Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Low Hanging Fruit

2013 Jun 25 (38)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday again. I hope every Christian reading this is testifying about Christ in their own unique way today. For a few of us, we are going to Markville Mall at 6:30PM to do just that. Join us if the Holy Spirit tells you to.

Those of you at Harvest Bible Chapel York Region last Sunday heard a bit about the shepherd heart of David. I pray often that God would give this heart to more people. I pray that more people would weep for the countless number of lost souls heading to Hell. I pray that God would send more laborers to this harvest field. I pray that these messages I put up every Tuesday do not fall on deaf ears.

Am I asking you to come out to the mall to evangelize to strangers, that you're not a good Christian if you don't? NO!!! Stop getting that idea! I am asking you to have a shepherd's heart for the lost, to have a gospel-centric lifestyle, to seek out ways to help, to pray for open doors for the gospel... I KNOW there's something only you can do. Do it!

And pray "also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" (Eph 6:19), which is neither natural nor easy for me. Pray for that tonight.

Testimony

As usual, at the mall tonight for our weekly evangelism, we have many interesting stories to share, but we'll share one:

There was this group of two guys, one of whom had a best friend who died when he was a kid (hit by a car) and have since turned away from God. The other guy (let's call him Sam) just broke up with his girlfriend 3 weeks ago. He was obviously frustrated and angry, saying that she treated him like dirt even though he treated her like gold. We shared snippets of the gospel but could not get the whole thing out in one go. However, as we kept talking (and it was a very long conversation), he started opening up a bit more. I liked how Stephen kept pushing and digging deeper.

He started asking questions as we talked about sin and about how maybe he's been treating God like dirt while God has done nothing but love him. After some more time, Sam's friend got impatient and wanted to leave. But Sam wasn't done talking and wanted to stay! In fact, we exchanged contacts and he said he'll be here again next week on Tuesday.

As we parted, we told him that this was no coincidence, and he heartily agreed! We know the seed has been firmly planted and he seems so close! We've already sent a few text messages back and forth! Pray that we will see each other next week and be able to follow up with Sam. :)

The Holy Spirit moved powerfully tonight. Praise God!

PS. Props to Linda and Ryan for speaking to tons of people.

Souls (10) {Total: 294}

T; P, J, A, J;
F;
Guy;
K, S;
A (Christian)

Team (4)

Tony, Stephen; Linda, Ryan

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

So an Atheist and Agnostic Walks in...

2013 Jun 18 (37)

Exhortation

What do you do when you have prayer and evangelism going on at the same time? Which one is more important? Which one should you go to? My answer: Do both.

It's Testify Tuesday. Come to Markville Mall to evangelize at 6PM and come to Harvest Bible Chapel York Region to pray at 7PM.

God, do a mighty work tonight.

Testimony

Today was Testify Tuesday once again at Markville Mall. This week was much shorter since Harvest Bible Chapel York Region was having a prayer night, but we got out there and proclaimed Jesus to people. Today, we only had time for one conversation, but it ended up going so long that we were 40 minutes late for church prayer! I was joined by Ambrose Cato and Nathaniel Chow and Tony Chuang even joined us for a little bit. We spoke to two friends Myles(agnostic) and Cameron(atheist) and they were very talkative and open to talk about spiritual things. One of the guys said that he really liked all of the things that Jesus did and taught, but didn't see the relevance of having to believe in Him. We explained the fact that their sin had separated them from God and they needed a saviour. We went through the gospel, among other things, many times over and over. At the end of the day, we realize that we're not the ones who do the saving, but it's only the spirit of God that can regenerate the heart. Please continue praying for us and maybe even consider joining us :)

Souls (2) {Total: 284}

C, M (agnostic, atheist)

Team (4)

Mike, Ambrose, Nathaniel, Tony

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Another Hectic Week

2013 Jun 11 (36)

Exhortation

It's Testify Tuesday once again Harvest Bible Chapel York Region. Please pray for us as we carry the good news to the poor once again at Markville Mall @ 6:30pm or even join us! We've been praying for the seed of the gospel to find good ground and for workers to go out into the harvest with us. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" - Matt 9:37.

