Stories from the Streets - Tiffany

Tiffany knew she was going to hell…

We met Tiffany in Wichita, KS during the 2009 Riverfest Outreach. A group of us were riding out a severe thunderstorm and tornadoes inside Metropolitan Baptist Church – our base camp for the street outreach. Some of our team members tried to go out and witness but I just don’t do storms.

We were waiting in a Sunday school classroom when Shawn, one of the team members, brought several young people in to dry off and warm up. Tiffany was among them.

These young people were members of a group called the Juggalos – a counter cultural movement made up of fans of a rock group called the “Insane Clown Posse.” They range in age from early teens to late 20’s and hang out in “The Pit,” an abandoned fountain on the banks of the Arkansas River, right across the street from the church.

Since arriving Thursday, Penny and I had spent most of our time in the Pit talking with these kids and found that almost every one of them came from backgrounds of broken homes, abandonment, abuse, rebellion and tragedy. Their experiences have hardened their hearts toward church and Christians – and especially against God.

We began to chat with these young people. It was very clear that Tiffany was the outspoken one. Her language was like a sailor and she had no regard for the fact that she was inside a church building.

Soon, the conversation turned to spiritual matters. When we asked if they would spend eternity in heaven or hell, Tiffany said, “I’m going to hell,” she laughed, “I’ve been going to hell for 18 years.”

She then began to share her story with us. Her father abandoned her when she was young. He was killed shortly thereafter; he was drunk and stumbled in front of a car. Tiffany sternly warned us, “And don’t you tell me you are sorry about that either!” Her mother had had a series of men afterward that abused Tiffany. She had moved out of the house at age 18 because of it.

Tiffany began to spew out all of her pain and anger from the years of injustice she had experienced through those abusive relationships. It was obvious that she had been hurt many times and that she was trying to prove to us that she was unlovable.

Many times people who have experienced very little love from their parents grow up believing that they don’t deserve to be loved. They then make this a self-fulfilling prophecy by pushing people away who attempt to love them. You see this in the way they act, dress and speak. It’s as if they are saying, “You’re not going to love me, so I’ll give you a reason to reject me since you weren’t going to love me anyway.”

Tiffany was going down that same path with us. She kept saying off-the-wall things like, “I have multiple personalities. One is a demon and one is a vampire.” She also continued to use profane language. I think she was expecting us to be shocked and tell her to leave. Instead, several of us began to tell her how valuable she was in the eyes of God. She didn’t deserve the things that had happened to her in the past. God had something special in mind for her future. Tiffany, and many other girls we talked to that weekend, had no concept of a loving heavenly Father because they never knew a loving earthly father.

Unfortunately, I have to leave many of the details out for the sake of space. The turning point came when Penny grabbed a Bible and began to read Psalm 139. As she read, she began to substitute Tiffany’s name for each of the impersonal pronouns. “I praise you for Tiffany was fearfully and wonderfully made…”

A peace descended upon that room that I cannot describe; it was clear to us that the Holy Spirit was present and doing His job of drawing Tiffany to Jesus. He kept leading Penny to share scriptures from the Roman Road and to speak words of peace and love to her. She began to listen intently to the gospel. Her countenance and demeanor changed.

Finally, Penny said, “Tiffany, I know you joked about going to hell a few minutes ago. I can assure you that hell is no joke. Are you ready to give your heart to Christ tonight?”

Tiffany, holding back the tears, said a simple “yes.”

She didn’t feel comfortable praying out loud so Penny led her to trust Christ in her heart. Then Penny asked, did you mean what you just prayed? Tiffany said yes. It was as if the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. We gave her a New Testament and some encouragement. Shawn and I took Tiffany and her boyfriend home that evening.

The next day, we had another opportunity to sit down with Tiffany and disciple her. Penny told her that God was going to make some changes in her life. She said something to a friend and almost used a curse word, but stopped herself and looked at Penny. “See Tiffany! He’s already changing you!”

Pray for ICE Louisville - June 14-24

Next Sunday, June 14, I will be joining the ICE team in inner city Louisville, KY for a week of hardcore street evangelism and spiritual warfare. I have the privilege of leading the team working with Galilee Baptist Church. I covet your prayers for this outreach and for the other 6 ICE anchor churches and their respective teams.

On top of the normal ICE team members, we are expecting 113 seminary students and 150 youth from out of town to join us in our street evangelism efforts! We are also praying that a number of local church members will come out to be equipped and join us during this week.

A typical day for me at this outreach begins around 5:00 AM with prayer preparation followed by breakfast around 6:30 AM. Our team leaves for the host church at 7:30 AM and have our team devotion and prayer time from 8:00-9:00 AM. We leave from there to go to our individual churches for witnessing. We will return to the host church for lunch and dinner. The day ends around 9:00 PM. By Thursday, every muscle in my body hurts and I am ready to crawl back in the bed, but the Holy Spirit empowers me to keep going.

