Grace Notes

Wow, what a loaded and interesting time I had down there in New Orleans! I learned so much as I tagged alongside the very bold and passionate people who ran the Answers in Genesis booth!

You can imagine how much our banner stood out in the middle of such a secular setting!

We gave away boxes and boxes of free Creation Science DVDs and books.

And lots of interesting conversations erupted…

Many opportunities to share the gospel…

When you have a group of people who love to share the gospel, you end up witnessing to people everywhere you go….

Waiter (burgundy): “So are you all going to do some sightseeing while you are here in New Orleans?”
James (white): “Well, we’re hoping to share the good news with lots of people!”
Waiter: “Oh really? What’s the good news?”
Mr. Gendron (tan stripes): “That our sins can be forgiven and we have a Savior who paid the price for us to go to Heaven.”
Waiter: “Oh so are you part of a religious section of the NEA conference?”
James and Mr. Gendron: “Oh no, we don’t believe in religion. Religion is where man ‘works his way to God’. The Bible says that God reached down to us.”
Mr. Gendron went on to mention a few of the errors in Catholicism (somehow he knew our waiter was Catholic).
Waiter: “Well it is very interesting to hear your perspectives on this. But maybe I should get your order first and then come back and talk some more.”
We all laughed and agreed.

Later our waiter came by and told us that his brother recently became a born again Christian and had been e-mailing him about it. We talked some more with him and gave him some DVDs. He thanked us sincerely.

I learned a lot about witnessing to Catholics from Mr. Gendron–who used to be a devoted Roman Catholic himself before he became a Christian. See his website here. He has put together some very useful resources and tracts for witnessing to Catholics. (On the plane to New Orleans I sat inbetween a Catholic priest and an devout Catholic woman who spent a good part of her younger years in convents, so I was especially anxious for all the help I could get in witnessing to Catholics!)

Some people loved what we are doing, some were intrigued…

And some were angry…like the man in the white shirt and tie (a science teacher) who was looking for a way to cause trouble for our booth and stated in no subtle language that he was not happy about the materials we were giving out. The 20 minute debate that followed was fascinating as it was obvious that he had no evidence to stand on to back up his beliefs when confronted with the truth and logic of Genesis.

My roommates! Grace and Faith are wonderful young evangelists themselves and I really enjoyed spending time with their family!

Here is a portion of our team. Some are on staff with Answers in Genesis, and the others are evangelists / apologists from around the country. Dr. Jobe Martin and his wife and two daughters were there (right), and it was so much fun to get to know them. Taryn and Mirren also run conferneces for young ladies and they have a neat family ministry.

An incredible story was recently compiled by an aquaintance of Stephen who is a Christian and a visual journalist for USA today. It is definitely worth the 10 minutes to watch this video clip!

Click here to watch video from the journalist’s blog.

Click here to see the story that was published in USA today for Father’s Day.

Happy Father’s Day!

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” Malachi 4:6

We are excited to announce four Bright Lights Conferences scheduled for August, 2010. We will be doing a Strong in the Lord Conference and Radiant Purity Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and then we’ll repeat the same schedule in Duluth, Minnesota.

To Download Flyer Click HERE.

To Register Online Click HERE.

Click HERE to see a 2 minute video clip of Sarah speaking at a 2009 Radiant Purity Conference .

For more details about Bright Lights conferences, see the Bright Lights website.

If you would like our informational e-mail to pass on, we’d be glad to send it to you. Just contact us and ask!

Peter told the other disciples in Acts 1:22 that they needed to find someone to replace Judas to “become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Note how he emphasized the resurrection as what they needed to be witnesses of. We must be witnesses of His resurrection too. If Jesus hadn’t risen, His death would have been pointless!

The past couple of days we have been busy pulling together a Resurrection tract to pass out this weekend. It has been a really enjoyable process! The Lord has given so much awesome evidence. As I’ve looked at various books and websites to glean info for this tract I’ve become increasingly grateful for all the men of God who have labored so hard to provide answers in defense of the faith. I especially enjoyed Josh and Sean McDowells book, Evidence for the Resurrection .

CLICK HERE for the tract. Please consider printing some and passing them out in your area too! They are easy to print off–just print one side and then flip the paper over and print the other side. Then cut in half and fold in thirds.

Here’s an Idea:
Make breads or cookies for your neighbors and wrap in a spring-colored Saran wrap. Then attach the tract and pass them out to all your neighbors. If you have a younger brother or sister, take them with you! Everyone is open to receive something on a holiday.

Also Note:
For 4 page free download on Evidence for the Resurrection by Josh McDowell, click here. This is also an excellent resource to pass out!

Announcement for those in the Cedar Rapids Area:
If you haven’t already heard, we are planning a “resurrection witnessing outreach” this Saturday, April 3rd. Many people around here are pretty fired up about evangelism after just hearing Mark Cahill. In the past few days I’ve heard lots of witnessing stories. So for those who can make it, we will meet this Saturday at 1pm at my church, (Cedar Rapids Bible Chapel, 3412 Oakland Rd NE Cedar Rapids) and then we’ll divide into groups and go to various parks and malls. We’ll try to pair those who are less comfortable with those who have had more experience and we will provide some “Resurrection Surveys” to use to help with initiating conversations. At 5pm we’ll come back to the church for a time of pizza and sharing. Should be an exciting day!

