My friends Janae, Jessica, and Nickie
About a week ago, some friends and I were witnessing at the park, using a “survey” approach. Here is a story of one of our conversations…
“Hello! I’m taking a little survey. Would you be interested it taking it?” I asked 2 teenage girls as I approached them in the park about a week ago.
“Sure, why not?”
“Ok, great! The first question is: “Do you consider yourself to be a good person?” I asked.
“Uh…yeah I guess so” they answered.
“Okay” I smiled and continued, “How many of the 10 commandments can you name?”
One of the girls told the other “you name them.” A sheepish smile covered the other girl’s face as she tried to think of one. Finally, after putting their minds together, they thought of a few.
“So—have you ever told a lie?”
“Maybe once”
“What does that make you?” I asked them.
“Uh…A liar?”
“Have you ever been angry with your brothers or sisters?”
They smiled. “All the time,” they replied.
“Did you know that Jesus said that if we are angry with our brother, it’s considered as murder in God’s eyes?”
“Really??”
“You know,” I told them, “God’s standards are different from ours. God’s laws are the 10 commandments. You’ve already admitted to me that you’ve disobeyed some of His laws and we didn’t even go through the other ones! If you got hit by a car walking home tonight and God judged you by the 10 commandments, do you think you’d go to heaven or hell?”
“Hell,” they answered. I don’t think they had ever thought of it that way. I could see the seriousness in their eyes.
“Does that concern you?”
“Yeah”
I told them, “Actually, I am 100% sure I’m going to Heaven, but it’s not because I’m some great person or anything like that. It’s because God made a way! Would you like to know the way to be 100% sure you are going to Heaven?”
They said “yes,” so we sat down on the grass and I got my Bible out. Just then I was startled with a loud exclamation behind me. “Well, hello there, Grace!!!!! Remember me??? I saw you here last year!”
Oh no, I thought as I recalled the conversation I had with this lady last year. She was kind of loud and talkative and I thought she’d just be an interruption to this conversation.
And I was just getting in to the most important part! There must be spiritual warfare going on here.
“Uh, hi! Yeah, I do remember you.” I told her, “Would you like to sit down and listen to our conversation?”
“Yeah! Sure!!!” she said and sat down with us.
The next 10 minutes or so I went through the Romans road with these two girls. I had them read the verses and tell me what they thought it was saying. It encouraged me so much to watch them anxiously seeking to know the answer…to know how to be saved. One of the girls wiped a tear in her eye.
“So…” they asked me after reading Romans 10:9 , “that’s saying that you have to believe, and…”
“Yes” I answered, “and it’s just like a free gift. You simply have to ask and receive the gift of eternal life.”
“Have you ever prayed before?” I asked them.
“I pray every night.” The teary-eyed girl said. I think she was telling the truth, and I see how the Lord (who had heard those prayers) was now drawing her into His family.
“Would you like to pray now and ask the Lord for eternal life?
They hesitated. There were other people walking by. We might make a scene. I thought it would be great to make a prayer-meeting scene :), but I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable.
“We’ve never really prayed with other people before,” they said.
Just then the other lady (who had dropped in and was listening to our conversation) stated loudly, “Well, I think we should pray! I think prayer is always a good thing to do!”
“Ok, then, let’s pray.” I said, (realizing that the Lord was now using this lady’s presence for good!) “This is such an important decision, why put it off? Since you said you aren’t sure quite what to say would you like to repeat after me?”
“Sure” they all said, obviously serious about wanting to do this. “And it will make us feel better” they added.
I prayed and the 2 of them, plus the other lady, all repeated after me. I was so thrilled. I told them “You may not realize the significance of what you just did, but this is the most important decision of your life…Our life here is so short and what really matters is where we will spend eternity.”
They seemed to understand. But it struck me how much more they still needed to learn.
Since no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave, we continued our discussion for a little while. I explained why the Lord wants to save us. He wants to be our closest friend, and doesn’t want sin to separate us from Him anymore. I reviewed the story of Adam and Eve, gave them some Bible history, and told them to go home and read the book of John. I am hoping to get together with them again soon. The fact that the Lord allowed me and my friends the privilege of leading them into His family was a thought almost too wonderful to grasp. 🙂
