I’ve been trying to reach out to people ever since I became a Christian many years ago. I have a pretty easy time getting to know people, drawing them out, looking for opportunities to serve, and trying to invite them to come to church or the Bridge Course. I’ve noticed that many people seem receptive or at least polite during these interactions, but I rarely see people actually come to something I’ve invited them to. Until recently.
For some reason, I have seen several of my ongoing outreach opportunities bear fruit. God often brings fruit from our obedience, but not always in our timeframe. These encounters greatly encouraged me to continue to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). I hope they encourage you too.
A couple of years ago I was sitting across from a couple with a marriage that was on the ropes. I had met her after a couple of weeks at the Bridge Course and she somehow convinced her husband to come for counseling. He was a successful, good looking guy and I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. But he was much more receptive than I imagined and ended up coming to the next Bridge Course and church. We did lunch several times and God seemed to be drawing him, but he soon got sucked away because of work and the pull of the world. A couple of months ago he called me. He was visiting his cousin in Florida who happened to be a Christian and asked him why he stopped coming to church. So he called me. We got together a few more times, then he sent me a text saying that he thinks he just gave his life to the Lord. I called him and he told me through tears how he had confessed to his wife and been reconciled to Christ. Years later, he is still loving the Lord, reading the Bible an hour a day, listening to messages constantly, and reading the Big Picture Story Bible to his kids every night. It is a joy to watch him grow. God breathed on my mundane faithfulness and brought a soul to himself.
A couple of months ago, I was preaching at a recovery meeting at a homeless shelter/rehab in Chester, Pennsylvania. I know a lot of these guys since they attend our Bridge Course. At the end of the night, I ran into a guy that I hadn’t seen in a while and asked how he was doing. He told me that he just got there that day and that things were not going well. I encouraged him and invited him to church. The next night I was getting my hair cut and talking to a girl that has cut my hair many times. She was going through a lot of hardship and was even in tears as she explained all that was going on. As we talked, I asked her the name of her boyfriend. After going back and forth she showed me a picture and it was the same guy that I saw the day before at the shelter/rehab. I couldn’t believe it and neither could she. At that moment, I told her that this was God’s way of showing her that he was real. I invited her to the Bridge and to church and she came and gave her life to Christ. Just regular preaching and encouraging. Just a regular haircut. But God was at work once again in ways I couldn’t see.
