LTW to the SmokiesJuly 4, 2009
When Dwayna was two years old she sang “God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. He’s so good to me!” The second verse is “God answers prayer. . . He’s so good to me!” I thought of this short song today as I witnessed at the Sugarlands Visitor Center outside of Gatlinburg. A Muslim lady, dressed in black with her face covered, passed the LTW table on her way to her car. I caught a glimpse of her but was busy with other people. As soon as I was able to break away, she was gone. This is one time I would have approached someone, but I missed her. I had the letter “Dear Muslim Friend” published by www.arabicperspective.com to give her. In my heart I felt disappointed and began asking God to give me another opportunity to share with someone of another faith today.
Shortly, He answered that prayer. There were many people from India visiting. None of them had stopped at the table until after my prayer. One Indian lady came over wearing American clothes but was with a large group, and all of the other ladies had on their native sari dress. After introducing myself, I explained about how everything on the table was about Jesus Christ. She said she had heard of the Old Testament and asked if I had one. As I began showing her the complete Bible, I told her about how wonderful Jesus is. She listened as I showed her the New Testament and in it the book of John. I told her the plan of salvation and how much Jesus meant to me. I selected various tracts and put them in the Bible she was taking. She also took sermons by my pastor, Hollie Miller, and by my previous pastor, Tommy Fox. It was then she saw Dwayna’s CD which had “Wish I Could Give You Jesus” on it. She asked for it. As she returned to join her group, she showed the materials to all of them. I was praying that the men or other ladies would not ask her to bring anything back, and they didn’t.
Another answer to prayer was when a Messianic Jewish lady told me about her husband being unable to understand how Jesus was the Messiah. When she saw all of the tracts from the International Board of Jewish Missions, she began to hug me and literally jumped for joy. She took a copy of each one of them and is going to read them with her husband. After praying together, she asked me to share with other prayer warriors her desire for him to be saved. I assured her that God is sovereign, and His Holy Spirit would be with her as they read the material together. Her happiness and excitement was contagious. While we were off to the side in conversation, many people were at the table eager to find the right thing to meet their needs, too.
A family came by whose house had recently burned. Everything they owned had been destroyed. There were four of them, and each took a Bible. Thanking me over and over for them, they were overjoyed as they took books, sermons, and tracts. After leaving, their daughter returned with a donation for the ministry, although I explained earlier that everything was free. She said her mommy and grandmother insisted that I take it.
Many Christians took testimonies on CDs from ex-homosexuals to share with members of their family and other friends who were struggling with same sex attractions, books and DVDs on family life, and the booklet of quotes from our founding fathers which shows our nation’s Christian heritage. Since today is the 4th of July, many people were attracted to this booklet. There were many children taking the Keys for Kids magazine, and some were Hispanic, taking the Spanish version. Some parents stood back from the table but said they would read the magazine with their children.
After looking at the banner around the table, one man asked me to quote Nehemiah 9:19, since these words were on the banner. This gave me an opportunity to take a Bible and read it to him. I explained how this verse applies to our lives as it tells how God’s Word is the light that shows us the way to go.
All conversations today were about “Our Great Savior.” As the words to this hymn states: “Jesus! What a Friend for sinners! Jesus! Lover of my soul; Friends may fail me; foes assail me; He, my Savior, makes me whole.”
