Rosemere Neighborhood

My friend Paula and I went to the Rosemere neighborhood as it is considered one of the poorer areas of Vancouver.  It always seems there are more people open to talking in the poorer areas. The first door we knocked on,  we were greeted by Ida & her grown daughter, Burle.  Although they claimed to be believers, they didn't have a church home.  Ida most recently had been visiting a Kingdom Hall, which is a Jehovah's Witness church.   Although she agreed that they were cultish in that they believed they were the only true church; Ida liked to go to there bible studies. I tried to hammer home the idea that it didn't make sense to be under the teaching of a cult no matter how much you liked their teaching.

Paula mentioned Shiloh Church, where she attended, & the lady sounded interested in trying it. We spent a good 30 minutes or more at that first house. Almost everyone we talked with seemed friendly and open which is unusual.  One home we went to, a Samoan lady said both her father and grandfather were pastors, and she said she always prayed outside on the front porch for all her neighbors.

This helped me understand why it was so pleasant a neighborhood.  I think all those prayers had an effect! Another young man was Catholic; said he almost lost faith when his sister, who he prayed fervantly for when she came down with cancer, died.  But he said after awhile he resigned himself to the fact of God's will.  He said the experiance did make him more empathetic to others that have problems.

Finally we talked with John, a man who looked about 35, who was recovering from a trucking accident. He said he almost died last December, but felt like God pulled him through. He didn't go to church, although he said his mother does. He was sad that he has to depend on his folks who are elderly, since he is not fully recouped from the accident.  I went over a bible tract with him  & he seemed to agree with it; although God only knows his heart.

The experiance that resonates the most with me is the thought that the Samoan lady's prayers had an effect in tempering the nature of the neighborhood.  It encourages me to pray more for my neighbors.

Outreach in the Public Square...

I was recently able to team up with a new evangelism partner, who also goes to my church. Interestingly,  the opportunity came by way of God coordinating circumstances in answer to prayer:

It happened that one week ago, I had mentioned my outreaches in our Sunday morning prayer group, opening it up for anyone interested to team up and go out, talking to folks about Jesus & salvation.  I no sooner had left the building after the meeting,  that a fellow named Tim struck up a conversation as we walked to our cars.  Without me mentioning anything about  my conversation about outreach in the prayer meeting,  Tim brought up the topic, mentioning his heart to reach out to the community with the message of Salvation.

This was obviously the Lord's timing! So, yesterday, after church, we had our first outreach.  After meeting up at Wendy's,  we prayed & started out down at Marine park.  Tim struck up a conversation with a Russian family, near the Kaiser viewing tower, who did happen to be christian.  We talked with the husband, Oleg,  for some time.  Even just having dialog with fellow christians in a public setting, I think, helps encourage us to be more open about our own faith outside the four walls of church.

From there,  we went along the promenade at the Marine park beachfront, which was more populated than the beach.  Our general idea was to chat up someone, hoping for an opening to have an easy segue to talk about faith.  We noticed many folks walking their dogs, and it's really easy to complement someone's pet, and start talking.   We wound up talking with a lady named Jeanette, who was walking her poodle, for about 20 minutes.  Managing by the grace of God to steer the conversation to spiritual  matters, Jeanette responded that she was a believer but didn't attend church.  (Unfortunately, too many people these days are turned off by  church, which makes it easy to be drawn even further away from spiritual matters.)  She also mentioned she was on a juice fast for health reasons,  and as Tim mentioned he was interested in  learning more about it, she gave her contact info for future follow-up.

(This brings up an interesting difference in evangelism approach between Tim and myself.  I'm more into directly jumping into dialog leading to giving the Gospel immediately, whereas Tim's approach is more subtle & friendship-oriented to building on a relationship & following up with discussion on the Gospel as he feels the Holy Spirit lead.  We are definitely not all  "cookie cutter" Christians doing it the exact same way.  God made us all individuals,  and many approaches to giving the Gospel lead to results as we try our best to yield to God working through us.)

Finally,  we drove back to Wendy's, discussing the outreach. As we talked in the parking lot, a young black man (maybe late teens?) walked up asking for a dollar for food.  Immediately, I offered a dollar, along with a bible tract, making the statement that along with food, maybe he could use some spiritual nourishment.  In talking to "Wakim",  he said he was raised in the church, although, like Jeanette, did not seem to be following as closely as he ought.  We also offered to pray for Wakim, and his girlfriend, Tyler.  Normally, I'd never presume to know the sincerity of anyone receiving prayer, who was *also* accepting money for food, but something interesting happened, after prayer.

