How God used a chance meeting

Hi, I’m Eli and I live in Mexico and I have a story for you.

So a group of friends and I decided that we wanted to go every Wednesday to share the gospel here at the central park in our city, which is Puebla, in Mexico. And so one of those Wednesdays we arrived there and we split into pairs. And so my husband and I decided to share with a young man sitting on a bench.

It was really nice because as we started the conversation we realized that he was being really open about his thoughts and his life. And he shared with us that one of his biggest dreams is to enter the military school, and that he was there actually to think about it and to train. And so we got to the point where we transitioned to present the gospel by using the GodTools app. And so when we asked him if he wanted to receive Christ, he said yes. He wanted to pray and right after he prayed to receive Christ he said that he had prayed with all his heart and that if he died right after that moment he knew that he would go into heaven with God. And so that was just a moment full of joy for us and for him as well.

So that’s just one of many stories that we’ve heard of when we’ve had the opportunity to share the gospel by using this amazing resource.

I was sure my friend had no interest in talking about God

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Kristin. I want to share a story with you about a friend of mine

I met Shannon because her boyfriend Al was good friends with my husband Jack. Al was a groomsman at our wedding, and Shannon came along as his plus one.

She knew that we were Christians, she said to Al, ‘Listen, if they put me at a table with a bunch of Christians who try to talk to me about God stuff, I’ll tell them I’m a Hindu!’

Needless to say, Al told Jack, and Jack told me. and I thought: ‘ message received, no God stuff. So, I’ll focus on being a friend and see what happens.’ Fast forward to last fall, when Jack and I were able to visit them in their new home.

And out of nowhere, in the middle of dinner, Shannon announces, ‘You guys know that we still talk all the time about what the pastor said at your wedding.’ His message about I forgive you being more important to a marriage than I love you had really stuck with them and had an impact on their relationship that they were able to share with us. And the next day she started asking us loads of questions about church.

Having these conversations with Shannon was a great reminder for me that people who seem uninterested can become curious. That they are listening when you talk.

Because Jack and I focused on being a friend to her and continued showing up for her in her life, we were the ones she would turn to when she had a question.

How I finally had the conversation with my mom I prayed for

Transcript:

My name is Cristi and I want to tell you about a conversation I had with my mom.

I grew up in a family where spiritual things were not talked about. I started a relationship with Jesus after high school but years went by before I could talk with my mom about it.

It all changed due to some tragic circumstances in our family. I asked my mom if she understood what the gospel meant. She said something about Jesus dying for our sins but really did not know what that meant.

Because we were in different states I had her download GodTools and was actually able to take her through “Knowing God Personally.” She clearly saw that she did not have a relationship with God, but she wanted one.

She just could not believe that she did not have to be good enough for God.

I was able to take her back to a story from her teens when she made a mistake and her father yelled at her. I asked how she wished her dad would have responded to her and she said, “I wish he would have asked if I was okay.”

My mom had been viewing God through the lens of her earthly father who she felt was never satisfied with her. But when we looked at the Bible verses in “Knowing God Personally” it made complete sense.

So over FaceTime, my 77-year-old mom prayed the prayer in GodTools and decided to follow Jesus.

Understanding that she does not have to try hard to earn God’s love and forgiveness has been everything.

It truly is a highlight of my life to be able to use a digital tool in order to introduce my mom to Jesus.

Would you pray for someone you just met?

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Ann. I recently moved to a new city and so I’m having to find a new everything.

After searching online I found a place to get my hair cut. Before going in I prayed for my stylist and I expressed to the Lord that I wanted to be available to him and was expectant that he would be with me.

So I went in and we got to talking and before long we were talking about living far from family. I found out that her sister is getting married in her home country later this month but that my stylist was not able to go because her passport had not been returned yet.

It was then that I sensed the Lord wanted me to pray for her. So before leaving I expressed to her that I was a follower of Jesus Christ and asked if it would be okay if I prayed for her.

She looked a little puzzled, but she agreed. And so we bowed and I prayed and expressed that simple request. My eyes filled with tears as I just wanted her to experience God’s love in this way.

I do not know how God’s going to answer that prayer or how he’s going to use this in her life. But I give thanks that he led clearly, that he was with us, and that I had the opportunity to express his love in that way.

I asked my friends one question each day

Hi, my name is Samm. A conversation I remember having is one about joy.

You see, when I was in high school I took a brown paper bag to lunch every single day. My mom would write a question on the outside of the bag for me to discuss with people at lunch. Some days it was a silly question and some days it was more spiritual. But it always gave me the opportunity to talk with people about different things.

One day the question was, “What color would you be if you were a color, and why?”

I said yellow because it’s a representation of joy. It ended up leading me into a conversation about what is really satisfying and what some purpose and meaning to life and emotions are.

My mom gave me really incredible opportunities to have conversations by asking simple questions. And so I’ve learned that when you ask a good question it can often lead to having a really good discussion.

I thought using a gospel tool would feel weird

Transcript:

Hi, my name’s Ross. The conversation I remember is when I met a guy on a train years ago.

The day I met him he had actually been released from prison. He was on his way home after serving eight years in prison, and so I was asking him questions and just trying to be curious about him.

We talked about the fact that I was a Christian. I asked him what he thought about spiritual things and so he tried to explain that. As we talked I realized nobody had ever actually explained the gospel to him. He didn’t really know what the gospel message was.

I had a Knowing God Personally booklet in my pocket at the time because there was no GodTools app then. I thought to myself “I don’t know how long I’ve got left on the train with this guy. If I’m going to explain the gospel I need to make sure that I’m clear and concise so I’m able to get through everything that I want to before he gets off the train.”

So we looked at this booklet together. We read a page then talked about it. And by the end of the train journey, right before he got off at his station, we’d read the invitation to actually become a Christian at the end of that as well. So he’d understood the whole gospel and what he needed to do to respond to it.

I think what I learned from that was a couple of things:

One was that just because you’re using a tool to explain something doesn’t mean that you’re wedded to it. You can still have a really natural conversation. You just have a point to come back to every time you need to.

The other thing was that using a tool wasn’t as awkward as I imagined it was going to be.

All I had to do was say, “Hey, I’ve got this booklet. Do you think it would be useful if we looked at this as we’re talking?” He said that made perfect sense.

Sometimes the things I expect to be awkward when I’m having a conversation about my faith just aren’t. And so I had an amazing conversation with this guy that day.