The days leading up to our evangelizing trip in Lynchburg, I was scared. Super scared. I had never gone out witnessing before, and I was sure that I would stumble over my words or mess up or do something stupid that would make a person want to avoid Jesus at all costs.
Of course, before we went out, the counselors gave us a little class on what to say and how to act. The important question we would be asking was, "What happens when you die?" After they talked, I felt a little better. Then I found out that we would be split up in to groups of three or four. And those groups would not be just our small group! Our small group would be mixed in with one of the guy's small groups. I was hoping that one of my girls would be with me, but then Emily Rae broke the news to me: I would be alone, with two other guys.
Oh darn.
Hey, nothing against guys! I get along great with them, and have some good guy-friends! But on my first time evangelizing I wasn't super excited about not having some girl support.
We were introduced to our witnessing groups, and I was happy to see that the guys I would be with looked nice. They introduced themselves, and at first I couldn't remember their names! Rather embarrassing, right? So we didn't exactly start off on the right foot.
Then, as the groups walked to the buses, I started to get to know them. Noland and Nathan were their names, and thankfully I didn't forget them. :)
We boarded the charter bus (my first time, btw) and found seats. I got the window seat next to Noland. It was really hot in the bus, but a little air was coming from the vents near the window. After we started driving, the realization started to sink in: I was going out, with two boys I hardly knew, to ask people, "What happens when you die?" From then on I was occupied with my own thoughts. Noland and I didn't really talk, except for when I asked him if he had ever gone witnessing before. He said no. Then I was like Oh great, he has no idea what he's doing either! I stayed quiet the remaining ten minutes of the drive.
The bus stopped on Main Street in Lynchburg. We all got out and stood on the sidewalk, awaiting orders from the counselors. Nathan caught up with me and Noland, and after listening to the last bit of information we started off. The other groups scattered, and we walked down the street.
A group had already snagged some people ahead of us, so we continued walking. We had reached a corner when an older woman and her daughter (probably in her twenties) came toward us. We quickly whispered among each other about who was going to ask them the question. Noland volunteered, and we approached the two women.
Noland asked the younger woman, "What happens when you die?" She paused, then said "I believe in heaven." "Do you think you'll be going to heaven?" Noland questionted. The woman nodded, and I asked "Why do you think you're going to heaven?" Without much hesitation she answered, "Because I'm a good person."
What?????
After the woman said that, I felt like laughing. In fact, the whole scene felt like something from a movie! The way she had said "Because I'm a good person" just seemed like something we had seen in our training videos. That was when I felt really overwhelmed: People actually believe that good works get them in to heaven?!?
So we were all like, "Okay, thanks for your time!" and we moved on. I think the three of us were a bit shocked that someone had actually said that to us.
We continued walking and soon met up with another lady. She looked to be probably in her 60's and was using a cane. Nathan decided to ask her. We were pretty close when he started to talk. Nathan started off with, "Hi, may we ask you a question?" The woman stopped, and Nathan continued "We're from World Views Academy and we-" he didn't get any further, because the woman instantly pounced on us and was like, "Is World Views Academy associated with Liberty University?" Nathan looked at Noland and I, then said "Uh, yes." The woman instantly turned her face away from us, put up her hand, and stated "I can't talk to you." I almost fell down, I was so surprised. We tried to give her one of our pamphlets but she just kept her hand up and walked away.
I don't know what Nathan and Noland were thinking at that time, but I was pretty bummed. The people we had talked to hadn't benefited at all from our attempts at conversation!
We crossed the street and spied a couple walking with their son. Noland asked them again, and the father said he believed in heaven and hell. Nathan asked, "Where do you think you're going?" With no hesitation, the man answered, "I'm going to heaven." Noland then asked, "Why are you going to heaven?" The man said, "Because Jesus died for my sins." My spirits rose a little after he said that. We talked for another minute, then moved on.
