Pioneer Square

On Veteran's day, I went back to Pioneer Square to hand out gospel tracts.  It was a typical cold, rainy Northwest November day.  Didn't see anyone I knew, but right after I got there,  an older lady came up & said,   "Do you know Jesus?"   I told her that was the very thing I was there for ---> to talk to people about Jesus. I asked her if she had tracts, and she said no; that she had forgotten to bring some.  So I gave her half of mine.  I know it was  God's timing that I was the first person she approached;  so that she would be well stocked with tracts to hand out.

After that, the next person I approached said  "Yes"  he was saved, and that he was at the Square with 50 people from his church to witness and evangelize around the Square! Apparently, "Horizon Fellowship" (which is located down in San Diego, Ca.), had decided to spend 3 weeks up here evangelizing at Portland State University & the Square & other Portland sites.

I then met the pastor of Horizon Fellowship, Mike MacIntosh, who had actually spoken at my church (Crossroads Community Church) years ago.  He's got an amazing  testimony.  He was a self-described beach bum who had dropped too much acid and "permanently" fried his brain back in the late 60's.  After being institutionalized for 17 months w/paranoid schizophrenia,  some pastors laid hands on him and prayed, &  he felt a sensation like electricity  go through his brain "connecting the dots".  His mind was healed  & he then went on to get  multiple college degrees & became a pastor. His story is told in the book, "For The Love Of Mike".  I read the book many years ago, and it was fun meeting Mike in person. Here is a link to his 10 minute video testimony:

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=542db6dfb263e746c21c



Myself & Mike MacIntosh at Pioneer Square



Pearl Accepts Christ!

Sunday we went to Northeast Portland to an apartment building we had done a few years back. Most in the building took a tract but did not take time to talk.


We did talk, however, with one young lady that professed to be a christian, but didn't have a grasp on the salvation message of forgiveness in Christ.  She didn't know for sure that she was destined for heaven.  So we went through the message of salvation & especially assurance of salvation. 
 
Next, we turned down a short dead-end street, that was mostly Hispanic.  So Saul did most of the talking. Again,  most were too busy to want to talk, but took tracts. That's what I like about tracts.  People can read them at their leasure, if they can't talk with us at the door.  There were a few English-speaking residents that I talked with.
 
One young man, by appearance, seemed to be into the "punk" lifestyle. He had a mullet/mohawk hairstyle, and had mutiple piercings & tattoos.  He responded gruffly at the door: "No--you can keep your God!"
 
The last house on the block was answered by two young women,  who acted humored by our invitation to accept a tract.  They laughed when we tried to initiate conversation about God & Jesus.
 
Finally, we went to another nearby apartment complex in the area, & proceeded going door to door. A young girl named Pearl answered the door. She had a beer in her hand, but came out to talk with us.  She explained that she had just turned 21 and was celebrating with a beer.  However, when we proceeded to go through the 'Steps to Peace With God" tract, she seemed to be taking it seriously.  She had some church background, although she had never accepted Christ.  After praying to receive Jesus as her Savior, we shared that the bible doesn't condemn drinking, although we need to keep everything in  moderation.  We also left her with a New Testament as we always do.
 
In retrospect, these outreaches make it clear to me that Jesus wisely used "fishing" as an analogy to winning souls.  In fishing,  you don't always get a fish everytime you bait the hook.  Sometimes there's a nibble, but the fish gets away. Sometimes a turtle might gobble the bait. Sometimes the line might get snagged on some seaweed.  But if you keep fishing & don't give up, you WILL catch fish!

Another Good Outreach!

Today we went back to the same area of apartments in Portland to continue evangelizing. After we parked, there was a man and woman having a garage sale on the grass near the street, so we talked with them. The man said he didn't believe in anything he couldn't see. The woman seemed a little more receptive, but it seemed pretty obvious they both had a problem with alcohol & the conversation didn't seem to be getting anywhere. 

As we left there,  almost immediately, Saul approached  a young man walking down the street, & he stopped and talked to us. He said his name was "Junior."  As had happened last week, this 16 year old teenager also was  open to the Gospel, and after we went through the "Steps to Peace With God" tract, he prayed to ask Jesus to forgive him his sins and to be his Savior. We had him sign his name in the tract as a reminder of what he had done. Then we also gave him a New Testament.