Louisville, like many cities has its share of inner city issues – especially generational poverty and crime. They also have a growing gang problem. According to my research, much of this gang activity is located in the area where my team and the Guiding Light, Emmanuel and Bible Community teams will be witnessing (Portland, Shawnee, and Chickasaw areas.) Here is a link to the map of the areas that we will be working in. Please use this to pray for our teams.

Please pray for my family while I am on the field. The enemy would like nothing more than to distract me with issues back home such as sick or rebellious children or broken down cars/appliances and etc. Pray for Penny as she will be taking care of the children on her own for 10 days. I will be staying after the outreach to help man the NAMB tract booth and attend the SBC annual meeting.

You can also join this effort by donating. Much of the cost is covered by NAMB but I will still need to cover some miscellaneous expenses and ministry support. I still need around $750 for this project. If 30 people would give $25 this week, the need would be met. Please pray that God would meet this need this week.

Thanks for praying and I look forward to sharing the stories of changed lives in Lousiville.

You can also give via tipjoy through twitter.

"Cold" Evangelism

I would like to start a dialogue in regards to what some people have termed "cold" evangelism. Recently, a well known evangelist, Greg Stier wrote an article entitled "Does Street Evangelism Work." In the article, he expressed his struggle with street evangelism in terms of it's effectiveness in making disciples. I would encourage you to click on it, read it and reflect on it. I respect what he said there and agree in many ways, but...

First of all, I really don't care for the term, "cold" evangelism. I believe this is a term used primarily by those who question the effectiveness of this type of evangelism. I would prefer using the term intentional evangelism or encounter evangelism. I believe this reflects the true nature of the methodology being used. The witness is being intentional in sharing the good news. Or, we could look at it from the perspective of the person encountering the message of God through the witness.

Basically this method of evangelism advocates the sharing of the gospel with as many people as possible even if you do not know the person. A number of people today are of the opinion that evangelism can only occur in the context of an established relationship. They advocate building the friendship first, then sharing the gospel.

First of all, I believe both types of evangelism are needed. There are some people who you will only reach in the context of a relationship. The problem comes when we build the relationship and fail to share the gospel.

let's just say you start building a relationship with a person with the intention of sharing the gospel with them. After three months, you feel that the time is finally ripe for telling this person about Christ. You make plans to share the gospel with them when you get a phone call; your friend was killed in a car accident. Where will they spend eternity?

You say, "Oh, that probably will not happen that way. You are just using fear tactics." Really? Are you willing to take that risk with a friend's eternal salvation?

We should never assume we will have tomorrow to tell someone about Jesus. As it says in James, "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." James 4:13-14

Secondly, let me give you some reasons why I believe that intentional evangelism works:

1) I believe in the power of the gospel. Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." When the gospel is proclaimed, I believe it can change a person right then and there. They don't have to be taken through the ten steps to the purpose driven better life to be saved. God is still sovereign and still saving people. He is powerful enough to get his message through.

2) I believe in the work of the Holy Spirit. His job is to draw people to Christ. He is the best friend of the witness and whenever the gospel is shared, He works through the witness and in the heart of the hearer. If the person hearing the gospel truly repents and puts their faith in Christ, do you think the Holy Spirit says, "Praise God, another soul saved," and then abandons the person??? NO! I believe He takes up residence in the person's life at that point and continues to draw them close to Jesus. This does not excuse our need to begin to discipleship process with the person by any means. In fact, we must do everything possible to help the convert plug into a local congregation.

3) I believe in divine encounters. God is at work redeeming a lost world. He has invited us to join him in that work. I believe that if we are faithful in looking for opportunities to share the gospel, God will send people to us who are ready to hear the gospel. This may not mean that the hearer is ready to receive Christ, we may be one link in the chain that God uses to draw a person to Christ. Still, God sends up clear opportunities to influence other with our words and we must seize those opportunities.

4) Jesus and the Apostles practiced intentional evangelism. How well did Jesus know the Samaritan woman at the well, or Zachaeus, or the man on the pallet brought to him by the four friends or the thief on the cross before He shared the gospel with them? How well did Paul know the Philippian jailer? How well did Phillip know the Eunuch in Acts 8. Did Phillip say, "Hey Eunuch, I would love to explain that scripture you are reading. Let me first go back to Ethiopia and get to know you better." Now, all of this intentional evangelism was done in a relational manner - as is the case with all evangelism. But it was all "cold" evangelism.

5) Intentional evangelism has a rich history of success. Well known Christians like D.L Moody, St. Patrick, George Whitefield, Charles Finney and many other well know evangelists believed in and practiced intentional evangelism effectively. It has worked for nearly 2000 years. It still works today when it is practiced.

6) Try as we might, no method of evangelism is 100% effective in producing disciples. I don't mean to rain on everyone's parade here, but Jesus didn't have 100% success with everyone he came into contact with either. (Judas, the rich young ruler, many of the ones who heard him speak, etc.) Read the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23. Jesus compared four types of ground to the human heart. The seeds landed on all four types of ground, but only one soil successfully produced fruit.

I am interested in your comments and thoughts on this matter.