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Greg and Heidi sharing the joy of reading the Bible
Outreach table in NYC (setting up last Sunday after church at Times Square subway, since it is too cold to be outside) Hello Dwayna:
Greetings from the Crossroads of the World! a/k/a 42nd Street/Times Square. I have to say that God truly does work in mysterious ways....
First of all, I want to give Him the glory and sing praises. One song that sums it up would be "Ode to Joy"....
It seems the Holy Spirit was working in one accord this week. Since Suzi was out of town, we had decided (Christine and I) that we would take a break this Sunday and go out again upon Suzi's return from vacation. Funny how things work, as it seems that Christine and I were on the same wavelength during the week, and we both felt in our hearts that time is indeed short, the days are growing darker, and the people need to hear the words of salvation!! So, with the blessings of our Pastor, we decided to set up again in the subway.
The weather this past Sunday was a lot nicer, although it was still a little chilly. We arrived at our location and before we could even get the table set up with all our supplies, we were approched by NUMEROUS people desiring to take Bibles and tracts and CDs!! What a sight!!! I was a little overwhelmed, as I was trying to answer various questions as well as serve as encouragement for a gentleman who was so blessed to see us there. It was truly amazing, and Christine and I were so happy that people were coming up to us and were so delighted to take things, and they were also incredulous at the thought that all items were free of charge. One pair of Chinese Christian ladies were absolutely giddy to see all the materials and wanted so many different tracts, especially the ones concerning salvation and Jesus and the apologetic ones concerning the Roman Catholic church and religion vs. Biblical Christianity!
One Jewish man came over to the table hesistantly and I saw him, and I reiterated that he was free to take anything he desired, as all was free. He then asked if we had any Old Testaments, and I replied that unfortunately we were out of the complete Hebrew Bibles but that he was more than welcome to take the New Testament. Lo and behold, as he walked away, I saw that he did indeed take one!!! Praise Yeshua! I am especially happy when I see a Jewish person searching for the Messiah or at least wondering who Jesus is. What great honor to be able to hand him or her the Word of God and desiring that all would come to Jesus to be saved.
One other gentleman came over to the table and identified himself as a reporter from "The Huffington Post", a newspaper that is run by Adriana Huffington, an extremly liberal-biased publication. Apparently, he was gleaning information from the various ministries which tend to operate in the long tunnel passageway between 8th Ave. to 7th Ave. At first, he assumed that we were affiliated with another ministry, which operates at the opposite end from where we set up, but I explained that we were our own ministry. For those who do not know New York City and this subway location, the other ministry has been a mainstay for quite some time as they have several signs out with big, black, bold letters with verses from the Bible, although most of the verses only address judgment and hell, with a few regarding God's love and salvation. They also used to carry a wide assortment of Chick tracts, but for the past several weeks, it seems that there has been no ministry there, and the shelves are depleted of materials. In conversation, the man began to question me regarding salvation and what I believe regarding how one can be saved and who Jesus is, and how one cannot receive salvation unless they repent of their sins and put their trust in the Messiah. The gentleman commented that that seemed intolerant, because unless one believed what I believed, they were out of luck so to speak. I then replied that salvation is available to all men but not all men will come to salvation, which seemed to hit a chord with him. At that point, I invited him to e-mail us and to come visit our church to hear more about the Gospel and to ask further questions of my pastor.
A few Roman Catholics came over to the table with various questions. One young gentleman seemed to acknowledge what I was explaining to him, but he was stuck on the question of whether it was a bad thing to cross oneself and genuflect. I then explained to him that that is superstitious behavior, that once one is saved, the Holy Spirit resides within the person and they are under the blood and covering of Jesus. One becomes a child of God and there is not need for superstitious practices. I had to explain this several times, after which he finally understood and then I told him to email us with any additional questions and to come visit with us at church.
Another young lady who was Catholic came by the table, but she rejected the truth and stormed off. I felt burdened in my heart, and when we returned to the church offices, I made sure to include her in our prayers for salvation.
