Scattering Seed While Biking in a Park

Thought I would tell you how the adventure of witnessing of Christ is continuing to unfold in my life. I share not for my glory, but for His...and to show how he can use any old clay pot. Here's what happened yesterday, Sunday, June 6:

7:30 am...I was in Tim Hortons having a coffee break while on a morning walk. In walks a person from my neighbourhood whom I'm seeking to know better. He's a bouncer in a nightclub, a great guy, kind of like a gentle giant...he gladly has coffee with me, and we talk, and I am privileged to begin to build a relationship with him.


5:30 PM I go for a bike ride with my bag of tracts and the following occurs:

I meet a latino couple in the park with their little toddler… I strike up a conversation on the basis of their cute little guy, because I'm intrigued by their obvious accent, and because of my knowlege of spanish. We share email addresses and before we part I am able to leave some excellent literature with them.

While crossing the covered bridge I give right of way to a young man with tattoos who was wearing a T-shirt with a cross on it. So I stopped him and asked about the cross....turned out it wasn't a cross...just an artistic "T"...but anyway I took opportunity to chat and gave him a tract before we both rode away in opposite directions. He warmly said he would read it and take it under advisement.

Further on the same bicycle path I met an 86 year old man whom I have often seen before. I stopped and we made conversation. He made a striking comment at one point when he said, "My father taught me to respect the almighty, but he also taught me that the church was not worthy of respect." I got a little defensive, but in the end offered my 86 year old friend a tract and encouraged him to read it. He assured me he would...we will meet again and he is open to talk more.

At THortons on my coffee break I met a cashier who hails from Afganistan...we talked about his unique name, for I wanted to make sure I pronounced it rightly. I asked him about the book titled, The Kite Runner (a story of Afganistan) and he assured me that he has read it. I told him I had written an article about that book, and he wanted to know about the article. I will be back in that T Hortons soon to give my friend a copy of that article in which the gospel is shared. And in future I will carry copies of that article for Muslims whom I may meet for many have read that book.

On the way home I met four Jordanian men in the park smoking the hooka (water pipe). I was so fascinated by the sight that I rode over to them and began a conversation about the water pipe, how it worked etc. At one point I asked them if they were Muslims, all said yes, and I told them that for my part I was a Christ follower. They seemed to be okay with that…I rode away, but these four Muslims met a Christian that day who expressed love, interest and appreciation for them.

On the way home I met a younger man riding his bicycle slowly, so I joined him and we talked for a kilometer or so about biking etc. No spiritual conversation, but as we said good-bye he said I could find him on the trail again as he bikes three times a week.

I was praising God for my encounters, and was now just intent on getting back home, but going through a parking lot I saw a man whom I had greeted earlier many kilometres away. He recognized me, so I got off my bike to talk. I asked him if he was walking to take off weight and he told me abut his personal struggle with weight loss. . Well he was most open, and we talked freely...I gave him a tract which he received warmly. He gave me his business card, encouraged me to email him and talk to him at any time.

Then I got on my bike one last time and headed for home arriving at 7:30pm

I know that I miss many chances to witness and do not consider myself any great expert. But I believe I have learned at least one thing. I think one thing that keeps many of us from witness is that we make it too complicated. We think that a witness has to be a full verbal presentation of the substitutionary atonement. And hey that's great when God opens such a door for such a complete sharing. But in the meantime there is a great need for a whole lot of ground to be seeded abundantly. What I'm doing is not complicated...it's seed planting...others will water, still others will bring in the harvest. Everyone has a part to play.

May God be honoured, may precious people actually hear the truth, and may Jesus call many into his kingdom.