We next saw a hot dog cart by the sidewalk. I decided to ask the lady who was attending it our question. I had just asked her when she smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to answer that while I'm working." We shrugged and kept walking. I didn't feel too discouraged about that---after all, it wasn't her fault those were the rules!
We met a few other Christians who seemed sincere, then came upon this young man who believed in reincarnation (yeah, that's what he said). We asked how he knew this to be true, and he said that's what he had learned in church (huh?!?). Noland then said, "So, what do you think you'll be in your second life?" The guy looked at him like he was crazy, then said, "Oh, I don't think I'll have a second life."
Wait a second. Time out. Someone who believes in reincarnation, but not a second life? I was completely confused.
Noland and Nathan seemed to be less confused, and we tried to tell him a bit about Jesus and the Gospel. He seemed to receive it well, so we handed him a pamphlet and continued on our way.
We next met two men who were on their way to work. We stopped them and asked the older guy what happens when he dies. His reaction was different from everyone else's: he actually stood still, put his hand in his pockets, and said, "I haven't thought about that in a long time." I felt a little hope about this guy. He explained that he believed in heaven, and that even though he hadn't exactly been a 'good person' he thought he might be going there. I asked him if he believed that Jesus had died for his sins.
Things became interesting after that.
The man said that he believed in Jesus and felt like he sort of knew Him. I was thankful that Nathan and Noland just kind of settled back and let this guy talk. I mean, as he kept talking and talking, I realized the man was practically pouring out his soul to us! It was clear to me that he hadn't been able to talk about Jesus and salvation in a long time. I also noticed that his eyes were a bit bloodshot, and that sometimes he would stumble over his words. I wondered if he was taking drugs or medicine.
I forgot about that, though, when the guy explained that even during the darkest times in his life, he had felt this little light inside of him. He said it felt like someone was reminding him that he wasn't completely bad. I seriously almost cried at that point. Noland told him that was definitely Jesus, reminding him that He never leaves us nor forsakes us. The man looked at Noland and seemed truly grateful that we had stopped him and asked him all these questions. Then his friend (who had been rather quiet) said that they really should be getting to work. We thanked them for their time and gave them a pamphlet.
As we walked away, a counselor came up and said it was time to head back to the buses. A whole 45 minutes had gone by already! It felt like only 20 or 15 minutes while we were talking to different people.
When we joined the other groups, my friends and I exchanged stories about the people we had met. Then it was back on the bus. Noland and I sat together again, and once again we didn't really talk. I was rather occupied with what had just happened to me, and it was all still sinking in.
That evangelizing trip really changed me, I think. In fact, on the last night of camp, we had a campfire.
It was actually just the entire camp sitting in a circle in the parking lot by the dorms (no open flames allowed!), sharing how the week had changed us.
At first no one stood up, but then one girl took the initiative and told us how she had learned more about being a leader. Then a guy(actually, it was Brendan, the boy who took our picture) shared how he felt he would be more outgoing about his faith after the camp.
It got quiet again, until Katelyn stood up (I promised her if she went first, I would go right after her). She quickly said how much this camp had showed her to be a better leader, then sat down.
Almost without knowing it, I stood up and talked about how nervous I was about witnessing and that thanks to God I realized that evangelizing really is not that hard. I sat down and thought, Wow, I just got up in front of a bunch of other teenagers, and I wasn't scared! After that we sang some hymns, with Huck on guitar and Miles leading us. Even though we didn't really know the words, most of the boys didn't sing, and we were rather out of tune, I think God was pleased with the melodies we made that evening. We were just giving it all up to Him on our last night of camp.
Jeepers, that was an uber long post! Thanks for standing with me, dear readers. See you next week!
Love,
Jessica and Charity in the cafe
This is a great picture!
Some Bible verses from my notbook
Okay, so we had to talk through this tunnel under the highway to get to classes. I kept noticing this totally random handprint on the ground in the tunnel----and being a totally random person I had to take a picture of it!!
lol.......
Doesn't this cloud look like a strand of DNA???? I took this a while ago when I took Sammy for a walk.