The following was written by my friend, Neil, who joined me and one other friend for some whiteboard/conversational evangelism at the Downtown Omaha Farmer’s Market recently. He felt led to share his recollections of the day. I hope this gives you a glimpse into the work we do and you are encouraged by how many people you are able to reach by asking simple, conversational questions.
It was an interesting day today. We had beautiful, crisp weather with strong gusts of wind at times. The sun was out. Dustin was happy I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts as he would be able to tell his wife he wasn’t the only crazy one to be wearing such attire. Our question on the whiteboard was “If Jesus did NOT raise from the dead, then our faith is ____________” and people had to choose how they thought the verse ended. Going from memory (and it might have changed after I left), we had 10 people who selected “personal choice”, one person selected the middle option (something about it being okay as long as it makes you a better person?), and about 20-25 people selected “worthless”. [Check out our video explaining this Bible verse and why it’s so good to use in evangelism.] We met a lot of Christians today, hahahah! It was interesting (sad) – as I was getting ready to cross the street south at 11th and Howard, this lady asked me if I had a lighter she could use to light a cigarette, and I told her I was sorry but I did not have a lighter. She asked if I could either buy her one or give her money so she could buy one, and I told her I did not have any cash on me. As I reached Dustin to help him set up the whiteboard, I thought I saw her look at the whiteboard. She got this angry expression on her face and started taking the Lord’s Name in vain as she walked off – it was quite the change; like a switch was thrown from her being friendly and asking for something to her getting angry and blaspheming as she walked away.
These are my memories of how today went in order as much as possible.
One of the first groups we met was a lady (mom) with four girls from a church in Fremont, Nebraska. She is (was) a dentist, and they were in the Old Market visiting and shopping. Their pastor was with them; he stopped by a few minutes later and answered “wasted” as well.
A couple of people did not realize they were to choose from the board; some of them said if Christ did not rise from the dead our faith was useless. Another said our faith was dead.
We met a young girl and her parents who were from Texas. I think her name was Riley and she was a fairly new Christian. Her testimony was she had attended a small Christian school and church when she was younger but it never really set it. Then when she was “older” (early teens, I assume?) she started making bad choices and “became miserable” (my paraphrase; I don’t remember how she put it). She was struggling because she knew she was making poor choices but did not know quite what to do; she was praying to God, “If You’re real . . . “ when this Christian video kept popping up on YouTube. No matter what page she went to on YouTube, this video was always at the top of the list for the next video to play, so she finally listened to it. And God used it to reveal Himself to her; this song spoke to where she was at in her life, the direction she was going, and she was, “Okay, God. No more fighting. Right now, I am yours going forward, Lord.” And she was back in church and loving it.
Her mom is not a Christian. Her dad grew up in the church but fell away and started backsliding after he went into the regular workforce then got married and they had five children. He said he prays all the time to God and weeps over the nation and is considering going back to church. He and his wife are proud of Riley and her faith; it is influencing both of them and her change is what made her father consider going back to church. One of their sons is in the Air Force and stationed at Offutt AFB. They were visiting him and his family, having fun with the grandchildren and celebrating another on the way. When asked if they would like a Bible, Riley said she already had one but her parents said they would like one, so we gave one to each of them as well as a tract. We were also able to pray for them, that God be with them while they were in Omaha and be with them on their journey “home” (back to Texas, obviously, but ideally their heavenly home as well).
I spoke briefly with a young man named Alex. He attends a Catholic church in Papillion and said he was a believer. He said he was open to receiving a prayer, so I prayed with him, that God would bless him and keep Alex and cause His face to shine upon Alex, that God’s joy would be Alex’s strength and His peace that passes all understanding would be Alex’s portion. I asked if he had a Bible or would like one, and he said he would love to have one. As I gave him one with a tract, he was, “Oh, a New King James Version! I have a King James version. What is the difference?” and I said, “This one is a little easier to read and understand”, and he seemed pretty excited about that.
We met Christians from Sioux Falls, SD, as well as from K.C., in addition to various parts of Nebraska (Fremont, Lincoln, Papillon) as well as a small church in Council Bluffs, IA.
The Christians from K.C. started a ministry about four or five years ago where they meet in people’s houses and share a meal. I think it was called “Sunday S’mores”, but they started out very small at first but now the group is 400-500 in size, and, yes, they do have S’Mores as a part of every meal. It is a time of food, fellowship, and fun as they get together and minister to each other in people’s houses; very informal. They do attend a church, but I did not catch the name.
There was this one guy who had a knowledge of the Bible, but he was also aggressive at times towards Dustin and I thought he was going to get hostile at one point. Before he left, he would ask us about a Bible reference in one book, but when he quoted the verse to us, it was usually from one of the Gospels (mostly from John). Eventually he walked off and left us behind.
A couple of gals from Sioux Falls, S.D., were here specifically for a 5K race (the “Hometown Half Marathon & 5K/10K”) and walking around the Old Market exploring after having finished their race. I probably phrased the question wrong; they at first chose, “It’s a personal choice”, but as we spoke with them they both were, “Oh! We misunderstood the question!” and we had a chance to visit with them briefly as we talked about what the verse I Corinthians 15:17 means.
We met three ladies (Cassie, Caymee, and Andie), who attend a church here in Omaha (in Midtown, I think) that has two sister churches in Omaha as well as one in Lincoln (I am pretty sure the church is called Citylight). They were excited that we were out on the street asking people about Jesus (in a roundabout way) and prayed for us. We were able to pray for them in return, that God would use them (and us) to be a light in the dark no matter where we were, that we would be conduits through which the Spirit could flow into the lives of those around us. Their excitement was very encouraging!
We met a gentleman who said he played for our very own Cornhuskers and was now playing in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts. He said he lived in Virginia now but was back visiting some friends and old coaches; he also said he attended Mount Bethel … Baptist, maybe? I think that is right; I thought he said it was in Virginia Beach, VA.
I remember giving another Bible away, but I do not remember who it was. I do not think they answered the question correctly (or perhaps they just wanted a Bible and a tract). We met another group of Christians; one attended a church in Benson (I think it was One Hope Church) and the other two in that group also attended CityLife.
There were these two gals who chose “a personal choice” and one of them felt quite strongly that her answer was correct because she did not feel every answer was worthless and people had to make a choice as to how they were going to live and what they were going to believe.
Right before I had to leave, there was this one gal and her boyfriend who stopped and visited with us. She chose “it’s a personal choice” and we were able to speak with her about why this was the wrong answer. She had a powerful verse from Luke tattooed on her back, and she had some amazing tattoos on her neck and arms. She was friendly, talkative, and seemed very open to what we had to say. Dustin was on fire with her, answering her questions.
At times I could see people reading the whiteboard and then getting the person they were with to read the sign as well. They would make eye contact with me and when I gestured if they wanted to respond, they would either ignore me or smile and shake their head as they walked away. A couple of people looked at the board and walked off saying they had no idea how to answer the question. It was fascinating, though, to watch people reading the board from about twenty feet away and pondering the question we were asking. Other people would squint at the board as they walked towards us; once comprehension set it, they either turned away as they passed us or turned around to cross over to the other side of the street to avoid us.
If evangelism is on your heart, whether you’re an Omaha local or otherwise, feel free to drop a comment or contact me directly. I’d love to see how we can be a resource for you and, if nothing else, be praying for you.
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