Christmas Box Review

By Ed Huntley, Lead Pastor Federated Church, East Springfield, PA

In a word, it was GREAT.  Nearly all of the boxes were taken, and I believe that most were put to use.  Personally, I had a very good experience with all four weeks, and the only one that was a “stretch” was week #4.  But I did ask two different men the question, and both responded with thoughtful answers and I was able to pray with them.

Preaching-wise, I had a wonderful time doing sermons on hope, peace and love, and Rick did a great job with joy.  If you’re interested in hearing any of those sermons, you can pull them off our website, fedchurch.net.

The response of the people was probably best to the week on peace, because of your little devotionals.  They were excellent!  The church did pretty well with the offering for the Dalit kids, also.  So weeks 2 and 3 were the most “doable” I’d say, while weeks 1 and 4 are a little more challenging.

Christmas 2012

Amazing Wristband Story from Mexico Training Ministry

Richard,

Happy Easter! My name is Russell. I met you in Mexico at YUGO. I was sitting next to my son in the Chapel on Monday morning. Thank you for sharing your love for Christ with our group. You blessed us all. And God absolutely spoke to me through your words each day during Chapel.

Richard please know that I am a police officer in MD (in a large suburb of Washington, DC). Since 2003 my assignment has been to serve as a School Resource Officer (SRO). My role is to provide emergency preparedness, outreach and prevention through teaching, counseling and law enforcement (high school, middle and elementary). The Lord put a love for children in my heart. And everyday God opens doors that allow me to share the love of Jesus Christ and my faith in remarkable ways with students, parents, teachers, administrators, etc. Richard you reaffirmed that God wants me to “stay the course” and continue to serve Him as an SRO.

On the return flight home from San Diego yesterday I sat in a row of three seats with a guy from our group. He sat in the aisle seat and I sat next to the window. I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to move to the middle seat. Within minutes a teenager (I later learned his name was Chase) asked if he could sit in the vacant seat. We moved and allowed him in.

From a worldly perspective Chase carried a billboard that read “Stay Away”. Richard it reminded me of the “sewer cleaners” and “pipe village” people you talked about. He wore a hipster style ball cap and a long earring piercing his left ear. I prayed that God would allow me to have a meaningful conversation with him. Chase began to look through a magazine that contained a variety of edged weapons. Again, to go with the “Stay Away” from me perspective.

Long story short Chase offered me a piece of gummy candy covered in sugar. This was not appealing to me at all. However, I new this was God’s answer to my prayer and I took a piece and ate it. After that we talked until we landed in Baltimore. Our “hearts” connected. He lives in San Diego with his mother and was visiting his father in Pennsylvania (outside of Gettysburg).

WOW! (Work of Wonder) Richard I was blessed. This was an amazing 17 year old with Godly wisdom that he did not realize came from God. Chase was open to talk about God and Jesus and I told him that God had a special plan for his life. Chase shared that he would sometimes attend church with his grandmother when he visited his father. We talked about the bracelet and I prayed with him. Then he cheerfully received the bracelet and track you gave me and immediately put on the bracelet. WOW! What a blessing.

Richard..thank you for being a warrior for Jesus Christ. Thank you for openly sharing your “trash” with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Please be encouraged to know that Pastor John used your “onewish4u” lesson themes while preaching this morning. Thank you brother.

I will go to the website and order a bag of bracelets and tracks to distribute at the schools I work with. I will also train other believers as you trained me. Please pray that I continue to hear the “Voice of God” and that I do His will at work and home with my wife and three children. Also, please pray that Chase will have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Richard..my prayer for you is that you and your family be encouraged by the Holy Spirit to humbly serve the Lord with even more boldness. Amen.

 

Your brother in Christ Jesus,

 

Russell

Youth learn new methods to share their faith

26 Mar, 2013 | Portugal
OM International
OMer Richard Sharp teaches evangelism methods at a youth camp in Porto, Portugal

There are many people living in Portugal who don’t have a relationship with Christ, but sometimes believers find it hard to know how to share their faith.

Pastor Samuel Santos, of Centro Evangélico O Caminho church in Porto, invited OMer Richard Sharp to do training on evangelism for local pastors and leaders, as well as teach at a youth camp 10-11 February.

Givas José, with OM Lifehope in the UK, led the youth camp devotions each morning. Richard spoke to the church Saturday morning and to the youth group that afternoon, before he and the participants went for a prayer walk at the local shopping centre, and to meet people to share their faith in town near the local train station.

“I really enjoyed being with Richard, knowing him better and hearing his personal testimony and experiences,” said Daniel, a Portuguese young man who belongs to the youth group. “It was very inspiring to hear those amazing stories of evangelism. I realised, in those stories and experiences, that he uses a different type of evangelism that I was unaware of. I found it very interesting and current in our time.”

Richard uses a simple method of sharing the Gospel that begins with asking people what their “one wish” might be. Saturday afternoon he taught how to use this method for both sharing on the street and in everyday life, before sending participants out in pairs to talk to people in the street and at the local train station.

Daniel and Helder, another participant, were able to pray for two men. Daniel said at the beginning of the conversation with one man, he started to reject them in their approach and said he was an atheist. But, in the end, he allowed Daniel to pray for him.

This weekend of training at the youth camp was definitely a time God chose to teach him and speak to his heart, Daniel said, adding that he’s very thankful for the time with the two OMers.

“This way of evangelism is much more personal and, in a certain way, not so forced—more intrinsic and usable in our daily life,” Daniel said. “The way I look to evangelise changed, and my way of evangelising will never be the same. Richard showed me that the message of the Gospel is simple, so sharing this message should be simple and easy to do.”

Credit: OM International · © 2013 OM International

Hello from the foothills of Alps!

Hello from OM base at the foothills of the Italian Alps.  I am enjoying being with the team and will be speaking to them and taking youth and church meetings with weekend.