The Angels Were Partying

Wow! Last night was an awesome night of visitation. My church has a weekly visitation program and we use Evangelism Explosion (EE) as the means of sharing the Gospel. We meet, go over the Gospel outline, break up into a couple of classes and then go out in teams of 3 visiting people that have visited our church recently. Right now we split up into tow classes: the beginner class which explains the Gospel presentation in detail and an Apologetics class, which I attend. Pastor Holt has done some great research into putting this class together.

When we went out in teams, my team visited some retired HCJB missionaries who have moved here. I love visiting retired missionaries. Probably because they remind me of my grand-parents. The Bookers were in Ecuador for over 30 years. Their daughter went to school with Steve Saint, Nate Saint's son. They were gracious, humble people wanting to connect with international students to minister to them. Leonard and Imogene are near 80 and still wanting to serve.

But that wasn't the highlight of the night. Pastor Holt's team met with a high school senior that had visited the church with a friend. He is from a Catholic family. Pastor Holt had started to present the Gospel to this young man when his mother came downstairs. At first the team thought this would end the evening because the family seemed very devout, but the mother started asking good questions. Pastor Holt presented the Gospel and the mother agreed on every spiritual point but was hung up on assurance, of knowing for sure she would have eternal life. After Pastor Holt explained that to her, he asked if she was ready to accept the free gift of salvation. She said she had been asking herself and God these same questions and yes, she was ready. What a joy! They will return to visit again with the son next week.

Another team got to visit a young couple who had been active in church but the husband had never made a commitment to Jesus Christ. Pastor Tobey presented the Gospel with similar results. The angels were truly dancing by that time!

Yes, EE could be considered a program. But it is more. It is a simple way to present the gospel to anyone. If you strike up a conversation with someone and it turns to spiritual matters, then there are two questions that you can ask to ascertain their spiritual life. If someone says they go to a church but you sense they are not a Christian, then you can start by saying, "Well, my church believes that..." and go straight into the Gospel presentation. Then there is follow up to do because you are responsible in helping with their spiritual development such as getting to church, fellowship with beliveres, making disciples.

I look forward to each week of visitation, but I hope there are opportunities before then!