up a catholic, for the first time in over ten years has understood the full implication of what God has done for her in Christ, and why that was necessary. Praise God. I look forward to using this in more in my ministry.
The tracts are superb. In my preaching engagements, I encourage the saints to get involved in using tracts in their witness. At one church, I was almost stampeded by folk wanting samples of the Ten Commandments coin. I've seen great things from the wallet tracts too. Just as a short illustration, I placed one on the steps in a large shopping centre in (Northern england)and stood close by to see the results. Sure enough, after a few passersby, a middle aged chap returned to pick up what he thought was a lost wallet. He looked around him, to check that no-one was watching and then pocketed the wallet. I have to confess that I smiled at his "humanity" here. I continued to watch as he walked away READING THE TRACT!!! I now put them in all the kinds of places where you might conceivably lose your wallet. I've had good results with the curved illusions too but I use these more in one-to-one witnessing as they're great attention-getters.
The Evidence Bible has proved invaluable, both in and out of the pulpit and I'm now recommending it to brothers and sisters alike, as I use it to witness and preach. Having answers to the common questions has been a great help.
IT WAS MUCH LONGER!!!
My Friend and i went out to evangelise for the first time on a Saturday night in (a Scottish City) along (the main shopping street).
We gave out the Smart Card Tracks with the red square in the middle and it proved to be a great success. We prayed and had others pray for us before we went out.
The people you meet during the day and the ones you meet at night are totally different and they are looking for different things. The warfare in the night is different because unlike Christ the devil hides and destroys in the darkness.
We were light sent into the dark to save many alive through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I encourage you as a believer, to arm your self with tools and mostly with the word of God so that you will be able to stand. We are in a fight for souls and the devil wont give up with out a fight but neither will we for the Greater One is on the inside of us, working through us His perfect good work.
Not every one has been called to serve in the Ministry, but we are all called to account of the Great Commission to Go into all the world and make disciples, that we cant ignore. I tried to, but i have a callilng to Ministry that means NOTHING if i donrt have a heart to evangelise on the streets of what ever town i go to.
Recenlty after the Edinburgh night, i went to London for a church conference and stayed in a B&B. I took only 5 tracks " the worlds greatest illusions." I must say i took 5 coz i didnt think i would give them out and i really didnt "feel" like doing it any way, but just in case, i took them, 5.
When i got out side Paddington station at around 8pm all i saw was a feild of souls. i was so overwhlemed and excited about the amount of people there I rushed to the B&B, dropped my bag and came right back out to give the 5 tracks out.
Fear gripped me when i got to the street. i walked for 15 minutes telling God how nervous i was. The street i turned on wasnt as busy and was a bit dark. I knew i shouldnt be in this area. I was so nervous my hands were stiff .
Then i just confessed my faith in God by His word and went to stand right out side Padingtion Station it self and give the 5 tracks out. I thought only 5 tracks... will be out of here in no time. Not so. ..............
On Saturday i was open airing in (Scottish town) using the atheist tract about coca cola and the banana?
Anyway at the end there was only one person listening who i did not know so i approached him to introduce myself.
I asked him what he thought of what i was saying and he said it made sense to him, i asked him what part stuck out and he said about design being proof of a designer.
after some gentle discussion i could see this guy had understood the gospel clearly so i asked to sum it all up for me. He tells me "" basically i am separated from God by my sin from birth and my choice to live ignorong God confirms this. Jesus paid the penanlty for sin so i can now be forgiven and enter into right standing and a relationship with god as my creator & heavenly father"" Wow" i said i couldn't put it better my self One last question are you going to do anything about it? ""YES he says confess my sins ask forgiveness and live my life according to gods wil from now on!"" I said great when? he says ""right now if you'll help me"" so i did off he went and i am seeing him tomorrow night (hopefully) to encourage him again.
