Evangelism Update February 17, 2010
Evangelism Memory Verse:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
–Romans 5:12
Evangelism Quote:
“Let them pretend what they please, the true reason why any despise the new birth is because they hate a new life.”
–John Owen
Regular, Weekly Outreaches:
1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).
2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).
3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).
Evangelism Report:
Super Bowl Outreach 2010 (Miami, FL):
From Feb. 3-8, TLC Ministries traveled to sunny Miami, FL to share the gospel with the fans at the Super Bowl. Tim Crawford, Tristen Crawford, Jon Speed, Samantha Speed, Ron Martinez, Jose Muniz and Tom Sadowski all made the trip. We drove non-stop there and back and even stopped at New Orleans on the return trip to scout it for a future outreach with Jose Muniz and Jesus Crew Ministries. About 80 believers from around the nation joined together to get equipped with Biblical Christ-focused messages each morning and then did evangelism at various locations in the afternoon and evening. It was a blessing to be joined by Nathan and Mary Magnusen, Andy Schmelzer, Scott Smith, Ed Rivera, and Frank Lyman as we hit the streets each day, mostly in South Beach.
Here are some reports.
Samantha Speed:
We went to South beach and we passed out tracts…well i passed out Tracts. Dad street Preached. It was a good learning experience. I learned not to look where the crowds looked, the hard way. I also learned to be faithful in that trip. Even if some of the people did weird things that I cannot understand. I pray for those people every night before bed time.
Then we went to the Super Bowl. That was also a good experience. I learned about how far those people would go as a fan. They painted a helmet on their heads if they were a Colts Fan and if they were a Saints Fan they would say “Who Dat?” By the end of it you felt like saying, “Who cares?”
Tom Sadowski:
Probably the most salient moments of the entire time in Miami, for me, was when I was preaching on Saturday afternoon to this Mardi Gras-like crowd, and became quite overcome in my spirit as I beheld the devilry in front of me, contrasted with the “excellencies of Christ,” as had just been preached to us that morning by brother Matt Johnson from Georgia. I believe it was especially the thought that this same divine, SINLESS Lord Jesus Christ had DIED—horrifically under the wrath of God—for the likes of such miserable, wretched, hell-deserving sinners (as we ALL are) … that so moved me. Jon Speed told me afterward (best as I recall) that one among the crowd had been videotaping me to put on YouTube for him and his friends to get a big laugh out of later on. But once the effects of the inebriation (drunkenness) and so forth wore off, we believed, hoped, and prayed that some of these guys and gals watching would end up being saved. As I said to one fellow out there, when preaching later on that same night, who cursed and mocked as he passed by, IF he would fear God, repent, and trust in Christ, he could in short time very well be out on such streets himself, proclaiming and defending that which now he despised.
Ron Martinez:
The Super Bowl festivities were nothing short of wild. The Saints and the Colts would compete in one of the most watched Super Bowls of all time. My Super Bowl weekend was spent with like-minded brothers in Christ. Two days on Miami Beach (ALL day long) and one day at the game doing street evangelism. Talk about rewarding!
The atmosphere was rowdy on Ocean Drive just off the beach. I think it was because approximately 80% of those present were Saints fans–the sin factor was up at an all time high. Getting in and out of the “party” area required a lot of patience due to the incredibly thick traffic. Once we arrived there though, it was time to pull out the tracts, the amps, and for some not so like-minded, the signs.
I will elaborate more at Gospeltotheperishing.com about some of that, but for now I will do the reader’s digest thing.
Parish, Gorry, Patty, and Ronnie have caused me to reflect a lot on our various conversations. Gorry, was a guy with a mouth full of gold teeth. He prayed with me after I explained the gospel. Our time of prayer was right there in the thick of all that skin, drunkenness, cussing, and whatever you could imagine. Parish, was a cop guarding the Tide demonstration (huge area) and loud music. He remembers when he, a black man, could not get onto Miami Beach. Patty was a hitch hiker, a loner, and a wonderer with a sharp mind. She could have been on any Cosmopolitan Vogue magazine cover, but she would rather live like she was doing. She traveled with her dog and a beaten up guitar. As I was speaking to her, I could tell she had been beaten up a few times. She told me when she was a teenager that she had been raped by a pastor her parents trusted. So even now, men ravage her if they can get away with it. She was not a whore, just a loner. That night I saw where she was going to sleep when things would finally die down–on the street, under a little patio area. Then there was Ronnie who was at the game as a limo driver. He just happened to be hungry at the same time that I was hungry. I ordered my mini pizza, and then turned to look for a table (which happened to be in a gas station) and asked him if I could sit at his table with him. Of course, because God ordained it, Ronnie said, yes. He was from Canada. He spoke French and claimed to be an atheist. By the end of our 30 minute conversation, we were friends. Not only friends, but he was willing to read the book of 1 John in the Bible that I gave him. Think about that for a minute. An atheist holding a Bible on his way to read it!