We were not harrassed by the police at all!! Thank goodness for that! We were also blessed to have Christian and Greg join us in handing out tracts. Greg is a young man who came to our table about a month ago and, since that time, has been attending Heritage Baptist Church. Christine was also quite busy handing out tracts and engaging with others regarding questions they had on various topics. All the Gospels of John were taken. Many people were asking for Spanish complete Bibles and DVDs, as well as music. We told them that we hoped to have more materials in the coming weeks. We also received a financial donation.
Another lady approached and explained to me that her nieces were involved with the Black Israelites, a cult which is somewhat popular with disenfranchised blacks here in New York City and that her husband was a muslim. She then took some Arabic materials for her husband to read concerning the Gospel. Hallelujah!!!
We were out at our location from about 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. and after a group prayer, we returned to the church office to drop off our supplies.
We both had such joy in our hearts and were thankful to Jesus that He gave us strength as we were weak physically, but somehow we had the energy to set up as usual.
We are still in prayer for more donations as well as laborers.
Shalom and Blessings.
In Christ,
Heidi
Other comments:
Also want to add that once again, Pastor Recker gave a shout out to the congregation about our ministry and encouraged them to come out and visit our table!!! He also indicated to me a few weeks ago that he and the elders have decided to incorporate our ministry into the church budget and will set aside funds every month to help us!!! In addition, he will continue to supply materials as he gets them!! He is a great Pastor!!!
One more thing I do want to add, is that is was a real encouragement when a fellow Christian came up to the table and told us that he was saved by reading a tract. He said his life was a mess, and he was handed a tract, and he was saved through reading it. Then, he also told us that God used him to help a young woman who was going to cut her wrists by giving her a tract that said "God loves you" on the front. Praise the Lord! He works in mysterious ways! Amen.
Greetings from the Crossroads of the World! a/k/a 42nd Street/Times Square. I have to say that God truly does work in mysterious ways....
First of all, I want to give Him the glory and sing praises. One song that sums it up would be "Ode to Joy"....
It seems the Holy Spirit was working in one accord this week. Since Suzi was out of town, we had decided (Christine and I) that we would take a break this Sunday and go out again upon Suzi's return from vacation. Funny how things work, as it seems that Christine and I were on the same wavelength during the week, and we both felt in our hearts that time is indeed short, the days are growing darker, and the people need to hear the words of salvation!! So, with the blessings of our Pastor, we decided to set up again in the subway.
The weather this past Sunday was a lot nicer, although it was still a little chilly. We arrived at our location and before we could even get the table set up with all our supplies, we were approched by NUMEROUS people desiring to take Bibles and tracts and CDs!! What a sight!!! I was a little overwhelmed, as I was trying to answer various questions as well as serve as encouragement for a gentleman who was so blessed to see us there. It was truly amazing, and Christine and I were so happy that people were coming up to us and were so delighted to take things, and they were also incredulous at the thought that all items were free of charge. One pair of Chinese Christian ladies were absolutely giddy to see all the materials and wanted so many different tracts, especially the ones concerning salvation and Jesus and the apologetic ones concerning the Roman Catholic church and religion vs. Biblical Christianity!
One Jewish man came over to the table hesistantly and I saw him, and I reiterated that he was free to take anything he desired, as all was free. He then asked if we had any Old Testaments, and I replied that unfortunately we were out of the complete Hebrew Bibles but that he was more than welcome to take the New Testament. Lo and behold, as he walked away, I saw that he did indeed take one!!! Praise Yeshua! I am especially happy when I see a Jewish person searching for the Messiah or at least wondering who Jesus is. What great honor to be able to hand him or her the Word of God and desiring that all would come to Jesus to be saved.
