HOW WIDE IS YOUR PAINTBRUSH?… AND OTHER RULES

 

Earning the Right to Share the Gospel Sometimes, it happens at the first appointment. Sometimes it is the second or third. And sometimes, we just plant seeds. But loving people as you provide a service for them is a powerful tool. JD is a U.S. citizen petitioning for her spouse to come from overseas. She was divorced from her first husband a few years ago and her life has been chaotic. It was about the 3rd or 4th appointment when she shared that she was having trouble sleeping and that her ex-husband had ties with voodoo and she believed he was putting a curse on her. I asked if she knew Jesus. “Our family always went to church”, she responded. She allowed me to share that we can’t inherit a relationship with Christ through others but that we each individually need to respond in faith to his invitation. I shared the plan of salvation and asked if she sincerely wanted to allow Christ in her life. She did and she prayed. She still has struggles and I continue to give her scripture to read and meditate on. Pray she will experience God’s power over any and all of Satan’s attacks. JJ and TJ are a delightful Polish couple in their 80’s. They were married for 29 years, divorced for 23 and then re-married about 3 years ago. I am helping them with the “proofs of a true marriage”. They were frustrated when USCIS did not accept their first set of proofs. They needed more. While frustrating for them, God used it to give us 2 more appointments together and at one of the appointments I gave them a book and a copy of the plan of salvation. At the next appointment I gave them The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel and was going to give them a copy of the plan of sal- vation. “Oh, you already gave us that…and we have read it many times”. Pray that they will internalize that message as they read more. She speaks English well but he does not, so she reads and translates into Polish MA came for a consultation. He was in the process of applying for a green card through marriage but his marriage was falling apart. He was clearly disturbed and was very reluctant to share details about himself. But part of our intake sheet deals with salary, religious background and how they heard about us. When asked about his religious back- ground , he said “XXXXXX, but I’m not sure what I believe”. By the end of the consult he allowed me to share that for us, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with Jesus Christ. He took a New Testament and sincerely thanked me. I have invited him to come back. I hope he does. Pray that God will draw him to Himself by whatever means he chooses. I am reminded of the chain of planted seeds by one of our clients who said, “my dentist prayed for me”, when I also offered to pray for her. May we all be part of that chain with the contacts in our lives. Prayer and Praise *My co-worker Renee is experiencing unwanted growth in her cancer tumors with resulting weakness and discom- fort. She has started a new chemotherapy. Pray for God’s healing.

 

*My other co-worker, Birke, and her husband Christian, received the good news that their asylum application has been approved.

*Pray for our grandson Jude, The hole in his heart is still there but the heart is still functioning well enough to not schedule any surgery. We are still praying that the hole will close on its own.