Easter Follow Up - One Story from the Plaza

Kathie: At the Plaza on Easter Sunday afternoon we were anticipating the impact that might be made by the showing of THE CROSS from the Billy Graham My Hope America videos. We had already decided to use monitors instead of big screen, then because of technical problems ended up just showing it on a laptop. But the sound system was strong so the message was heard throughout the plaza.

During setup I spoke with a young couple Brittany and Brad who had both been transient for several months and met during that time, became friends and now are engaged. I told them about the video that was getting ready to start and they seemed interested and went right over to the benches by the setup, even though Brittany had never heard of Billy Graham. 

They were very absorbed in the video and I was looking forward to talking with them when it was over. But just before the end they suddenly got up and walked over to join some friends down the walk.

I was trying to think of a way to break into the group without being too obnoxious since they seemed to not have interest in speaking further. In the meantime Jim made some follow up comments about the video over the PA and ended with the invitation for anyone who would like to have someone pray for them to come over and speak to one of us. Immediately a young woman from the group of friends started purposefully toward me and Brittany was with her.

Allison shared a couple of needs and then gave Brittany a chance to share a request. She said she and Brad were trying to get to family in Tennessee where they have jobs and shelter lined up, but didn’t have money for bus tickets. She asked me to pray that they could find a way to get their tickets for the following day. I told the girls I would be glad to pray for those concerns, but first I talked to them about the importance of their own relationship with God. 

Most of the conversation was with Allison, who said she was a believer, but expressed some pretty bizarre ideas that seemed to come from various experiences in her background. She was skeptical and resistant to much of what I offered, but I think Brittany is pretty much a blank slate when it comes to spiritual matters and she was listening to it all. Then I prayed for their specific needs and that God would reveal Himself to them in how he worked in those.

Eventually we said our goodbyes and I promised to continue to pray for them. I invited some more people to come in close for the second showing of the video and 2 of them did. Just after it ended I saw Brittany running down the walkway toward me with a huge smile on her face.

She came up and hugged me and said they had 

received the money to buy their bus tickets for the next day! 

Brittany and I ended up talking the whole time others were tearing down the equipment and loading vehicles. Brad came up for part of that time – he seemed to have more spiritual background although I didn’t get to talk much with him about his own relationship. But God got their attention and is certainly working in their lives in a very specific, personal, and obvious way. I have been praying that God will bring others into their lives who continue to draw them to the Savior.

Resurrection Hope

For over 2 years Proclaim members in Jacksonville have been going out on weekend "fishing trips" to share Christ locally. For the last few months the regular venue has been a park downtown where a lot of homeless or unemployed people spend time. As we have developed relationships we have found believers there who are encouraged and who encourage us, and spiritually needy folks that we are able to share with little by little. Music is usually part of it along with speaking publicly and one on one. Almost every week we see at least one new believer enter the kingdom.

Friends from our church or others join us regularly, and a couple weeks ago it was a special time when our family group came along for the first time. Here is part of the experience of one of the couples, Bernice and Stephen:

Our Family Group met at Hemming Plaza to support the Proclaim Ministry last Sunday.  We felt it was a great way to do evangelism and support missionaries Jim and Kathie Jenkins, who are in our Family Group, and experience what Proclaim does when they travel abroad. Here they are in our back yard doing ministry through music and sharing the word of Christ with the lost in the park.

We arrived a little apprehensive since this was our first visit. But soon we were sharing and praying with individuals, beginning with a young woman and then a young man, each in their early 20s, new to the town and alone. We talked to them and prayed for specific felt needs.

Stephen shared the Million Dollar Question with Kevin, a very interesting man who continued to return to talk about the question. Keven repeated scripture that we shared and seemed to be trying to understand the true meaning. Stephen spoke with him several times and Kevin enjoyed the interaction.

 

We both had other meaningful encounters and prayed with several individuals. The music set the stage to share and visit with people we may have never had the chance to meet any other way. 

This weekend for Easter afternoon we are planning something a little different. Instead of playing, we will set up a projector and screen and show the powerful video of Billy Graham

The Cross - from My Hope America  

We plan to do 2 showings with some selected recorded music and reading of related scripture between the two showings. This might be a good transition to something else we hope to start in the near future -- offering a Bible study to those who are interested. We sense that God is at work in the Plaza!