Last week, I stopped in to buy a snack at an Exxon gas station. One of Switchfoot’s songs was on the radio. I asked the attendant, Manuel, who is 22 years old if he had heard the song before. Manuel said that he had. I asked him if he had ever listened to the words. Manuel said that he hadn’t. So, I started speaking the words of the song as Switchfoot was singing. Then I asked Manuel what he thought those words meant. From that, the door was flung open for me to share, over the next 30 minutes, a full presentation of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He asked questions and I answered them. Before leaving, I asked Manuel if he had a Bible at home. He said that he did. I encouraged him to read it because it would explain in greater detail what I just got through sharing with him. Manuel said that he would.
Today, I stopped back in the Exxon station to buy another snack (Sobe’s and Snickers are great snacks after a workout – carbs, and protein). Manuel was in there again. Immediately he exclaimed, “Welcome, my friend!” I returned the greeting. My daughter was in the car so I couldn’t stay and talk, but as I was checking out, I asked him if he had thought any more about what we talked about. He said that he has thought a lot about it. I asked him if he has started reading his Bible. He told me that he had started reading a little bit each day since then. I told him that I would stop back by later when I had more time (I had a meeting to get to). He answered, “Okay.”
As I drove away, he waved bye to me.
Two prayer requests:
- Prayer of thanksgiving and praise that God has ‘begun a good work’ in Manuel AND that God would take the next step in that work (i.e. salvation).
- Forsyth County (the county in which I live) has the 7th fasted growing community in the nation. Being that there are a lot of home developments, many Latinos are moving to the area to find work. The Latino population is increasing steadily. When I was at Carson-Newman, one way I reached out to the Brazilians on the men’s soccer team was by letting them teach me a little bit of Portuguese – their native language. You could see they were very grateful and felt honored for someone trying to learn their language and great friendships were cultivated as a result. I desire to witness to the Latinos, however, I do not know Spanish. Please be in prayer that God would provide the resources to purchase computer software to help me learn Spanish or that God would, perhaps, provide someone in a local church who can teach me. I want to use every opportunity I have to share the Gospel.
As always, thank you for your prayers and e-mails/phone calls of encouragement.
