Training Youth in Portugal in Evangelism and Stepping Out of the Box
Just had a brilliant weekend equipping 15 pastors and missionaries in Porto, Portugal at a church. Took the youth out on the streets and saw people respond to The Lord.
“You made my day”
… said a number of shop owners and shoppers, as 20 of us from the OM team, accompanied by accordion and guitar, sang out Christmas carols in our local stores in Tyrone — and folk joined in with us as we handed out song sheets.
Praying a Christmas blessing over the business and all present, we invited people to check out the ‘Christmas Wish’ on the back of the song sheet and watch the video ‘The 5 Colors of Christmas’ at: www.RichardSharp.me
It made our day as well.
One Wish This Christmas (videos)
Cover Up
“What we cover, God will uncover.
What we uncover, God will cover.”
As I ended the message, this whole church in Bangalore, India rose, walked forward in repentance.
After the service a man came to me.
“A colleague just came trembling. “I only gave you 300 rupees and kept the other 200. Please forgive me.”
“I had an affair earlier this year,” said another to me, his eyes bowed. “Broke it off, confessed it to the Lord, but never told my wife. Going home now to confess to her.”
My heart skipped like King David’s:
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not COVER UP my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Wonder of Wonders
He took to himself what He was not,
while remaining what he was.
He came to us in a man
without ever departing from the Father.
He continued to be what he is
while appearing to us as what we are.
His divine power was confined in the body of an infant
without (his presence) being withdrawn from the (entire) universe.
– Augustine’s Christmas Sermon, AD 396
An unforgettable Halloween …
Passing our ‘One Wish’ truck at the New Hope’s Church Fall Festival, Terre, Rachel and I asked dozens of people, “If you had one wish from God for you today, what would that be?”
Some of the people we prayed for their one wish:
– A man contemplating suicide because out of work so long.
– A woman realizing her need forgive her father and be back in church this Sunday.
– A couple looking for a church home with good children’s ministry.
– A woman grieving over the loss of her mom one year ago.
– A young man wanting God’s will for his life, not his own will.
3 people wanting God to forgive sins or to be sure they were going to heaven – we shared the gospel.
Each person received a ‘Steps to Peace with God’ tract and their children ‘The ABC’ gospel booklet and candy.
What a night.
Someone said, ‘Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle.
Deciding and Doing
If you see 10 birds on a wire and 5 decide to fly,
how many are left?
The answer is 10.
Deciding and doing are note the same.
Dr. Oz
It was awesome …
said a young person who joined a youth group from a neighboring town
to be a part of “One Wish,”
an outreach I led into the city center of Carlisle on the Scottish border.
“It was my first time to share my faith.”
Becoming a US Citizen
Today I am recording all the days I have spent outside the USA in the last 5 years as part of the process of finally applying for US citizenship after 28 years of marriage to Rachel, my amazing American wife, as I can have dual citizenship with Great Britain. WOW! I did not realize how many mission trips I have taken.
Praise for $550 in gifts I have received towards the $680 fees.
One perk of US citizenship will be getting a 10 year visa for India at the same price of a single entry visa I can only obtain presently with a UK passport while residing in the US.
Pray for a quick process and $130 for payment.
Missing the 9:07
We ran to Termini, the main train station in Rome, to meet up the other 29 teams out all day seeing the sights of Italy’s capital and sharing Christ to make sure we caught the 9:07 back to our base, for the final day of our Transform training week — readying 300 to move out in mission that weekend around the Mediterranean.
We found hundreds watching our African brothers and sisters sing and dance. Then “Amazing Grace” broke out. Smiling, taking pictures and videoing — people were loving it.
All day I had carried a gospel illustration in my back pack looking for an opportunity to preach Christ in the “Eternal City” and now the opportunity found me as I stood in their midst, showing people how they also could begin a friendship with God. Grabbing tracts, gospels and CD’s — the people seemed eager to know.
The next morning I heard that our 9:07 had been pushed back to 9:27. I guess God had wanted people to catch more than the train that night.
And for our teams! To catch a glimpse of how he to about to use them from one end of the Mediterranean in Portugal to the other end in Lebanon.