I am writing this post 1 week after the most amazing time in my life, to reflect back on what happened and to encourage the saints who helped support this mission trip to know that their finances and prayers were not in vain.
A few months ago I was visiting Bill Adams website and saw that he was going to South Africa for the World Cup and knew he needed people to join with him to bring the Gospel to the World. Right away I knew I wanted to go, very badly, but being out of work with an injury and my wife making all the money, I knew it would be near impossible for me to go. I immediately called Bill and let him know I was interested in going, so he suggested that I send out letters to try and raise the support. Right when he said that, I thought to myself, what about my Christian facebook friends, maybe they could help? I sent out a letter to my facebook friends and within a month the money was mostly raised! I was amazed at the amazing providence of God in using His saints to support this trip. I knew the hand of God was on this. Around $2500 dollars raised, mostly from facebook and the rest from my amazing church family. God blew my mind!
So fast forward to the trip. While on the plane, I got sick. I either got food poisioning or motion sickness, but when I got off the plane, I felt awful! I got so disappointed, I went all the way to South Africa to preach the Gospel and now I am sick and may not get to leave the house we were staying at. The hosts were wonderful people and took me to the doctor the next day. The doctor gave me some medicine but I didnt feel a whole lot better, until my wife suggested I have some tea. Afterwards I felt a million times better. I missed the first day of ministry and was determined not to miss any more. I will include the most memorable events in this.
The next day we went to Rustenburg, which is about 3 hours away, And through circumstances we didn't get to go near the stadium, so we went to a marketplace that we saw on the way there. And man was it worthwhile. The Gospel tracts were passed out so quickly, in fact I was almost trampled by the people(no joke) as I was giving away tracts. I had to throw them in the air so I could survive. We preached the Gospel and people listened attentively and asked questions. Vincent Piater and I had a conversation with a guy who was genuinelly concerned for his soul and he was a minister at one time who realized he was never converted. He asked, (we didn't even bring up election) what if he wasn't elect, I told him just the fact that he is concerned about his soul is a good indicator that God is drawing him to Himself. He agreed and asked us to pray for him.
One of the most memorable events was one day when we were in Ellis Park. We were preaching downtown and moved towards the stadium, when Tim saw a guy dressed in a suit and figured he was going into one of these heretical prosperity gospel churches, that is so prevalent in South Africa, and decided to witness to him. Tim and I walked him through Scriptures of last days moneygrubbing preachers and you can see the concern come on his face. Tim walked him through the law and the Gospel, and the guy named Prince said "What must I do?" How can I be saved? and Tim walked him through what Jesus did and he must be born again. The guy wanted us to pray for him, and the guy dropped to his knees in a thunderous slam into the ground and cried out to God to save him. That he knew he deserved hell and wanted to be saved! It was so amazing to be apart of. I gave him my bible and told him to get into a bible believing church, not a money grubbing church. He thanked us with tears in his eyes and we went to the stadium. That night another guy left weeping over the grace of God when Tim and the guys fed a homeless guy, and sat with him for about 45 minutes talking and sharing the Gospel with him. He wept as he got up and hugged us all.
Another day the most amazing thing happened to me. We were preaching in downtown Pretoria and I was going to get something to eat. I was walking through a square that Tim and I preached earlier and noticed a Nigerian street preacher, preaching parts of the Gospel, but it was moralism. He was very vulgar in his preaching, grabbing his crotch as he was telling them not to have sex, and not to use condoms, and not to smoke cigarettes, and not to hug their girlfriends because it leads to other things, and it reminded me of when I was in youth group; all outward reformation and no inward transformation by the Gospel! The guy had a heckler messing with him, so the crowd of around 100, were very engaged in the dialogue between these 2. I waited for them to stop because I knew I had to expound on the full Gospel. The Nigerian got done and walked away when the heckler saw I had a Bible in my hands and asked me if I had anything to say, and I said yes I do. I raised my voice so all could here and said, "Ladies and gentlemen you heard the preacher say you need to repent, but what does that mean, and what do you need to repent of?" So I walked them through the demands of God's laws, the perfection God requires out of us all and the punishment for violating His commands, I walked them thriough the court room, and showed them the necessity of punishment for crime, and the scenario of what if someone stepped in and paid the fine. Showed them how Jesus Christ paid the fine for us, satisfied the demands of God's laws and how if we would turn from our sins and put our faith in Jesus, God could legally dismiss our case and forgive us because of Jesus. And when I got done the most amazing thing happened, the people cheered! They applauded the Gospel. People came up and thanked me for sharing the message with them. I asked the crowd if anyone isn't sure whether they would end up in heaven or hell when they die please come and talk to me, When I got done, a guy came up and was very tearful asking about his soul. I talked to him and we prayed where he asked God to have mercy on him! I was amazed that God would open the hearts of these people and have mercy on them.
While I was there I got to preach the Gospel to tens of thousands of people, we passed around 20,000 tracts at least, and saw people cry out for mercy, I got interviewed 7 times, by 7 different news organizations, from 7 different countries. The Gospel cant be stopped, for centuries the world has tried to do whatever they could to stop it, but it will never stop! His kingdom is advancing! Would you pray for laborers to enter the harvest field, especially of South Africa! They are hungry for good God centered Gospel preachers there.