Once the Super Bowl started we left, packed up our belonging, and made our trek down to the French Quarter in Louisiana to confront more sinners. God is good! I have many reflections of sadness at times from our Miami trip, but I have to know my Lord does much better than I to convert a sinner to His saving faith.
NBA All Star Weekend (Dallas, TX):
This report comes from Tim Crawford:
TLC ministries teamed up with Bill Adams (SFOI.org) for the NBA All-stars weekend here in Dallas and had a great weekend of ministry. We started out Friday night at the American Airlines Center, Saturday we were at the Dallas Convention Center and American Airlines Center and we ended the event Sunday night at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium with over 108,000 people in attendance! In spite of the foot of snow and the freezing weather the crowds were huge and the outreach was literally unhindered by the crazy Texas weather.
Friday night we took the team and headed out to the AA center for the Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. God showed us supernatural favor with the authorities and we were able to set up preach and distribute tracts at all the gates without any interference or confrontation from authorities. This was really awesome considering the issues some have had in the past preaching or distributing tracts. Bill Adams, Ron Martinez, Keith Higgins, Chap, Casey French and I arrived there at about 6pm and were set up at the main entrance gates on each side of the event. This gave us maximum coverage and exposure even though there were only 6 of us. I was greatly encouraged by Casey who is newly saved and on fire for God tracking and witnessing to everyone possible. I could not believe how many students were bused in for this event. Many inner-city students and youth were corralled inn and we were able to tract and witness to them as they came off the bus. We had many great one to one’s and were able to pass out 1,000’s of tracts and I am sure God was glorified. Please pray for these young students and all the rest who heard the word and received Gospel tracts.
Saturday afternoon the 5 of us (minus Casey) headed to the Dallas Convention Center for the NBA All-Star Jam session. I was confronted immediately with opposition from those policing the parameter of the event. I was told that even though it was public property I wasn’t able to distribute anything to anyone or I would get a citation. I thought about this for a moment prayed and figured that God must want me somewhere else. It was really cold outside and I couldn’t pass out tracts so I figured I would just walk inside the event and witness in there. Well needless to say God must have made me invisible and I walked into this event without any tickets, they didn’t even put me through the metal detectors! I had the privilege of going into this Jam session and distributing tracts freely without opposition to as many people I wanted. I gave Gospel tracts to several professional basketball players and a lot of inner city kids and it was awesome! I couldn’t believe it but I will post pictures because I don’t know their names and I don’t follow basketball. I only knew that they were famous because of their entourage and everyone trying to get their autograph. It was really a God thing because I would walk right up to them through all the crowds and hand them a tract and they would look at me and say thanks or that’s cool and put it in their pocket! After about 3 hours of tracking and witnessing inside the Jam session it was time to head over to the American Airlines for round two @ the NBA ALL-Star night.
We headed over to the AAC for the NBA All-Star night and meet up with Jeff Pitman, Tom Sadowski, Tyler his wife Pricella and Carl Kalbfleisch from Bezeugen ministries and several from his team. This event was huge and we definitely could have used more laborers but God is sovereign and we know from His Word that laborers will be few. We immediately split up and set up at the different gates and preached all night without any issues. The best part about this was that we were able to preach at the gates where all the people were lined up and waiting to get in. They were stuck in line and not going anywhere so it was a great opportunity to preach the whole Gospel to them. Many listened intently and were encouraged and many took tracts and seemed to be very open to the Gospel, praise the Lord for another great event!
