Witnessing Conference Report

Last weekend my dad and I ran our first-ever witnessing workshop in the St Paul, MN area. We were very encouraged by how things went. Here was our approximate schedule:

9:00 “God’s Gift to Believers (Ephesians 3:8)”
10:15 Coffee Break
10:30 “Boldness”
11:45 Lunch
12:45 “Hard Questions and Answers”
1:45 Break
2:00 “Plan and Press On”
3:15 Leave for witnessing
5:30 Pizza and Sharing

The Lord brought a great group of serious-minded believers with a heart to grow in the area of witnessing. The only sad part was how fast the time went. I felt like we just were getting acquainted with everyone, and then everyone had to leave. I’m sure we could have had many more hours of great fellowship and learning from each other. [smile]

It was a pretty busy week of preparation for us, but I feel that the Lord answered prayer in helping my dad and I organize the content of the sessions. Basically, my dad did the teaching, and I supplemented it with stories and practical ideas.

One theme we wanted to thread through the conference was the greatness of God. When we are reminded of the Lord’s character and mighty power, we become excited about the privilege of working with Him and being His representatives. As Hebrews 11 reminds us, the Lord wants servants with great faith–servants who see their Lord as awesome in power and trust HIM as their only source of success.

Not only does speaking of the greatness of God strengthen believers, it convicts unbelievers. It is when we speak of God’s greatness and holiness that unbelievers begin to understand their sin and great need for a Savior. Many don’t see themselves as bad as they really are because they don’t see God as good as He really is.

With these thoughts in mind, I especially appreciated the banner hanging on the wall (in above picture)!

I also appreciated the verse Sarah sent me on a little note as I was leaving (not knowing quite how fitting it would be):

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. (Psalm 145:3-6)

…as well as the verse Nickie texted me:

“My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them (Psalm 71:15).”

Fellowship over lunch. We were very grateful for the initiative and vision of Pastor Mike Lerud and Redeemer Baptist Church, who asked us to come (and also provided, snacks, lunch and dinner for everyone)!

About forty of us went out witnessing from 3:30-5:00 pm. The girl on left had never done this kind of witnessing before, but when we bumped into her, she had her own little questionnaire sheet all marked up and told us about the six conversations she had just had! Praise the Lord!!

We heard some encouraging stories over pizza afterwards. Here are two of them:

Karen shared about a truck-driver they had spoken with. The truck driver expressed how amazed he was that they were talking with him. He said, “I’m not even from here, I just stopped in to sit down for a little while.” He continued, “I was just looking through ebay on my phone and then something about the Bible popped up…. and then you guys come and start talking to me about God’s salvation!” Praise the Lord for how He arranged circumstances to give this man a receptive heart to the gospel message!

Kelly spoke with a lady who was hurting in many areas of life. After she explained the gospel, the lady said, “I was just praying and crying out to God to help me!” The lady saw this conversation as an answer to her prayers!

Here is a little taste of Karen and Kelley’s stories:

This family works with native Americans in Canada, and it was encouraging to hear about how the Lord is using them there. The father shared with me about the darkness and great need in his community, but he also explained about the exciting open doors the Lord has given him. He said that men invite him into their homes and say, “Come teach the Bible to us!”

Thank you very much to everyone who prayed for our conference last weekend. I believe the Lord answered those prayers! Let’s continue to pray that the Lord works in a mighty way in our land, raising up laborers to the harvest.

“…therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:38).”