One other gentleman came over to the table and identified himself as a reporter from "The Huffington Post", a newspaper that is run by Adriana Huffington, an extremly liberal-biased publication. Apparently, he was gleaning information from the various ministries which tend to operate in the long tunnel passageway between 8th Ave. to 7th Ave. At first, he assumed that we were affiliated with another ministry, which operates at the opposite end from where we set up, but I explained that we were our own ministry. For those who do not know New York City and this subway location, the other ministry has been a mainstay for quite some time as they have several signs out with big, black, bold letters with verses from the Bible, although most of the verses only address judgment and hell, with a few regarding God's love and salvation. They also used to carry a wide assortment of Chick tracts, but for the past several weeks, it seems that there has been no ministry there, and the shelves are depleted of materials. In conversation, the man began to question me regarding salvation and what I believe regarding how one can be saved and who Jesus is, and how one cannot receive salvation unless they repent of their sins and put their trust in the Messiah. The gentleman commented that that seemed intolerant, because unless one believed what I believed, they were out of luck so to speak. I then replied that salvation is available to all men but not all men will come to salvation, which seemed to hit a chord with him. At that point, I invited him to e-mail us and to come visit our church to hear more about the Gospel and to ask further questions of my pastor.
A few Roman Catholics came over to the table with various questions. One young gentleman seemed to acknowledge what I was explaining to him, but he was stuck on the question of whether it was a bad thing to cross oneself and genuflect. I then explained to him that that is superstitious behavior, that once one is saved, the Holy Spirit resides within the person and they are under the blood and covering of Jesus. One becomes a child of God and there is not need for superstitious practices. I had to explain this several times, after which he finally understood and then I told him to email us with any additional questions and to come visit with us at church.
Another young lady who was Catholic came by the table, but she rejected the truth and stormed off. I felt burdened in my heart, and when we returned to the church offices, I made sure to include her in our prayers for salvation.
We were not harrassed by the police at all!! Thank goodness for that! We were also blessed to have Christian and Greg join us in handing out tracts. Greg is a young man who came to our table about a month ago and, since that time, has been attending Heritage Baptist Church. Christine was also quite busy handing out tracts and engaging with others regarding questions they had on various topics. All the Gospels of John were taken. Many people were asking for Spanish complete Bibles and DVDs, as well as music. We told them that we hoped to have more materials in the coming weeks. We also received a financial donation.
Another lady approached and explained to me that her nieces were involved with the Black Israelites, a cult which is somewhat popular with disenfranchised blacks here in New York City and that her husband was a muslim. She then took some Arabic materials for her husband to read concerning the Gospel. Hallelujah!!!
We were out at our location from about 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. and after a group prayer, we returned to the church office to drop off our supplies.
We both had such joy in our hearts and were thankful to Jesus that He gave us strength as we were weak physically, but somehow we had the energy to set up as usual.
We are still in prayer for more donations as well as laborers.
Shalom and Blessings.
In Christ,
Heidi
Other comments:
Also want to add that once again, Pastor Recker gave a shout out to the congregation about our ministry and encouraged them to come out and visit our table!!! He also indicated to me a few weeks ago that he and the elders have decided to incorporate our ministry into the church budget and will set aside funds every month to help us!!! In addition, he will continue to supply materials as he gets them!! He is a great Pastor!!!
One more thing I do want to add, is that is was a real encouragement when a fellow Christian came up to the table and told us that he was saved by reading a tract. He said his life was a mess, and he was handed a tract, and he was saved through reading it. Then, he also told us that God used him to help a young woman who was going to cut her wrists by giving her a tract that said "God loves you" on the front. Praise the Lord! He works in mysterious ways! Amen.
Perhaps we could post a note to Christians to bring/send any music cds, Bibles, tracts that they want to donate as we did have a woman approach the table offering to do so. Many wouldn't normally think of combing their personal supplies or materials from their churches that could be such a blessing to the lost! I Just want to get the word out so that as many resources as possible can be given away.
Answered Prayer:
A dear Christian man has shipped more resources to Pastor Recker for this table ministry location. Praise God for how He provides!!!!!
