EVERYDAY EVANGELISM

I sure miss being out in the open air preaching the gospel on the streets of Ottawa. But up here, the open air has a mighty bite in it that has its way of slowing things down in that department. It's something we call, "winter".

For that reason and others, I have not been able to get out on the "highways and byways" to preach as often as I would like to. But, thankfully, open air preaching is not the be all and end all of evangelism. If one is willing, faithful and ready to present the gospel wherever you may be, God is willing, faithful and ready to provide the opportunities to do so.

As I walk to work each morning (I'm a bus driver for the city of Ottawa) I pray God the Holy Spirit to grant me opportunities to share the gospel with people, whomever He may put in my path or lead me to approach: co-workers, bus passengers, people I meet on the street as I walk home, etc. God is gracious to answer favourably to this request on an average of about once a day, and He divinely orchestrates every meeting.

The Lord has entrusted me to share the gospel and hand out tracts to all kinds of people on almost a daily basis all winter long. Here, just to give you an example, I'll tell you of some of the everyday opportunities God provided for me to spread the gospel in the past 3 weeks:

- A passenger mistakingly got on what I call "the right wrong bus". A young visitor from Texas, he had to come to the end of my route and sit with me for 15 minutes on my break before I was able to return him to the right stop he was seeking. Regarding his unexpected delay, he said, "I guess there's a reason for everything". With that, a chat about the sovereignty of God, His purpose in all things, the gospel and his need for Christ ensued. He left, thankful, with a gospel tract in hand affirming that THIS may have been the reason why he was on the "wrong bus".

- A young lady got on board asking if my bus would take her to a specific place and I assured her it would. As she searched for her fare, she told me she was on her way to a lecture and didn't want to be late.  Interested, I asked what might the lecture be about. She said it was about how the world can attain "Global Peace". I asked her if she would like to hear what I had to say about that and she said, "Sure." I told her I thought the expression "global peace" was not only an oxymoron but unattainable due to the depraved nature of man's heart. She was taken by my statement and we had a good discussion. That led to her hearing the gospel, feeling intrigued and gladly accepting a gospel tract as she left.

- A fellow got on my bus during one of my lay ups in a residential area. He told me he had just finished refereeing a basketball game. With the gospel in mind, I brought up the recent story of basketball superstar Michael Jordan who, as a retired and extremely wealthy man, lacking for nothing in life admits to feeling empty in his life. My passenger told me that another superstar 'Pistol Pete' Maravich was one of his basketball heroes. I informed him of what he didn't know about him: I told him after Maravich retired from basketball, great fame and fortune achieved, he felt so disappointed, empty and depressed about life that he was led to the brink of suicide, until God intervened. Long story short, Maravich surrendered His life to Christ, did away with all his awards and used his fame to travel across the states sharing his testimony and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere he went. I then took him through the gospel and his own need for redemption. My passenger seemed amazed. When he came to disembark the bus, he thanked me for what I shared and told me he was going to research Maravich's testimony and walked off with a gospel tract to read and ponder over.

- One of our supervisors at work was on his way to the office 3 weeks ago and was hit in a head on collision, injuring him and totalling his car. He was sent to hospital, treated and was back to work last week. I approached him at the office and said how thankful I was that he was not seriously hurt. He said, "It could have been so much worse. Somebody above must have been looking after me." I smiled and said, "I know who that somebody is." We couldn't take the time to talk so I handed him a copy of my "Are You Ready" gospel tract to which he said he would read. I am hoping to see him again soon and talk.

- In the last 3 weeks, just by turning a general conversation into a gospel conversation, I also shared the Good News of Jesus with 2 fellow bus drivers, one who blasphemed God's while telling me something and one who told me her mother had just almost died.

- Kim and I had meetings with two separate financial advisors. In both cases we were given the opportunity to share the full gospel with them before leaving our meetings and present them with tracts. Their response was more than just polite. They seemed genuinely interested and thanked us for sharing.

To keep the gospel going elsewhere, when we are out on errands (which is also a daily thing) we strategically lay gospel tracts wherever we go for people to find, pick up and read.

This post is not meant to be a braglist of personal outreaches, but rather an encouragement and demonstration to you of how God blesses his gospel harbingers with opportunities to reach the lost with the His gospel in everyday situations. Missionary work is not just about bringing the gospel to Third World countries. The whole world is the Lord's harvest field and that includes our own back yard.

Yes, I'm anxious for spring and warmer weather which will get me back better conditions to preach the gospel "on the box". But, until then, there is always opportunity to share the gospel everywhere you go IF you are willing, faithful and ready to share.

Are You Ready to share the gospel wherever the Lord has you today?