Weekly "Fishing" Report (09-17-06)

Mark, Randy, Terri and I met on Saturday. After prayer we headed down 6th Street to catch the groups that were gathering for the Fall Wine Stroll. We used the Curved Illusion cards to offer "free sobriety tests". People got a kick out of them, and the tracts also put the gospel in their hands.

Mark and I came across a group young people sitting on the benches by the post office. Mark gave out a numer of tracts, and I passed out some NZ Smart Cards. When the red squares didn't change colors, I used that to swing into a one-2-eight with a group of them. Afterwards, Mark talked a little with one guy named Billy and learned he had some form of a Christian background. Yet, it was another case where he had some of the puzzle pieces but wasn't bringing them together into a clear picture of the plan of salvation. I pray the Holy Spirit takes what we were able to share and uses it to bring Billy (and the others) safely into the fold.

I've uploaded the MP3 of the one-2-eight to our website. You can find and listen to it on the audios page.

Meanwhile, Randy and Terri were speaking with a girl that called herself "Daemon". She's one of the punks that are starting to haunt 6th Street in growing numbers. They shared as they could, trying to till up the stony ground of her heart. Pray for this girl. Perhaps God will give us other chances to work with and water the seed that was sown.

We made our way down to Riverside Park for the Asian Cultural Festival. Randy and Terri did a tract sweep through the festival and gave out a hundred or more Million Dollar Bills. They also had a two-2-one with a young man that told them he was a Chrisitan, but didn't even know who Jesus was.

Mark and I made our way to the play ground, where I took the opportunity to preach open air. As I started, there were perhaps eight adults in the area with their kids. However, as I continued more and more people were drawn in. They kept along the back, so they wouldn't be readily noticed but could still hear me. By the end, I'd say there were perhaps twenty or more adults and teens that had heard the message of salvation. Praise God!

I've uploaded the MP3 of this open air to our website. You can find and listen to it on the audios page.

We headed back up 6th and passed through the wine stroll crowd once more, getting laughs with the "free sobriety tests" and passing out tracts. Once back at the cars, we closed in prayer and thanked God for granting us another chance to labor in the fields.

On Sunday, Mark's church hosted a Kids Fest outreach at Riverside Park. Kelly and I took our girls down to see the puppet shows and hear the Emmons Sisters perform. We got there a 1/2 hour early, so I dropped down to find three to four dozen people gathered at the playground. It was the first time Willow and Holly (my girls) got to see their daddy preach open air. I had a semi-heckler. One lady didn't like me being there. However, as I gave out tracts afterwards I had others encourage me and say they appreciated that I pressed on and shared the gospel boldly. I told them to give the praise to God... it's His doing.

The Kids Fest was fun. Mark and I both had a chance to talk with others about the street ministry and encourage them to share their faith. I gave out a number of NZ Smart Cards, along with a few Hell's Best Kept Secret CDs and flyers for the Great News Network. Pray that our Lord will fan the spark into a flame and raise up more laborers.

Pray for the seeds that were sown. May Christ receive the glory He is due!