Sunday we went to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium for the NBA All-Star game. There were over 108,000 people in attendance and it was an incredible outreach! I know that many had to stay home for Valentine’s Day but for those who joined us I truly thank God for you and your faithfulness. There are so many opportunities to preach the Gospel and so little interest from God’s people to do so? I really never understand this but we must continue to pray that God will send forth laborers into the field. I am so thankful for those of you who join us on a regular basis and would like to encourage all of you to invite your friends out to these events. We need to be disciplining and training up others on a regular basis to do what we do on the streets. This will allow us to cover more events and be more effective in reaching our Jerusalem with the Gospel of Christ. Please continue to pray for all who have heard and received the Word this weekend. God bless you and we thank you for your prayers and support.- Soli Deo Gloria
This report comes from Tom Sadowski:
I just now checked: the attendance for this event was 108,713. Amazing. And it did indeed seem like it, as people kept streaming in even as we were leaving, after a number of hours out there preaching and passing out tracts and talking to people in the bitter cold. The Word of God is so wonderfully relevant and instructive: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world … for the world is passing away … but [the one who] does the will of God will abide forever.” It was such a blessing, beyond words really, being out there on Saturday and Sunday with the many brothers and sisters, both from Atlanta and locally, too many to mention by name here … but I will anyway: Bill, Chap, and Keith from Atlanta, and, locally, Tyler and Priscilla, Mike and Alma (met for first time), Manuel and his father (ditto—Manuel actually now lives in France), Carl and his son Eric, Tim, Jeff, Ron, Tatiana, Randy, and I (Jon in NY). If I overlooked someone, please forgive me. Twice on Sunday, once w/o amplification w/ Chap to a moving throng (nearly losing my voice), and later just before we left with amplification to the many huddled around the stadium waiting to enter, I preached to many from this record crowd, among other things, about one famous former basketball player, whom they all likely had heard of—Pete Maravich—who before he died had come to repent of his sins and become a devoted and serious follower and spokesman for Jesus Christ, his eyes being opened by God to see that basketball is just a shadow, but faith in Christ the reality, and substance, of life.
This report comes from Ron Martinez:
This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were filled with activities here in Dallas for the All Star Basketball game. On Sunday it was extremely cold, I mean, frigid cold. The only question you need to ask yourself while at home, nice and toasty warm is this, and “Will the sinners be out there?” If yes, then the evangelists should be there to meet them. To make it short for a testimony, I share this sure fire moment. On the corner of a busy intersection of foot traffic and auto traffic I was reading Isaiah 40 aloud. I was getting all kinds of reaction from “Idiot” to “Preach it brother!” This one man of great stature (a modern Goliath) walked up to me. I looked up because I could not ignore him. I looked into his eyes and knew he had kindness. I greeted him with a, “Howdy!” He said that he really appreciated that I was reading from the Scriptures and to keep it up. He shook my hand and gave me a “God bless you” and went on into the game.
I praise my Lord for allowing me to do the work He set up for His chosen to do. Many new friends were made that were strangers to start. I guess that’s friendship evangelism.
Snow Camp Retreat (Amboy, NY):Kim and I traveled to NY to do a Snow Camp retreat for Genesee Country Church (Oakfield, NY). About 25 people were there and we had a great time snow shoeing, cross country skiing, hiking, sledding, and just plain old fellowshiping. I taught a three part series on “Faithfulness.” We started with the doctrine of the faithfulness of God, followed it with a study of what the Scriptures say about the faithfulness of man, and then preached the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30). This teaching had a big impact on several including some a couple that is newly saved and a deacon from another church in the Rochester, NY area. We all were struck with the faithfulness of God and our dependence on Him for any faithfulness in our own lives.
Evangelism Resources:
1. Here is something we hope will help you in witnessing to Mormons. It is an overview of how I witness to them when they come to the door (or elsewhere).
2. Here is a great audio clip of A.W. Tozer teaching on “The Omnipotence of God.” This is essential in evangelism. If we did not believe in an omnipotent God, our gospel has no hope.
3. Here is a two-part teaching on the Great Commission by Dr. John MacArthur. Part One. Part Two.
4. Here is a video clip of open-air preaching on Mill Ave. in Tempe, AZ and other locations. Some dear friends of ours have been faithful to bring the gospel to this godless district for the last four years or so. Please watch it and be encouraged to be bold for Christ.
If the Lord has no other calling for me than to preach the gospel on the streets, I am of all men most blessed. It is a wonderful trust, one I am not worthy of. Thank You Lord, for being gracious to me to call me to the streets to preach.
The Five Hundred @ Psalm 119 Conference in Keller, TX:
We are pleased to announce that The Five Hundred, the outreach we’ve been doing the last couple of years with Transplant Ministries (Marcus Pittman), is coming to the Dallas\Fort Worth area!
For more information on the Conference, go here.
To register for the outreach for FREE, go here.
TLC @ The Olympics!
Please keep Tim Crawford in prayer next week as he travels to Vancouver, B.C. to share the gospel at The Olympics. Tim has an opportunity to travel with Bill Adams of Sports Fan Outreach and will be flying out on Sunday and returning on Saturday. This is a wonderful opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed at an event that draws thousands of people from every tribe, nation and tongue. Pray that the gospel will be preached with power.