.My feeling on the street is that although street preaching may seem a bit old fashioned and one hasn't always got the talent to entertain and draw a crowd, yet having said that even in this cold English winter weather a contact is made. Sometimes young people make fun but they can also be the most open. One time some youths were making fun of me & then a young man came next & asked me for a bible. I said are you serious or just making fun? He was with two friends and assured me he was serious & that he didn't know how a person becomes a christian. He firmly told me that he wanted something to believe in and that he was fed up having nothing to believe in!
This is.... from ...... Ireland.
I am planting a fellowship here on the Isle.
We just got the Basic Training kit just yesterday in time for Wednesday night prayer meeting.
We had one brother come over and so we watched the first program (Cultivating..).
We were so excited that we watched the second one (Hell's Best Kept..).
On his way out the door, Ben asked if we could watch the next one after church Sunday!
He was so excited that he wanted to go out evangelizing immediately!
We were amazed with the simplicity and effectiveness of the TWOTM method.
Just a line to say we have just begun to train in the way of the Master.
God bless!
Yesterday, (Sat), ten of us went on the streets in ........, this was the first “organised” outreach since we started the way of the master training, we all went out “nervous” but came back “clicking our heals”. We were out for one hour in 5 groups of 2. We later concluded we had shared the gospel with 22 different groups of people, totalling about 30 to 40 people in all.
We will be continuing the way of the master training at (our church) until mid July. At present there are 180 people from the two churches regularly meeting every 2 weeks to study the way of the master videos.
Last Wednesday we studied the DVD on Atheism, which taught amongst other things; “there is no such person as an atheist”. John, from one of the churches asked a colleague the next day, “Are you still an atheist? Because I found out last night that you are really an agnostic”, after sharing the gospel John advised his colleague to pray and promised God would answer. Later that day John’s colleague came to find out more about the God that John believes in, because he had prayed earlier and explained how God had for sure answered his prayer.
FROM THE NETHERLANDS
Thank you for the package you send me, I've been watching the dvd 'Hell's best kept secret' and I was amazed. Very firm, good biblical teaching on a subject where its absolutely of the outmost importance. The teachings will surely influence my witnessing, I'm now off to read the books I've recieved and then, God willing, many will hear the gospel the way it's supposed to be!
FROM NORWAY
Dear Sir
I was saved in 2001, but I was never told to repent from my sins. I knew I needed Jesus but not why. In 2005 I watched your show on Gospel Channel broadcasting to Scandinavia from Iceland. After seeing the first episode I finally understood why I needed Jesus, but I also discovered that none of the congregations I knew preached repentence from sin. So after getting really saved in 2005 I began thinking about preaching open air in (city) Norway. There is no congregation in ........ who does open air preaching. But I have to admit the thought of preaching open air was to scary. So insted I started writing to the local newspapers about sin, repentence from sin, and Jesus. The local newspapers printed a few of my letters, many people in ....... got really angry when they read my letters in the newspapers. And I started getting angry hate phone calls, angry hate text messages on my mobil and a lot of angry letters to the newspapers.Telling me to stop offending people by telling them they are sinners and in need of Jesus. Even Christians wrote letters to me telling me I was offending people when I told them they where sinners. In addition my employer also got angry with me ( I have never preached where I work, and I have never mentioned in my letters the company I work for ). My employer told me to be carefull writing in the newspapers about repentence from sin, sin and Jesus because it upset so many people. Even though it was a really tough time for me getting exposed to so much hate from strangers because of letters in a newspaper, I am thankfull for having experienced this. Because it has made me stronger in my faith, so I am going to continue writing in the local newspapers about sin and repentence even though people will hate me for it. And I am also going to continue sending tracts to strangers via mail. I put tracts in envelopes and pick out names and adresses from the phone book. I am also praying that more congregations in (city) will start to preach repentance from sin and begin open air preaching. Norway desperatly need more christians preaching open air outside the church buildings, the norwegian state church preaches that there is no sin and that we do not need forgivness from God. ..... other churches outside the state church seems to be afraid of offending people, but I pray we will se a change in all the churches in norway soon. We so desperately need it.