Outreach
I have been a Christian all my life. I have talked to people about God, but they were people who already knew the Lord. Before coming to Kansas City I had never walked the streets and talked to people, I had never been inside a soup kitchen. I have never led anyone to the Lord. I grew up with a mother who would talk to everyone about God. By everyone I mean EVERYONE, waitresses, cashiers, random people shopping. When I was younger I was embarrassed by it, now I love that she was that kind of role model in my life.
Every Wednesday here at DTS we go to the Plaza, which is a part of Kansas City. A group of us goes to the soup kitchen, and the rest hit the streets to talk and pray with people. My first Wednesday going out I was apart of one of the groups that walked around talking and praying for people. I was with three other people. My partner and I went up to the first guy we saw and said that we were going around taking a survey about what people believe God to be. I didn't say anything at first. I let my partner do all the talking. I was nervous, but after a while I chimed in and ended up praying for the guy. After that we let the other two girls talk to someone. The final person I talked to by myself. I told her the exact same thing my partner did the first time, with the survey. She said she grew up catholic, but now doesn't believe in anything. She said that religion was for old people to help them get through loved ones dying. I asked her if she believed that the big bang was real. She said yes. So I asked her if she thought that the world and everything in it was an accident, if that meant she was an accident. She flat out said yes! I became speechless. I just wanted to hug her and tell her that God created her for a purpose and He loves her and has a plan for her life. My heart was broken. I was at a loss for words. All I could do is thank her for her time and tell her to have a good evening. I cried the entire way back to base.
The following week I was part of the group that went to the soup kitchen. We got there right after dinner was being served, so there was a bunch of people but they were all eating. Right after our group walked in the door a guy walked by and made a sexual comment about the girls in the group. Now I know how to handle that outside of Christ, but I am learning how to handle that inside of Christ. So I just looked at him and told him to have a great night. The staff told us that they needed help in the clothing closet. I jumped on the chance to be locked in the closet so I didn't have to talk to people and worry what they were going to say or do. So a few of us went to organize the clothes in the closet. I was struggling with my feelings towards the situation. I felt bad that I was locking myself away, not allowing God to work through me. After we helped in the closet, we went out to talk to people. By that time there was only a few people left. Everyone was cleaning up and getting ready to leave. So I decided to mop while praying over the place.
After we left the soup kitchen we walked to our bus. We were the first group back, so we decided to pray as a group. Like a good Christian I prayed for everyone in the soup kitchen, and the staff working it. I felt like a worthless human being at this point. My group prayed over me, and broke off things that were hindering me from sharing my faith with people.
A group from Minnesota came last weekend to do a 24 hour, 3 day evangelism event. I was not looking forward to it. It took up my weekend, and they were making me do something I wasn't really that comfortable with. I was insecure about talking to people is what it all boiled down to. There were 10 sessions. Everyone had to do the first one and the last one. We also had to choose one to do in between. A few of us chose to do the 9pm-3am session. Which meant we would be going to the bar strip and talking to drunk people. Perfect! I love drunk people. So we met for our debrief to figure out our groups and pray. After that we went to the prayer room for 2 hours to get fueled up and ready to go out. We got to the bar strip called Power and Light District. Basically its a couple of streets that are just full of bars. We arrived at the Power and Light District around 12:30am. I teamed up with one of my roommates and a guy from IHOP. The guy from IHOP was what we would call socially awkward. He told us how God told him move down to Kansas city from Minnesota. It was an interesting story as a believer of signs and wonders. Not a great story to use to try and reach the unsaved drunk people walking on the streets of Kansas city. After about and hour of him scaring people off my roommate and I stepped up and starting talking to people and praying for them. In a way I am grateful for his awkwardness because if it wasn't for his inability to relate to people I wouldn't have stepped up. We ended up talking to a few people.
All in all it was a good experience. I challenge you all go to your local soup kitchen, or hook up with a evangelism group and get out of your comfort zone. Its not about how well you qualify or how well you know the Bible. God isn't looking for more pastors He is just looking for a people group who will just say "yes'.
"Here I am God, send me"
The following week I was part of the group that went to the soup kitchen. We got there right after dinner was being served, so there was a bunch of people but they were all eating. Right after our group walked in the door a guy walked by and made a sexual comment about the girls in the group. Now I know how to handle that outside of Christ, but I am learning how to handle that inside of Christ. So I just looked at him and told him to have a great night. The staff told us that they needed help in the clothing closet. I jumped on the chance to be locked in the closet so I didn't have to talk to people and worry what they were going to say or do. So a few of us went to organize the clothes in the closet. I was struggling with my feelings towards the situation. I felt bad that I was locking myself away, not allowing God to work through me. After we helped in the closet, we went out to talk to people. By that time there was only a few people left. Everyone was cleaning up and getting ready to leave. So I decided to mop while praying over the place.
After we left the soup kitchen we walked to our bus. We were the first group back, so we decided to pray as a group. Like a good Christian I prayed for everyone in the soup kitchen, and the staff working it. I felt like a worthless human being at this point. My group prayed over me, and broke off things that were hindering me from sharing my faith with people.
A group from Minnesota came last weekend to do a 24 hour, 3 day evangelism event. I was not looking forward to it. It took up my weekend, and they were making me do something I wasn't really that comfortable with. I was insecure about talking to people is what it all boiled down to. There were 10 sessions. Everyone had to do the first one and the last one. We also had to choose one to do in between. A few of us chose to do the 9pm-3am session. Which meant we would be going to the bar strip and talking to drunk people. Perfect! I love drunk people. So we met for our debrief to figure out our groups and pray. After that we went to the prayer room for 2 hours to get fueled up and ready to go out. We got to the bar strip called Power and Light District. Basically its a couple of streets that are just full of bars. We arrived at the Power and Light District around 12:30am. I teamed up with one of my roommates and a guy from IHOP. The guy from IHOP was what we would call socially awkward. He told us how God told him move down to Kansas city from Minnesota. It was an interesting story as a believer of signs and wonders. Not a great story to use to try and reach the unsaved drunk people walking on the streets of Kansas city. After about and hour of him scaring people off my roommate and I stepped up and starting talking to people and praying for them. In a way I am grateful for his awkwardness because if it wasn't for his inability to relate to people I wouldn't have stepped up. We ended up talking to a few people.
All in all it was a good experience. I challenge you all go to your local soup kitchen, or hook up with a evangelism group and get out of your comfort zone. Its not about how well you qualify or how well you know the Bible. God isn't looking for more pastors He is just looking for a people group who will just say "yes'.
"Here I am God, send me"