Purple People Bridge People Touched by the Gospel

Our outreach at the Purple People Bridge last night got off to a slow start, with the opening ceremony at the bridge being cancelled due to rain. But the Word of God was not cancelled! My friends Christian, Sarah, and Elise joined me and my children Stephen, Josiah, Hope, and Christian to reach out to the lost folks there with the glorious gospel.

First, I talked to a lawyer named Julie who had come down from her office to see the Light Up the Bridge ceremony. I casually mentioned that the ceremony was cancelled because of the rain. Then we chatted about the rain and the light up ceremony a bit. I asked her some questions about her work.

Then I offered her a Christmas gospel tract. She appreciated it and seemed religious, so I asked her about her beliefs. It turns out she was a Catholic and was very interested in the true gospel. When I was sharing things like Christ’s death on the cross being the full payment for all of our sins, she responded by saying something like, “Wow! That gave me shivers down my spine.” So, it seemed she was quite touched by the truth of the gospel.

Next, Elise and I talked to an agnostic named Gary. I tried to give Gary a gospel booklet and he initially said, “No thanks.” I told him that it talks about the real reason for the season, Jesus’s birth. And he said he didn’t really want to talk about it because he was more of an agnostic, and he started to walk away.

Before he could, though, I said, “Hey, let me let me ask you a question.” I asked him about his spiritual background and journey and, sure enough, by God’s grace, he stuck around, and we talked for around 30 minutes. He was listening intently and had good questions. He was completely engaged and at the end he shook my hand. I encouraged him to read the New Testament to hear from Jesus Himself and to not judge Christ based upon Christians but to look at Jesus’ actual life and teaching directly.

Finally, Elise and I talked to a Catholic couple named Teri and Dave. Teri was from Kuwait and knew about the dangers of Islam. So, I asked Teri and Dave if they thought that eternal life was a gift or something you have to earn. In the beginning Teri said it was something you have to earn and Dave said it was a gift. But as we continued to talk their positions switched!

We talked about purgatory and how purgatory takes away from the finished work of Jesus on the cross as payment for our sins. Teri seemed to grasp this but Dave did not. Then we talked about Islam, since Teri grew up in Kuwait and she recognize how murderous the fundamental Islamists can be. I showed her a picture of me sharing the Bible with Mohammed from the last time we had a gospel outreach at the Purple People Bridge. She was amazed! Then I told her about my daughter Grace being in Israel for the Lord’s work and she was confident that Grace would be safe. I told her that we were trusting in God‘s sovereignty for her safety and she really appreciated that. She even gave me a hug at the end!

Christian and Sarah and Elise also had amazing Christ-centered conversations, one with a Muslim guy (named Jehovah but with a K, so Kehovah), and another with a worker name Justin who came out for a smoke break and who seemed to be a moral relativist.

Praise God the gospel went out last night! We know His Word won’t return void.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!