Testimony

Today we had Testify Tuesday again! Thanks for keeping up in prayer Harvest Bible Chapel York Region, we surely need them as we hit Markville mall to share the gospel. Ben and Ryan joined me this week. It's only Tuesday and we all agreed that our weeks had been hectic already, but just like Romans 10:14-15 says "How then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?". We must preach!

We had a really good conversation with these 3 friends (Tristan, William and Alvin) who were Catholic, yet believed in reincarnation. We explained that all have sinned and we went through some of the 10 commandments. Just like a criminal being sentenced by a judge would not get off for any good deeds done, they began to understand that they had offended the God of the universe. We shared the gospel and of the 3 guys, Tristan seemed the most responsive and asked a lot of questions! Although we don't know what they experienced, they heard the complete gospel and Ryan exchanged contacts with them to follow up. Please pray for these guys, especially that they would come to repentance and faith in Christ. Ben Sampson had some interesting conversations of his own that I'm sure he will share below! Please continue to pray that we would be faithful in sharing the gospel and that God would give us fruit that would remain.
-Mike

You are right Mike Fenty, the first guy I spoke with had never heard the true Gospel before. He agreed with me that there was good evidence for God's existence but thought that even if God did exist, he just had to be a nice guy - doing good things in order to go to Heaven. When I walked him through the Ten Commandments to demonstrate that he wasn't as nice as he thought, added to the fact that doing good things cannot cancel out bad things, he was visibly shaking in front of me (actually physically shaking). He kept saying how amazing the conversation was before we had even finished. Unfortunately, his family came and he needed to head out. But I know that he at least understood that he needed to repent and believe in Jesus in order to be saved. It is now in God's hands. The other conversations were a little rough :)
-Ben

Souls (11) {Total: 282}

T, W, A (brother Andre);
V;
The Zoroastrian family;
H;
A;
R (Christian);
N

Team (3)

Mike, Ben, Ryan

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Lots of Rejection

2013 Jun 4 (35)

Exhortation

N/A

Testimony

Today was Testify Tuesday once again at Markville Mall! Thank you Harvest Bible Chapel York Region for constantly keeping us in prayer, we definitely needed that today. I was joined by Melinda, Ryan and Ambrose as we sought to glorify God through telling unbelievers about His great love for us. Throughout the month of May, we've been in prayer asking God to add to our team and this has been a prayer that has been continuously answered! Ambrose joined us for the first time this week!

I teamed up with Ambrose and we started a couple of conversations that were either shutdown prematurely or just went nowhere. We know that it is only through the working of the Holy Spirit on a sinners heart that one would ever come to Jesus, but sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. After praying that the Lord would lead us to someone who would be willing to hear the gospel, we were lead to two friends Alan and Riaz who were in their 30s. They were both Guyanese and just like all good west indians, they grew up with a lot of respect and a little bit of Christianity. It is amazing how the "light" goes on when someone realizes that they are not good enough and that they need a saviour. They asked a lot of questions near the end of the conversation, but had to leave early because one of their wives was ready to go. It was exciting to be able to plant the seed of the gospel in their lives. We may never know, this side of heaven, what that seed produces in their lives, but the gospel was preached!

Tonight was filled with a lot of rejection and possibly even fear of rejection, but our hope is not in ourselves and our abilities...it's in Christ. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." 1 John 4:18. When I think about what Christ has saved me from I rejoice in rejection, I rejoice in trials and I rejoice in the gospel. Friends, even when it seems like there's no hope, we have hope! Please continue to pray for us and perhaps even join us..we'll be there next Tuesday! "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives." - Proverbs 11:30.-Mike

Souls (7) {Total: 271}

M, S, V;
R, A;
A;
C

Team (4)

Mike, Melinda, Ryan, Ambrose