Sunday, October 03, 2004

A new Christian starts to witness

Brian had come to visit a guy named "Ravi" who had been a sparse attender at the Vineyard in recent years. He recently gave his life to Christ while in jail and was starting to read the Bible.

Ravi saw Brian as he was approaching his wing of the jail. “Hey, Brian, this guy wants to talk to you about getting saved.” Ravi and Mike were in cells in the same area. Ravi had been talking to Mike about the Lord. Mike seemed like he was ready, so Ravi asked Brian to meet with Mike. As soon as Mike saw Brian, he broke down. “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done,” Mike said with tears in his eyes. Praise God that Mike prayed to receive Christ. Pray for his growth in the Lord. Pray for Ravi who has been having some struggles since he got out of jail.

Friday, October 01, 2004

“Can I do this too?”

Mitchell is an inmate who was fascinated by Dave’s ministry in the jail. We carry around a bag full of gospel material, which we offer to inmates. As we give away stuff, we try to get into conversations about the Lord. Mitchell was moved by the Holy Spirit and asked Dave, “This stuff that you’re doing, can I do it too?” Dave thought Mitchell was kidding and half-jokingly said, “Sure.” Mitchell took Dave’s bag and for the rest of that night started handing out evangelistic material and telling the men they needed to get saved. Dave’s bag was empty when Mitchell finished! Pray that the many seeds sown would bear much fruit. Mitchell says he wants to be a preacher.

We all can “do the stuff” of ministry. Whether you’re behind bars or God calls you to go to bars, take the bag that God has given you and heal the sick, minister to the poor, visit the imprisoned, and save the lost in the power of the Holy Spirit!

“Shut up, we’re trying to pray!”

Dave was praying with about five guys and talking to them about God’s will for their lives. It was so noisy in the area they were praying that one of the five guys yelled out, “Shut up, we’re trying to pray!” As a result, four more guys came over and joined their prayer circle. Dave shared the gospel with the men. Two of the men gave their lives to Christ, including one Muslim named Hassan. Pray that Hassan and Pat will become fireballs for Jesus.

Salvation and Wedding

Rafael was a young man we mentioned a couple of months ago who got saved in the jail. He was the guy who asked Brian about how to get married in jail. At the time neither Rafael nor his fiancée were saved. Rafael accepted Christ and afterward, he called his fiancée and told her what happened to him. She was a church-goer, but didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. Rafael told her that the next time she went to church she needed to go forward at the altar call and give her life to Jesus. She did! Rafael has continued to come to Brian’s weekly Bible study. Pray for him and his new wife that they will grow strong in the Lord.