All right guys!! IMM BACK. (It’s
Natalie) So today was the day of book tables. (Though we will also be doing the
tables on Thursday).
We started by getting
some basic training for how to talk
More nervous for how well I was going to be able to talk with others. I
know, right? Natalie not comfortable with talking?? Just kidding, I’m sure you
all know this is a little different then normal. On the bus ride down some of
us had a conversation about how much we really needed to have faith that the
conversations we had, or didn’t have, were all in God’s hands. It was what he
wanted to happen. I forgot to mention that during the training, Barry talked
about the Lord’s prayer and the ways in which we should apply it to what we are
doing. How followers of Jesus should use those words in our life. “Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in Heaven” Going into it, I really had to keep that in
mind.
with people. Barry taught us some stuff and
we all sat in a stuffy little store (New Life Masih Ghar’s thrift store) and
prayed together. I’m not going to lie, I was definitely slightly nervous about
what I would encounter while we were out there.
All right guys!! IMM MICAH. (It’s
Micah) I wanted to talk about my book table experience. I was
rather nervous because I’m not the most comfortable with strangers, but the
experience was very eye-opening. I
started by handing out pamphlets that gave basic information about Christ.
(That He became man to die and suffer for our sins) There was another man there
with a seemingly Russian accent (Don’t hold me to that because nearly everyone
has different dialects here) handing out booklets with Bible verses on them. It
was so neat to see.
I got a lot
of little kids taking pamphlets from me. One little girl came up to me after
her parents had passed and asked for one, and a kid walking all alone took one
from me and started reading it. Another neat thing that happened was that an
Iranian man came out of the church we were standing in front of.
We had a good talk about Christianity
together. Later I switched roles and stood at the table with all of the books
on it.
Finally a British person came
along and walked straight up to the table. He was very open to everything we
had to say. He said he’d been trying different religions and forms of meditation
and that he knew about Jesus. I’ve never seen anything like that before. He was
really nice to us, although he accused us of hating homosexual people. There is
a stereotype that Christians hate homosexuals, but not all do. That mindset is
completely against what Christians stand for.
We should share our love with homosexuals because God loves them.
This is how we responded to this point.
Talking to these people about God was a great experience. It’s cool to see what
God is doing around the world. Thanks for reading. Drive safe.
I handed a Sikh a pamphlet and I watched him walk away
looking at the paper. All of a sudden, he stopped walking and I thought he was
going to turn around to come talk to me about it, but instead he sat down on a
bench and pulled out his glasses. He read the paper, nodding his head as he was
reading it, and when he finished, he looked up at me, smiled, gave me a thumbs
up, and said “I agree.”
–Allayna (He is pictured in the lower left hand corner of the picture to the right)
Today while handing out literature at the book table we met a gentleman that accepted our invitation to church tonight and the dinner that followed. True to his agreement he was at church tonight and shared a table with Barry for the dinner afterwards.
Today I also met a guitar-playing musician. The second time he walked by my table I noticed he was humming and I commented to him that he seemed to have a song on his heart. We proceeded to have a discussion on the music in the Psalms as well as the movement from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant as he began discussing the chaos of today's world. I reminded him of the need for laws and rules in the Old Testament and how through Christ's death on the cross we are free.
Mark L.
Today while I was handing out pamphlets with the Lord's Prayer written on them I got into a long conversation with three Jehovah's Witnesses. I went to hand them my literature as she was handing me theirs. The three women tried to show me verses from their
bible to prove their way. I responded by stating what I believe, that you can only
get to heaven through faith in Christ. I called over Brett to end the
conversation because it was just moving in a circle.
Hindi language and it was an amazing experience. Sonni did a very impactful sermon on the book
of Micah that most (if not all of our group) thought was amazing. He actually became a follower of Jesus through the church and has gone to seminary and is now one of the pastors! After we
finished the service we got to sit down with everyone who attended the church
service and eat an Indian potluck and the food was outstandingly good. After dinner we played futball (soccer) with the kids of the church and then we finished getting ready for Kid's Club.
