Evangelism at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, June 23rd, 2018

This post is being written a week after the actual event, and unfortunately will be a short one. The reason for the quick post is that today I and a group of brothers and sisters went to Pride-fest to pass out water and tracts. My mind is buzzing; still trying to process much of what happened so that I may better pray for those who are lost and so that I may better speak the truth in love. I hope that I can give you all an update about this day soon, so that you may know how to pray too.

There are times where I feel inadequate when evangelizing. My words are clumsy, my heart isn’t perfect, and I am not confident. These are all examples of what I inwardly think about after each time we go passing out water bottles and tracts. This day I was particularly frustrated in my heart because of other’s reactions. I long to have conversations with unbelievers that I deem to be fruitful– the problem in the sentence being that my idea of what is fruitful is not necessarily considering God but results. Truthfully, there is no way to know how the tract I pass out or the conversation I have with another person will effect them. Only God knows the heart (Acts 15:8), and there are true scenarios where unbelievers are reconciled to God weeks after they speak to a Christian. These situations are a great encouragement to me– God works in ways that He deems to be the most glorifying (Isaiah 43:52), not in ways that I deem to be the most effective (Proverbs 14:12). With that being said, I will now detail the events of the day.

Rachel, Zach, Galal, Philip, and I went down to 19th street this day. It was far less crowded than the weekend before, and many people were on the beach. We split up into groups; Galal was stationed at a water cooler, Zach and Philip at the other water cooler, and Rachel and I about half a street down from them. Although there were not as many people, we still gave away many tracts and all of our water bottles. It was very hot this day, so I am thankful that people were able to receive them.

Galal had several in depth discussions– I know that there were at least three couples that stayed for a while to talk to him. All three, from what I gleaned, left seemingly unchanged and indifferent. When talking with individuals, we try to speak with them about the fact that is a standard for what is good (the Law), and that God is a righteous and blameless judge. A blameless and righteous judge will punish a transgressor, and we all fall under that category because we cannot keep the Law. THEN comes the good news. Many times, as was the case with these conversations, people try to justify their sin, or instead avoid the conscience altogether by asking philosophical questions. I do not know the details of their conversations beyond the fact that they talked about these things. One thing that Galal likes to do after an in depth conversation is to give away a tract with a real 5$ bill inside, thanking them for their time and detailing the gospel (linked below). I was able to see two very different reactions from two of the three couples while we were out there. The first couple opened their envelopes, put the money in their pockets, and proceed to talk. The second opened their envelopes and stopped.

The man looked at me and asked me “Why did he do this? We just argued with him for ten minutes.”

I said ” I think the inside explains his reasoning!”

They then turned around and gave him a hug, staying to talk for a while longer. I pray that, through Galal’s gift, God was able to change the hearts of this young couple; I pray that they were able to see an example of Christ-like love through Galal’s actions and that God would save them.

Zach and Philip also had the opportunity to have a conversation with a couple. Something that the man said to Zach and Philip was “I am right, you are right, we are all right” regarding the truth. This is the effects of post modernism at work. This conversation ended with the couple leaving, their minds seemingly unchanged about sin and the good news of God’s grace.

Rachel and I spoke with some young men from the military. Upon asking them if the believed they would go to heaven when they died, one young man looked at Rachel’s tattoos and our nose piercings and said:

“You can’t have ink and piercings and go to heaven, you are both going to hell too.”

After this I said “Actually, that is not true, and we can talk about it if you would like.” He then left.

Rachel then had the opportunity to have a conversation with a young couple. The woman was Catholic, and Rachel had the privilege to be able to walk her through the Law and then give her the good news, adding that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone and that works are the manifestation of our faith rather than the substance of it. This conversation was an encouragement, because she seemed very open.

Rachel then had a conversation with a man who was a professing, bible reading Christian. However, she told me he struggled to see the separation between God and His creation. I am assuming that she means that he either a) thought that God is creation, or that b) we and all of creation are god(s). This conversation ended prematurely because of a thunderstorm.

While Rachel was having that particular conversation, I was having my own conversation with a homeless man on the bench next to her. He told me about a website that he was making, and we also talked about whether registered voters who didn’t vote should have their ‘non-votes’ counted as votes. It was very interesting, and he gave me a lot to think about in regards to the ways that government works. As an aside, I do not think that idea will gain any real traction, but it is interesting to think about living in a country where that does happen and the implications that go along with it. Then I gave him a tract and we started to talk. He told me that he believed that heaven and hell were only a mindset, and afterwards I spent most of the time answering questions he posed in an attempt to stump me. These attempts were not born out of anger or resentment, but rather to get me to see with a ‘broader horizon’. These questions were about the inerrancy of Scripture, Adam and Eve and the gnostic notion that the serpent brought about knowledge by convincing them to eat the fruit and was therefore good, and the Trinity. Only with the help of God I was able to navigate through the conversation. I had an answer for almost everything he asked, but I do not know if they satisfied him.

There came a point, shortly after it started raining, where I asked him “What if, when you die, you come to find that all that I am saying to you right now is true?”

He then said, ” If all that you are saying is true, then I would give God a piece of my mind.”

Then the rain prevented any further conversation.

Overall, many amazing conversations took place that day. Even the seemingly unfruitful ones were ordained by God to take place. In the Lord, our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Please pray for the people we handed tracts to, and those we had conversations with. Pray that they would take the tracts they have received seriously and that God would cause their hearts to be restless until they repent and believe in Him. Pray for their souls and that God saves them.

Resources:

MILLION DOLLAR BILL TRACT

A GIFT FOR YOU TRACT