Tim had mentioned to him that it was no coincidence, no accident, but rather the Lord's timing, that he had approached *us* just as we were in a discussion about approaching *others* with the gospel.  Wakim really seemed to accept that. And when Tim took out his wallet to offer the kid a few more dollars for the "cause",  Wakim turned it down!  He said no thanks, commenting how he really appreciated our talk with him & prayer for God's guidance in his life.   This is the beautiful thing about outreach. When we just show up, God can & will work through us, showing God's love to others.

Pioneer Square...

I haven't posted in a very long time.  Work has kept me too busy & I haven't been out as much. But I did get down to Pioneer Square in Portland, Ore. last Friday,  Febuary 15. I arrived at 2:15pm which was just when    
Ron & Karen Rohman were leaving.  They have been doing street ministry for 30 years. As I started handing out tracts to passers by, a black gentleman by the name of James rode up on his bike, dismounted;  & then to my delight started to street preach.   I was glad not to be alone, as two giving the gospel is more the biblical way.  James was great, sharing his testimony, and also singing some Gospel songs acapella.  The Max train stops there, so many people waiting for the train couldn't help but hear the message.

About an hour later, I spotted yet another man showing up 1/2 block away, also handing out tracts.  I took a break to talk to him.  He apparently has a  church he leads out of his home.  He gave me one of the tracts he was handing out & I put it in my pocket to read later.

More people seem to be taking tracts these days, which is an encouraging sign.  To me however,  I wish more people that do street ministry would pay close attention to what they hand out.  Some tracts I read don't clearly give the message.  They present Jesus as a friend & helper (which He is) but sometimes only present Jesus as a way to make this life more fulfilling, without giving an eternal perspective. That's why I like the Billy Graham tract "Steps to Peace With God".  Jesus is presented as the only way to cross the bridge from here to eternity in Heaven.

I stayed at the Square fairly late, until 6:30pm.  There had been an ambulance parked a block away for awhile, and as I walked back to my car,  I saw what looked like someone's cherry coke spilled all over the sidewalk.  But then I realized the grim truth, that someone had been hurt & apparently the ambulance I had seen earlier, had done their job.  I don't know how the incident turned, but it *is* a reminder that no one knows when their time here on earth is up,  and I'm at least left with the  good feeling that a few more people were exposed to the truth of God that day,  and maybe God could have used  the seriousness of the accident
to get people's attention to seriously considering the brevity of life, and the choice we all have to make to be reconciled to God.

The Joy of Christmas vs. the Grief of Connecticut Massacre

         

1. Although this blog is for outreach experiances, I wanted to share thoughts on the recent tragedy in Connecticut:
   
   Christmas --a time of celebration and joy; but for now, especially for those in Connecticut, a time of grief and sadness. How to reconcile these contrary feelings?
   
   As I re-read the biblical account of the first Christmas, the thought struck me-----> In the first century, Jesus was born in the midst of turmoil. Joseph and Mary had fled from King Herod, who sent a death squad after them to k...
   

   ill Jesus. Herod's men had instructions to kill all the baby boys 2 years & under in the town of Bethlehem. Most scholars have estimated (based on expected population of Bethlehem at that time) that the actual number was probably around 20 infants that would be under two, brutally slain in Herod's "slaughter of the innocents".
   
   This is also the same number of children murdered in Connecticut. The grief, despair, & sadness being felt in response to the tragedy is the same as that felt in Bethlehem in the first century:
   
   Jeremiah 31:15 &
   Matthew 2:16-18: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “Thus says the Lord: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.’”
   But because Jesus fullfilled His mission, eternal life awaits after this life for all those children slain will live again.

Back Again to Camas...

Today, (Saturday) I went back to Camas with Irma. It was interesting because we first worked a well-to-do area of town, & then went to a poorer side of town. It was perfect weather, with a blue sky, and 75 degrees.

Prune Hill is absolutely beautiful.  Expensive homes overlooking breathtaking backyard viewpoints.  We first did a cul-de-sac of about ten homes on NW 25th Circle.   Most weren't home, but we did talk with an elderly lady & her adult son.  He apparently was an agnostic, and wasn't interested at all in talking. But the lady seemed happy to see us. She said she was Catholic & seemed to be a believer,  & accepted the tract. She said her son's name was Dan.   We told her we would keep him in prayer for salvation.

Another home was answered by a young lady about college age, who accepted the tract, but then went on to explain she was Jewish & that they attended a synagogue in Beaverton.  Irma started talking with her about the Jewish scriptures (old testament).  Then after a few minutes, her father came to the door and politely ended the conversation.   We didn't get the young lady's name, but were happy she accepted the tract, because practicing Jews are not inclined to accept Christian literature. 

