Happy Thursday Soldiers! Hope you’ve had a great week!
Let me start off this update by saying- THANK YOU for taking Jesus’ commands to share the Gospel with others seriously. Sadly, there are some estimates that suggest that less than 5% of self-proclaimed Christians EVER share the gospel, which probably means that only a tiny fraction of that 5% do it with any kind of consistency.
Thank you for being part of the remnant of the remnant, and for being consistent, despite the busyness of life.
Speaking of being busy, last week was pretty busy (and I had some tech issues), so I will be combining two weeks of outreach updates into one.
Bayfront Park has been good the last few weeks. Last Friday we were also joined by four people from Etz Chaim Messianic Synagogue, which was great. Many people heard, a good number of tracts were given out, and several people were prayed for. Here’s a few pics:
The most profound interaction we had was with a very obviously drunk couple that came through the park skipping and giggling. They stopped to ask us what we were doing and when we told them, they said they thought it was cool. They also told us that they were believers, and they went to Bayside. As we kept talking to them, they admitted that they were drunkards and that they were living together despite not being married.
We talked to them about what it REALLY means to follow Jesus and Biblically addressed the various sins that they were committing. They both received it really well, they both showed signs of repentance, and they both prayed to ask Jesus to be Lord. Both of them seemed to sober up as we were talking to them, and the woman was even crying. As we were finishing up the conversation, I stepped away to make a quick call for people to come over to get gifts, and the woman asked if she could say something on the mic. I gave it to her, and she told everyone how good God is and how she just gave her life to Him. It was awesome!
Then, she went to leave, and before she did, she put her drink down and left it behind. So cool!
Riverwalk has been awesome the past few weeks. Many youths have prayed to receive Christ as well as a number of adults. Here’s just a few pics:
A few Divine appointments really stand out.
Two weeks ago, the young man on my right came up to me and told me that he had been following Jesus and reading the Bible. He then asked me some questions about the Bible, and I discipled him for a little while. Then his friend (the one on the left of me) came up and told me that he wasn’t following Jesus but was contemplating doing so. I shared the gospel with him and talked to him about the benefits of following Jesus, and the young man said he wanted to do that, so we prayed. It was awesome. I then told his friend that he was going to need to help him learn the bible and grow and he said that he would.
Here they are:
Last week, some young girls who were cousins came up and talked to us, and we shared Jesus with them for a while. Then, a few of their other cousins came over too, and they all prayed with us to receive Jesus. The girls then asked if they could bring their moms over to be prayed for also, and they did. One was already a believer, but both were ministered to and prayed over. The other woman even prayed to receive Jesus, got discipled for about 20 minutes and asked us what church she should go to. It was so cool to see the whole family get touched all in one night! Here they are:
Then, when we went to leave, a young man brought his girlfriend over and asked if we could pray for her. He told us that he was following Jesus but that she had never given her life to Jesus. I explained the full gospel to her and told her what it REALLY means to make Jesus Lord of your life, and she was all in. She prayed to receive Jesus and then we discipled them for about 20 minutes. It was awesome!
Pictured with them are Pastor Robin and his wife Carol from House Chapel. They brought their entire worship team out to minister that night and we let them lead the outreach. They said they had a blast and that they want to do it every month or two.
This was so awesome to hear because for years, my dream has been to have churches bring teams out to lead these outreaches so they can get activated as a community into the Great Commission. PRAISE GOD, we have our first one!
Here are a few clips from that night:
Another thing that happened within the past few weeks was that I found out about Anthony Rossi, the one who Rossi Park is named after. Rossi was the founder of Tropicana, and he invested much of his fortune to supporting missions and missionaries across the world. I’m sure he is rejoicing greatly over what is happening in the park that bears his name.
Read more about him here- Anthony Rossi – Tropicana
Things have been great at Siesta too. I got good reports about this past Sunday (which I missed because I was ministering in New Orleans) and the previous week was fruitful also. The thing that stuck out to me the most about the previous Sunday was that it was the first time I had a public debate on the truths of the Bible in front of everyone.
It started when a young man came up and started saying that Jesus isn’t God. After a little back and forth I gave him the microphone and had it out with him. He brought up several other objections too, but interestingly he never fully disavowed belief in the Bible. As I quoted facts and scripture to correct the errors of his statements he was pretty much backed into a corner and had nowhere to go. It definitely drew a number of onlookers too, and it made me think that this style of evangelism should be something we incorporate into the outreaches in the future.
Here is a clip:
I also got some reports from that night that people had prayed to receive the Lord and that other powerful ministry had occurred too. Glory to God!
BIG thanks to the faithful and faith filled laborers who came out to serve the past few weeks- Gene, Mike M, Amber, Mike F, Lynne, Shawn, Amos, Thom, Danielle (?), Robin, Carol, Sarath, Dinu, Jordan, Feney and daughter, Mauricio, Jenny, Chris, Geraldine and kids, Carol, Michelle, Laney and Bridget. So proud of you all!!!
Looking forward to seeing you on the mission fields again soon!
CV