Well, it is Friday morning already and this is the first chance I have had to send an update about the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday outreach nights. So what is my problem??? I wouldn’t exactly call it a problem — more Christian Missionaries than we know what to do with is just the kind of “problem” we LOVE!!! Yes folks this week is HUGE! We have the largest group of missionaries ever – we estimate that there are over 200 Christians on the streets this week. AND… YES, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING.
PRAISE GOD FOR THIS AMAZING ARMY…
So, you can see that we have been a little busy!!! Before I share a great story with you from last night, let me give you a brief report on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The attendance at the pageant was down – probably due to several wild fires in our valley that caused a closure of hwy 89 north of Mount Pleasant. But, in spite of this, when I asked for a show of hands in our morning training sessions almost everyone had at least one good witnessing opportunity each of these nights. And, when you have over 200 Christian missionaries on the streets these were not bad nights. As always, I wish I could share all the great stories…
The highlight of course are reports of LDS people praying to receive Christ as their personal Savior right on the streets. Aaron and Brolin had the opportunity to tag team evangelize two teenage boys who accepted Christ Tuesday night – God is Good; All the Time!
THIS IS AN AMAZING STORY!
This story is about how Jesus uses His people as His hands and feet to reach the world. We all know that some sow the seeds, some water, and some reap the harvest… Well, this story is a perfect example of how that process works. This is a story about Will and Jeff, two RM’s (Returned Mormon Missionaries) that we met on the streets of Manti, UT last night.
First, Will and Jeff met Don and his daughter on the streets. Don and his daughter have been passing out Jesus Christ / Joseph Smith DVDs. Don’s daughter (sorry don’t remember her name) is about 10 years old, blond and has a huge smile. So when she offers LDS people DVDs it is hard to say no. So the first seed of the night was the Jesus / Joseph DVD that Will and Jeff received.
Next, Will and Jeff were drawn to a group of our Christian teens who were playing worship music on the streets and just having a fun time. The Christian worship was seed #2.
I approached Will and Jeff as they were listening to the worship and said,
“Hey guys, how do you like the music?”
They said,
“This is great! We have never heard music like this before.”
I asked them where they were from and they said that they were BYU students so I told them they could listen to Christian music like this on K-LOVE (seed #3 was planted). They then showed me the Jesus / Joseph DVD that the Don and his daughter had given them and asked,
“Do you know who made this video?”
I said,
“Yes, a friend of mine named Randy… from New York State actually produced it.”
Jeff then asked,
“Where does Randy … live in New York?”
I described where he lives and then Jeff said,
“I know Randy… I met him on my mission to New York State…”
AMAZING… we were watering seeds that had already been planted by Randy. I then asked them if they had a few minutes to talk and we spent the next 45 minutes going through the “Boasting Tract”. They had never heard this quote of Joseph Smith so when I showed them the actual quote in the ‘History of the [LDS] Church’ they must have spent at least 10 minutes just reading and re-reading it.
I assured them that my purpose was NOT to destroy anyone’s faith – my purpose was to encourage people to place their complete trust in Jesus. And Jesus warned us not to be deceived by false prophets. So I was merely obeying Jesus and testing the prophet Joseph Smith by checking out the fruit of his life. We also discussed Joseph Smith’s immoral marriage relationships with multiple married women which I could tell really bothered these two guys. At the end of our conversation I was able to pray for them and they told me that they genuinely appreciated the talk and especially the prayer at the end. Again this was another huge seed planted in their thinking.
I later learned that after talking with me they again found the Don and his daughter and talked with them about differences between the LDS and Biblical concepts of the gospel. Don said that they really listened and asked if they could have the handout that they had been discussing. Another seed planted!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! And.. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
The Body of Christ at Work is a BEAUTIFUL THING!!!
God is Sooo Good.
Chip