This week was an incredible example of how God can use you to call His sheep to Himself by initiative witnessing.

On Monday morning I set out in the foggy cold armed with prayer and the Word of God with Shafter Bible Club member Katie to tell people about Jesus, not knowing at all how it would turn out.  And God sent us two consecutive students with open and ready hearts and minds to hear and respond to His Word.  A girl came first. She is a really sweet girl who had been searching for something more in life than what she had.  She’d tried a couple churches but felt guilty because she didn’t attend regularly.  She’d heard of Jesus but hadn’t heard of His unconditional love for her.  After hearing about Jesus’ sacrifice for her, she responded by praying with Katie to commit her life to Him and will be attending church with Katie next week.  Then we talked to a guy who hadn’t heard anything at all about Jesus.  He said he’d been to church once or twice before with his grandmother but couldn’t remember what he’d heard.  He knew there was a God out there and was ready to meet Him and give his life to Him.  He’ll also be attending church with Katie next week.

This was Katie’s first time praying with anyone to accept Christ… and it wasn’t her last!  That day, many people in her classes saw her red shirt that read, “I found true love. Ask me how you can find it,” and asked.  She was able to share Christ’s love with over 20 classmates and friends who wanted to hear and prayed to accept Christ that day!  God is using Katie in big ways at Shafter…

I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned through these (and other) witnessing experiences throughout the week is how little control I have over the outcome of the conversation.  Persistence, honesty, friendliness and love above all during conversations help, but the overall depth and responsiveness of the conversation is always entirely up to God.  As I heard the individual stories of the students who began new relationships with God this week, I was struck by how God had orchestrated every student’s personal experiences to lead up to this moment of recognizing a need for Him and accepting Him as Lord and Savior and Friend.  And even that moment is for them only the beginning of a lifetime of following Christ and an eternity of being a worshipping Him.

“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”        – Jude 1:25

-Alanna

Witnessing