Wow. Last night was a remarkable evening! Rarely do I see an audience respond with the same level of warm enthusiasm that they responded to Mark Cahill last night. For over two hours we heard story after story of powerful witnessing encounters — along with much-needed instruction for the body of Christ.

One of the things I love most about Mark’s messages is that they don’t just convict; they also equip. He has an endless supply of witnessing ideas and insights.

Here’s the way Mr. Cahill handles money at his booktable:
1) Take as many books as you can use.
2) Throw whatever donation you’d like into the box. If you don’t have money, just take books anyway.
3) If you are struggling financially, take some money out of the box for yourself and your family.

How REFRESHING! Why don’t more Christians handle money this way?!

After the presentation, Mr. Cahill stayed around for a really long time answering questions. He was actually the last one to leave. We really appreciated how he stayed and talked with us even though we all knew he was tired because he had just come off a busy weekend of speaking.

(And for those of you who know Nickie, this is Nickie’s family. They have some neat stories of witnessing outreaches and had some good questions.)

If you have never read One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, or One Heartbeat Away, you have got to order them and read them! I’d recommend you read One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven first. If you’d like, you can listen to it for free online on Mark Cahill’s website here. (Then you’ll probably want to order them for all your friends. ) This book is the #1 book that helped me learn to share my faith. I can’t even express how grateful I am for how the Lord used this book in my life.

Next you can order a stack of One Heartbeat Away — which is a great book to give to the unsaved people you witness to. It is also very helpful for learning how to answer unbeliever’s questions. There are lots of great “apologetic-type” books out there, but I’ve found this to be one of the most helpful for witnessing because it was written by someone who does a whole lot of witnessing himself, and is very familiar with most common questions that unbelievers in America are asking today. For example, what do you say when someone claims to believe in reincarnation, or that the Bible cannot be trusted, or that there is no absolute truth? One Heartbeat Away is packed full of good answers.
To order: www.markcahill.org
(Quick Note: There are a couple places in the books that refer to various sinful lifestyles. Not real explicit, but would raise questions for younger children.)

“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” (1 Thess 2:4)

Karissa passing out tracts at the parade last year

St Patrick’s day is a time when crowds line the streets anxious to be handed anything. Candy, pencils, toys, or tracts . It is such a great opportunity. The tract we use explains the story of St. Patrick and includes the gospel. St. Patrick was actually a great missionary and the two letters he wrote (that still exist) are mostly quoting Paul. We simply go up and down the streets passing out the tracts and saying, “History of Saint Patrick!” It’s so much fun!! It’s also a great time to get into one-on-one conversations with people who are just standing around.

Our “St Patrick’s team” from last year

Sharing stories and reports after the parade

If you live near Cedar Rapids you are welcome to join us! This year, we are meeting first at our church at 9:00AM for some evangelism training. Then we will divide into teams and head downtown. It will be an exciting day. Contact us for more info.

For those who live further away, you are welcome to use our tract and distribute them at the parade in your city. Click here to view tract. Don’t forget to print it on green paper (preferably light green).

Even if you aren’t able to go to a parade, you can still print off some tracts to pass out to those you come in contact with between now and the 17th. Stores are already making a big deal of St. Patrick’s day–so we should take advantage of it too!

Note: The tract is a PDF file and will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. Click here to download a free version of Adobe Reader.

If you’d like to see reports from passing out tracts previous years at the parade, click here or here.

We are very excited to be bringing Mark Cahill to speak in Cedar Rapids in just over a month. His ministry has greatly impacted my life, and I’m praying that my city will be impacted in the same way. Each time I pick up his book or listen to one of his messages I get excited about witnessing all over again! I’m grateful for the practical steps and ideas he lays out for the rest of us who desire to reach the lost.

Click here to see an 8-min Youtube of Mark Cahill speaking.

To Download a flyer, click here.
Contact us for questions or more information.

Our website has finally been “revamped”! This is a project we’ve been working on for a long time. It’s hard to believe it’s actually up.
See www.brothersandsisters.net

There are new pages, new photos, new resources, and information about our new store, Noah’s Archive, with a gigapan picture to explore (use the tools in the left hand corner of the picture to zoom and pan).

We’re grateful to God for the ways He answered prayer at many little steps all along the way as we were working on this project. Our prayer now is that the website would honor the Lord and provide clear information and resources to strengthen families in Christ.

Stephen taking pictures of Bright Lights material for the website

We decided to enter via our front doors this morning.

“This week’s snow is most in three decades” – Des Moines Register

We are thrilled to announce that the Bright Lights CD is now available!

When Rachel Wissmann asked me back in April at the Omaha Bright Lights Conference if we had ever considered making a Bright Lights CD, I told her it was one of those projects I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to. But–when she offered to help with it–that was a different story! I presented the idea to my family and our “family meeting” on the issue ended very quickly as we all agreed the offer was too good to turn down.

The Lord answered prayer beyond our expectations in the production stages of the CD. It is our continued prayer that this CD would have a mighty impact in people’s lives!

Below is a little “taste” that Stephen put together.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

For more information or to order a copy, click here.

Also, if you think of it, the Wissmann family could use extra special prayer this month as they are serving Him in Branson, MO.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” Psalm 145:3-4