From Claudette Litz, leader:Today was a very busy day in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This week has been an important one due to the park's 75th Anniversary. Also, the Labor Day Weekend is always crowded with tourists, so I set up the table at 8:30 A.M. Thanks to a recent shipment of materials from Dwayna, I now have plenty of great books, Bibles, CDs, magazines, and tracts to use on the table.
The first person who came over was from Korea. He said he was not a Christian, but he asked for the magazine, The Way of the Shepherd. He wanted to read it, because it had many sheep pictured in it. I told him that he would learn about Jesus, the Good Shepherd, if he would read it. Although he seemed excited about the sheep, only the Holy Spirit can speak to his heart and make him want Jesus.
There were five groups of tourists from India who quickly glanced over the materials, but only one group of ladies stayed with me long enough to listen to an explanation about why I was there. One lady took An Autobiography of A Yogi by Michael Graham, and Which Way to God by Peter Jeffery. Her daughter took Keys for Kids. I told her about my favorite booklet, Where Do We Go From Here? She said it was too scary for her to think about death, and I told her how Jesus can take away her fear, because He rose from the dead. I could tell she was uncomfortable with those words, and I smiled and decided that the Holy Spirit was not ready for me to say anything more. The rest of the group was not willing to stay at the table and were eager for her to leave.
All of the Keys for Kids booklets were taken by children and grandparents very quickly. Also, all of the sermons by Tommy Fox and Hollie Miller were taken, as well as the copies of the books, The Light That Was Dark, by Warren Smith, A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, and They Thought for Themselves by Sid Roth. Dwayna’s CDs of her singing “I Rest My Soul” were taken by a church group to listen to on their tour bus, as well as the DVD, The Bible’s Big Picture by Compass International. Copies of Can We Be Good Without God were taken by grandparents to give to their grandchildren, as well as the booklets of quotes from our country’s founding fathers. One lady was very excited about The Invisible War by Berit Kjos. She taught in a Christian school and was eager to learn more of the New Age beliefs and influence on today’s young people. She also took the tracts, “Science Confirms the Bible” and “7 Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years,” by Dr. Terry Mortenson. By 1:00 the table looked bare; only two Bibles and some tracts were left. The rangers began closing the parking lot next to my table. I am not sure what was happening, but no more cars were allowed into it, so I began packing the remaining materials and carrying them to the car.
I am thankful for the good relationship I have with the park rangers. They are friendly and seem to appreciate the work that is being done around the LTW table each Saturday. Today I wore a t-shirt about protecting the natural wildlife in the park, and they made me feel like I was part of their work, too.