We started to go door to door at one of the  apartment complexes, without much success, until we got to one apt. where the lady was obviously a Christian, and she was happy to talk with us.  But just as we were about to leave, she happened to mention the Jehovah's Witnesses who had also stopped by recently. She apparently had thought of them as Christians.  As our conversation continued it was clear that they had convinced her of their belief that Jesus was a created being.  This, of course, is a heresy according to the Christian church.

We then showed her scriptures in Revelation 1 and John 1, to make clear that Jesus, in fact, is "very God of very God" as the old Nicene Creed says.  

This lady had allowed a cult to deceive her about the most fundamental Christian belief; that of the nature of Jesus Christ.  I think there are many out there like her, who, though sincere, do not study & read the bible enough to ----as Ephesians 4 says:  "Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.."

Awesome Outreach!

Today, after church, I went with a friend to an apartment complex in Portland, Oregon to pass out Gospel tracts & share Christ.  Upon arriving, we first talked with a security guard sitting on the steps. He turned out to be a Christian. He said that because of so much gang activity in the area, although he supported what we were doing, he could not allow us to hang around. His instructions were to keep anyone from loitering in the area.

But he pointed to an area close by that was near the street, and was public property.  So we went there & prayed that God would show us who to talk with. We first approached a black teenage girl by the name of Jasmine who was sitting on a bench.  After going through "Steps to Peace With God" with her, she prayed to accept Jesus. Then her boyfriend showed up. He was an arab-american & his name was  "Kish".

After going through the tract with him, he too prayed to accept Christ. Both of them signed their name in the tracts we gave them as a reminder of what they had done.  We gave them both New Testaments, & Saul wrote the name of a church in the area in the bibles.

Next, we decided to go to another nearby apartment complex where we had no problem going door to door.  We talked with an hispanic teenager named Louis who said his mom was Catholic. He had never accepted Christ. After going through "Steps to Peace with God", Louis wanted to pray to accept Christ. Again, we had him sign and date his tract, and gave him a New Testament with the name of a local church.

Finally, we ended up talking with Jennifer, who was a young mom of 21 who said she used to go to Victory Outreach. When asked, she said she had never prayed to accept Christ. When we went through the tract, she said she was interested but did not want to pray just yet to accept Jesus. She said she wanted to wait until she felt she could start going to church regularly. She sounded like she wanted to "clean up her act first" & then come to Jesus.  Since she seemed to understand the tract, I told her about the thief on the cross who only prayed "Remember me.." & asked her if she could just pray "Thank you Jesus" & she prayed "thank you Jesus".  We left her with the tract.  Only God knows her heart, but I'd like to think that just like the thief on the cross, God accepted her short 3 word prayer.

Door to door in Camas, Washington

On Saturday, I went with a friend to Camas, Washington to go door to door.  Since she attends a local church there,  we planned on leaving a flyer for the church along with each tract.

The first house we went to, the couple was out working on the yard.  "Hi, I'm Pat, & this is Paula;  we're just passing out this little tract. It talks about God & Jesus..."

"Oh, praise the Lord" the man said. His name was Paul, and he said both he and his wife attended a local Nazarene church.  They were very friendly and seemed to enjoy the visit.

We next talked with a man who said he believed in God, but was not really interested in church. As he started to mention that his wife was a Jehovah's Witness, she appeared in the doorway, and came out to talk to us.  Like most people in Camas, she also was very friendly, and even commended us for going door to door.

After a long discussion about whether Jesus is God, we left her with the tract "The Jehovah's Witness Bible Proves that Jesus is God".  I was surprised she accepted it, as usually, they don't take literature from other faiths.  Before we left,  she agreed to pray.  We all prayed that God would reveal to all of us His truth.  I think this is a safe prayer to pray, as it asks God for help without putting down someone elses beliefs.

Finally, we talked to a man that said he used to go to a pentacostal church, but apparently had quit some time ago after a divorce.    He accepted the tract & seemed to agree with what we shared.  We then prayed with him  about some issues he shared about reconciliation between some family members.

It was an interesting outreach in that we only covered 3 houses   in the space of 2 hours because  everyone was very friendly and seemed to enjoy talking with us.

