For the last 7 years, our chapter has been doing a bi-weekly outreach here in Calgary. This time, it was ten of us at the homeless shelter.
An hour before we left, I got a word from the Lord to do a teaching on the whiteboard.
I asked everyone, “What is the gospel? If you had to tell us the most important thing about the gospel, what would it be? ” Everyone communicated this differently. Then, I got them all to recite the list back to me.
I said, “Now we know what the gospel is. So today, when you share the gospel, I want you to give each person who you talk to the opportunity to respond. Tell them they can be assured of eternity with Him and give the opportunity to accept Christ. Before you leave, ask for a phone number and get them connected to a church. ”
Even though I said all that with confidence, we didn’t know what was really going to happen.
But that night, seven people gave their lives to Christ!
I lead a young man named James to the Lord. At first, he was hostile towards faith in God. He rebutted everything I said. As I shared the gospel with him, he questioned, “How could you ever believe that? ” Then halfway through the conversation, he told me he was a strong Mormon...which didn’t make a lot of sense. His mind was all over the place. He went from being combative against religion to then deciding he was a Mormon.
I began to teach James how the gospel doesn’t coincide with the Mormon teachings, and how they don’t reconcile with one another. “You can’t really say you’re both a follower of Christ and a Mormon. ” I explained. This really opened up his eyes.
Finally, I gave him the opportunity to accept Christ. I asked if he wanted the assurance to know he could spend eternity with Jesus. He said, “Yeah, let’s do it! ” He repented and prayed. I never would have thought that would happen! I left him with a Bible and a Redemption magazine.
—Andrew (paraphrased)