TueNov222011
The Jesus Freaks were once again on the move this past Saturday night. The weather was cold, the snow had returned, and the roads were icy. But the streets of downtown Minneapolis were packed. Homeless huddled in entryways, and party-goers rushed from restaurant to restaurant trying to stay warm.
Mike and I make our way into the city and start out walking up to Hennepin Ave. from Nicollet. The Holy Spirit is guiding us so we approach people without fear. Within the first 15 minutes we have talked to about 15 people. We introduce ourselves and the message via our Living Waters money tract. People see the dollar and it rouses their curiosity. We quickly move into delivering the gospel, and breaching the topic of sin and our wretched nature as humans. We bring the conversation to Jesus and his payment for our sins. We remind them of our need to repent and turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ. Over the course of the night we come across a group of guys who joyfully accept the message and inform us they are Christian Missionaries. We encounter a group of guys who we have seen before on the streets. They are gathered on the corner with 2 others who we had not met previously. We walked together a few blocks and each of us discussed the importance that they turn from their sin and trust in Christ, and that he is the only one who can help them with their current problems and temptations in life. We offer a New Testament bible to anyone interested, and many take us up on the offer.
After working our way down Hennepin Ave for a while, we work our way through the Bus Depot, as we head to the Harbor Lights. On the way through the Depot we meet a woman who rejoices in the message and asks for additional tracts. Her and Mike recall how they have both worked the breakfasts at the Salvation Army at one time. We also come across two younger couples and so we passed along the "180" DVD to them. Mike explains that the DVD is about the "American Holocaust", abortion. Once we reach the Harbor Lights Salvation Army, we distribute some of the sandwiches and socks we brought along. It is interesting to note that, each time we passed out sandwiches to the poor, they would never want to take more than one or two. Each time they would say "there are a lot of other people out here who are hungry". We took time to talk with those in the area and spread the good news. I spoke to an older woman who was crying as she had just found out her Pastor friend "Pastor Rose" had been beaten and injured that evening. We prayed with her, as we prayed with many others that night. We encounter some who are saved, some who believe they have been saved, those who don't care to be saved. Regardless of the audience, we give them the good news, and we push people to look inward and convict themselves. We plant seeds. At the end of the night, coffee is our reward for a job well done. We pass along tracts to the 2 coffee baristas, and Mike informs them that we "are on a mission from God" (a Blues Brothers movie reference) We sit back and rehash the night. We praise God and look forward to our next trip. (12/10/11)