Jesus Said To Go...

I love this article/sermon on evangelism:
http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/1990-07-01-Lets-Go-Fishing/

"Jesus" T-shirt

I'm trying to have more of a Christian presence by wearing T-shirts when I can that mention Jesus. I'm also always wearing a cross now.  That way I can be a witness even when I'm not talking; and I do think that it's also encouraging to other Christians (I know it is to me) to see Christ lifted up in public.

So, I had on my "Property of Jesus" Tee, when I took the dogs to the park this afternoon.  A girl near the entrance said, "I like your shirt!".  Since she was obviously a believer, I asked where she went to church. She said she had just moved down here a couple months ago from Spokane after graduating college, and hadn't started looking for a church yet.

Then she said: "I've been thinking about a church called 'Crossroads'.  Have you ever heard of it?"  Since I've gone there for 20 years, I was able to tell her about it & encourage her to go & check it out.  She said she would definately make it a point to go this coming Sunday.   I think it was a "divine appointment".   I think it was God's way of leading one of His kids back into a church environment.

But the catalyst that led to that interaction was the "Jesus" T-shirt.

Witnessing at Pioneer Square

Off and on I go to Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon which is a melting pot of cultures & beliefs.  I hand out Gospel tracts on the corner, and get to talk about God & Jesus with people that stop.   Today, when I first arrived there, I saw a teenage girl walking by, reading a cartoon bible tract.

"Oh", I blurted out, "That looks like one of the tracts that I hand out."  She said her name was Layla, and she had just been handed the tract by someone up the street.  She said she was Muslim, but had a few friends that were Christian.

I shared with her my understanding of the difference between Islam & Christianity; mainly that Jesus is God, and He DID die on the cross. (Koran states that Jesus DIDN'T die on the cross.)  She seemed sincere & open to talking so I shared "Steps to Peace With God" (a tract by Billy Graham) with her. I also asked if she would like a New Testament, and she said yes.

I asked her about her parents, and she said they were practicing Muslims & probably wouldn't read the bible tract. But when I offered her a tract I had that was in Arabic, she accepted it and said they would definately read it.  (It seems that some from foreign cultures LOVE reading anything in their mother tongue.)

Later, I was approached by a young man "Serge" who was registering people to vote. I talked with him for quite awhile. He had just graduated, and is on vacation here from Georgia (formerly of the Soviet Union).

He was volunteering with a group that was registering people to vote. While talking with him, he shared that his parents were orthodox, but  while he believed,  he hadn't been following his religion that closely. He had left his bible back in Georgia. I offered him a New Testament. "You're GIVING me a bible--you mean for FREE??"  He couldn't believe I was offering it for free. He gladly accepted it & was actually excited to get it.

Although I do door to door evangelism more than street evangelism, Pioneer Square is always stimulating & unique for it's diversity.  It's also enjoyable fellowshipping with a few others I've gotten to know at the Square; Marty Kennedy, & Ron & Karen Rohman. Here is a link to a website by Ron and Karen Rohman that has pics of ministry at the square. They have  been doing street ministry at Pioneer Square for over 25 years:   http://www.awakening1s.net/TestimoniesPhotos/photoindex.htm

Kenny, A Homeless Teen, Accepts Christ...

Yesterday, after church, I went with my friend Saul to evangelize at Waterfront Park in Portland. First we talked with the Muslim parking attendant without success. He was polite, but was set in his beliefs. He said he couldn't read English well, but when I gave him a bible tract in Arabic, he accepted and said he would read it.

After talking with 5 or 6 individuals and leaving tracts, we finally ended up sitting on the steps overlooking the river, next to a young man (maybe 19 or 20). Saul tried to initiate conversation, but all the man did was mumble a little (incoherently). His eyes were heavy & he seemed out of it. Saul started praying out loud for Kenny....

He became more lucid & responsive after that, & to make a long story short, prayed to accept Jesus. His name was Kenny; he said he was homeless and had a drug problem (opiates); but said he had recently been thinking of going to church. I gave him a New Testament, & Saul wrote in it the contact info of a local church he knew of that has experience in helping with drug problems. Kenny said he would contact the church. He also said that if he wasn't serious about it, he would have told us he wasn't interested.