Thanks for those who prayed about the weekend's activities. Overall, it seemed like things went well. Our Good Friday service did not bring in the visitors as we had hoped, although the unsaved husband of one of our regular attenders came on Friday and Sunday. The Easter Sunday service did bring a number of visitors – I think we had a total of 31 in attendance, and we were missing at least 4 of our regulars. And a number of unsaved people were with us, so that was encouraging.So, all in all, we did see the progress of the gospel in the lives ofat least a few. In this world, it's a triumph anytime someone hearsthe gospel. Throughout the week, we have heard from a few of the people we invited, explaining why they were unable to come. We're not sure if they are saying these things just to be nice or if they really were intending to come.
We did have one interesting experience on Saturday. We go door-to-door on Saturday mornings. Nothing too intense – basically just trying to find people that would be open to contact with our church. Some days we find a few receptive people and some days we don't meet any. Well, this past Saturday we encountered some real anger on the part of one man. He was irate (no exaggeration) that we would interrupt his “Easter Saturday” by coming to his door to invite him to church. I don't think he grasped the irony of what he was saying. I'm not sure what the background was that set him off like that. There was nothing we could have said that provoked him, because he was already angry as he came through his side gate, having been summoned by his son who had answered the door. But he knew that we were from church, and that was enough. If nothing else, I'm learning one thing by going door-to-door: over here, the automatic response by most people to things connected with religion is to turn away as quickly as possible. Most are at least polite, but there is no hint of openness. This is why the whole task of building relationships with people has become so important. Ultimately, however, our reliance is on the Lord to open a door for His Word.
16 April 2009
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