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.