Next we went to Adams street off of 14th Ave.  We didn't have any extended conversations, but handed out another 15 or so tracts. One man was painting his fence with his two young sons. He was definately Christian and had three crosses in the window. He was happy we were doing the area, as he said the JW's and Mormans are the only ones he sees doing door to door. 

Right on cue,  we spotted 2 Mormons up the street walking. (After we got back to the car we tried to find them to give a tract, but lost sight of them.)  Across the street, we talked with several occupants of a four-plex. One family was new to the area, and had tried several churches, but hadn't felt welcomed.  We encouraged them to keep trying.  They took a tract.  All the tracts we passed out had Crossroads church contact info on the back.   So it would be exciting to see if there is any fruit from our efforts (in new families from Camas coming to Crossroads)

Door to Door in Camas...

Sunday after church, I went with Paula door to door in Camas.  Although most people are fairly friendly at the door, and sometimes open to conversing about God, the very first door we knocked on gave us a rude awakening.  A lady came to the door, looked directly at the tracts I had in my hand, & pointed a finger at me and sternly & loudly said "NO!"   That level of animosity is new to me. 

But we soldiered on to the next house, where we were greeted by a lady who happened to be on the city council. She was friendlier & we conversed. As it turned out, she, like many we run into, seemed to have new age-ish beliefs. She accepted a tract,  so we hope the seed was at least planted.   As we continued on, we found many people home, & most were friendly, and about 50% were church-going.  And  a few people mentioned they were happy we were doing this outreach, as usually it's only the cults that they see door to door.

One of the last doors we knocked on was an attractive rustic log cabin.  No one answered the door, but they had this posted on their fence:  "SATAN Place". Bizarre!  to say the least.  They even had a full size guillotine on their front lawn. We left a tract on the door, so, once again, the seed was planted.

Dog Park & Door to Door...

Dog Park:
The closest thing to heaven, if you are a dog, is a trip to the dog park! Total endorphin & adrenalin overload. The happiness & total ecstacy some dogs show at the park reminds me a little of what we might feel the first time we enter through the heavenly gates. I think that's one reason I go there so often.

So, yesterday, I made a decision beforehand that I would go to the dog park specifically asking God to lead me to ONE person to witness to.  As my dogs played, I walked the grounds, looking for an opportunity.  After an hour,  I had managed to strike up short conversations, but nothing leading to an evangelizing opportunity. I decided finally to just leave a tract on the bench overlooking the hillside of the park. 

But as I neared the bench, I noticed a cell phone someone left.  After asking others at the park if they had lost a phone, I posted a "Found" notice with my number on the bulletin board there, & went home.

Later that evening, a lady finally called about the lost phone, & we agreed to meet at the park the next day. The next morning, when I gave her the phone,  she was very thankful so it was easy to also hand her a bible tract. It was a short conversation, but at least she got the tract to read, and I also had my church's contact info (Crossroads Community Church) on the back of the tract and suggested she might try visiting if she had nowhere else to attend for Easter.   To me, it really felt as though God had answered my prayer in guiding me to that bench which led to the witnessing opportunity.
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Door to Door:
Today (Saturday), I also went downtown, going door to door for about 45 minutes.  The most memorable conversation, was with a middle-aged lady at the third house I knocked on. She said "yes" she was raised Catholic, and was a believer.  But as we continued chatting, it became clear she had more of a "New Age" belief system than Christian.

For example, she believed everyone would ultimately get to heaven, regardless of what they believed, or how badly they lived their life.  When I tried to mention bible quotations, such as "No one comes to the Father except through Me", she said that she didn't really believe that part. She then went on to explain that she believed mainly what was in her heart.

That is a nice sentiment, & she is certainly entitled to her personal beliefs, but, whereas I seem to need a faith grounded on facts, many other people nowadays seem to be able to separate their spiritual walk from any grounding in any objective, factual foundation.

My reading of the bible, however, makes it clear to me that just as there are physical laws that run the physical universe, there are *also* spiritual laws that God uses to run the spiritual realm. For example,  if I jump off a building believing in my heart I can fly, I will still fall flat on my face & break some bones. The law of gravity still operates no matter how much I try to think to the contrary.  The same with the spiritual laws. If I disregard God's commandments & laws, I will suffer the consequences.  Likewise, if I obey the spiritual law of sincerely accepting Jesus as my Savior (the ONLY one Who can pay the price for my sins & shortcomings),  I get to enjoy the rewards of Heaven.++++++++++++++++