Giving the Gospel!

Yesterday was a long and exciting day. Michael and I headed for Duluth at 8:00 a.m. We met up with the rest of our pro-life group, piled into a van and struck out for Virginia MN. Once there we had a meeting with some other pro-lifers, held signs in front of Planned Parenthood, passed out a bunch of literature and then did some surveys.

When back in Duluth, Michael and I along with a friend met up with another group and stood with them to give the gospel to a crowd of sight seers. Three re-production sailing ships had sailed into the Duluth harbor earlier that day and were docked behind the DECC, a large entertainment center in Duluth, the amount of people that turned out to see them was incredible.

Here are a few photos of the ships:

The Schooner Madeline

Sail

The Niagra's rigging

Pride of Baltimore

As we were walking I saw the captain and another man from one of the ships and asked if we could get a picture:

They loved Michael's tri-cornered hat!

We held signs that said: "Jesus Died For Your Sins And Arose From the Dead Turn From Your Sin And Believe For Forgiveness" and "Fear God Stop Sinning Believe and Obey Jesus" and "When You Die Everything You Ever Did - Said Thought Will Be Judged".

We handed out about a hundred tracts and could have given out a thousand more if we had had them. Hundreds of people read the signs, many heard Michael and his friend reading from Romans 1-2 and the story of Nicodemus in John 3. A little distance from us, others from our group, Steve and Josh, took turns street-preaching. Steve's wife Tina was there with their two little girls and the two year old began 'street-preaching' as well, telling people "Stop sinning", "Trust Jesus", "Read your Bible!", all in the most adorable two year old pronunciation.

There were times when people were standing around us waiting for something or other to take place and it was then that the Lord answered a prayer that I have had for a long time. I was able to share the gospel. One young lady from Colorado had just begun reading the Bible and was very open to hear about sin, judgment and Jesus death and resurrection. As I spoke, the Lord kept bringing scriptures to mind and even when I did not know what to say next the words were there, the Holy Spirit taught me at each moment what to say. Praise the Lord!

Another lady had never read the Bible but she was very open to hear the gospel, listening intently. I can now see how the Lord has been preparing me to do this. He needed first to bring me to a place of deeper repentance for sin and more love for His son Jesus Christ. I cannot really describe in words how He prepared me but it causes me to worship Him when I look back over the last few years, even my whole life, and see what He has taught me.

An older lady that I talked to had read some of the Bible but said she took everything other than the words of Jesus as a grain of salt. She told me that she believes that there is a "spark of god in everyone", when I asked her if she could show me that in the Bible she said it was her "interpretation" of the Bible. She did listen to the gospel, though she had already formed more of her own opinion than the others, I pray that God will use the seed that was planted.

Another lady was a very articulate Muslim who tried to turn the conversation in order to proselytize me. She said that I should read the Quran because it's words have never been changed, saying that the Bible's words have been changed. I answered her as best I could but it was a good learning experience for me and shows me some more areas to study.

The last person I talked to was a young girl, probably about twelve years old. She was mad that two ladies had responded with anger to our sign. I talked to her for a short time, encouraging her to read the Bible.

All in all it was an amazing day, we are praising and thanking God for His blessings and for the opportunity to witness for His name. I cannot wait to do it again!