This is the most disheartening part of what happened while I was there. I was preaching in downtown Johannesburg, when a guy came up and wanted to know about how he can be saved, I explained the Gospel to him and shared how he could be saved, And he was real thankful, Then he asked me, if I could direct him to a church. And I couldn't! I didn't know any good sound churches in that area and I got his contact info so I could give it to our hosts. He said what is this you are doing, preaching and not leaving me with a good church to go to. I just about cried. The Lord broke my heart while I was there, I want so desperately to go back and plant some good solid churches. there is such a need. It is time to start looking into going to bible college and find out how I can go back.
Thank you my friends for all your support and prayers because I know without your help none of this would have been possible. I am truly grateful for you.
A few months ago I was visiting Bill Adams website and saw that he was going to South Africa for the World Cup and knew he needed people to join with him to bring the Gospel to the World. Right away I knew I wanted to go, very badly, but being out of work with an injury and my wife making all the money, I knew it would be near impossible for me to go. I immediately called Bill and let him know I was interested in going, so he suggested that I send out letters to try and raise the support. Right when he said that, I thought to myself, what about my Christian facebook friends, maybe they could help? I sent out a letter to my facebook friends and within a month the money was mostly raised! I was amazed at the amazing providence of God in using His saints to support this trip. I knew the hand of God was on this. Around $2500 dollars raised, mostly from facebook and the rest from my amazing church family. God blew my mind!
So fast forward to the trip. While on the plane, I got sick. I either got food poisioning or motion sickness, but when I got off the plane, I felt awful! I got so disappointed, I went all the way to South Africa to preach the Gospel and now I am sick and may not get to leave the house we were staying at. The hosts were wonderful people and took me to the doctor the next day. The doctor gave me some medicine but I didnt feel a whole lot better, until my wife suggested I have some tea. Afterwards I felt a million times better. I missed the first day of ministry and was determined not to miss any more. I will include the most memorable events in this.
The next day we went to Rustenburg, which is about 3 hours away, And through circumstances we didn't get to go near the stadium, so we went to a marketplace that we saw on the way there. And man was it worthwhile. The Gospel tracts were passed out so quickly, in fact I was almost trampled by the people(no joke) as I was giving away tracts. I had to throw them in the air so I could survive. We preached the Gospel and people listened attentively and asked questions. Vincent Piater and I had a conversation with a guy who was genuinelly concerned for his soul and he was a minister at one time who realized he was never converted. He asked, (we didn't even bring up election) what if he wasn't elect, I told him just the fact that he is concerned about his soul is a good indicator that God is drawing him to Himself. He agreed and asked us to pray for him.
One of the most memorable events was one day when we were in Ellis Park. We were preaching downtown and moved towards the stadium, when Tim saw a guy dressed in a suit and figured he was going into one of these heretical prosperity gospel churches, that is so prevalent in South Africa, and decided to witness to him. Tim and I walked him through Scriptures of last days moneygrubbing preachers and you can see the concern come on his face. Tim walked him through the law and the Gospel, and the guy named Prince said "What must I do?" How can I be saved? and Tim walked him through what Jesus did and he must be born again. The guy wanted us to pray for him, and the guy dropped to his knees in a thunderous slam into the ground and cried out to God to save him. That he knew he deserved hell and wanted to be saved! It was so amazing to be apart of. I gave him my bible and told him to get into a bible believing church, not a money grubbing church. He thanked us with tears in his eyes and we went to the stadium. That night another guy left weeping over the grace of God when Tim and the guys fed a homeless guy, and sat with him for about 45 minutes talking and sharing the Gospel with him. He wept as he got up and hugged us all.
Another day the most amazing thing happened to me. We were preaching in downtown Pretoria and I was going to get something to eat. I was walking through a square that Tim and I preached earlier and noticed a Nigerian street preacher, preaching parts of the Gospel, but it was moralism. He was very vulgar in his preaching, grabbing his crotch as he was telling them not to have sex, and not to use condoms, and not to smoke cigarettes, and not to hug their girlfriends because it leads to other things, and it reminded me of when I was in youth group; all outward reformation and no inward transformation by the Gospel! The guy had a heckler messing with him, so the crowd of around 100, were very engaged in the dialogue between these 2. I waited for them to stop because I knew I had to expound on the full Gospel. The Nigerian got done and walked away when the heckler saw I had a Bible in my hands and asked me if I had anything to say, and I said yes I do. I raised my voice so all could here and said, "Ladies and gentlemen you heard the preacher say you need to repent, but what does that mean, and what do you need to repent of?" So I walked them through the demands of God's laws, the perfection God requires out of us all and the punishment for violating His commands, I walked them thriough the court room, and showed them the necessity of punishment for crime, and the scenario of what if someone stepped in and paid the fine. Showed them how Jesus Christ paid the fine for us, satisfied the demands of God's laws and how if we would turn from our sins and put our faith in Jesus, God could legally dismiss our case and forgive us because of Jesus. And when I got done the most amazing thing happened, the people cheered! They applauded the Gospel. People came up and thanked me for sharing the message with them. I asked the crowd if anyone isn't sure whether they would end up in heaven or hell when they die please come and talk to me, When I got done, a guy came up and was very tearful asking about his soul. I talked to him and we prayed where he asked God to have mercy on him! I was amazed that God would open the hearts of these people and have mercy on them.
While I was there I got to preach the Gospel to tens of thousands of people, we passed around 20,000 tracts at least, and saw people cry out for mercy, I got interviewed 7 times, by 7 different news organizations, from 7 different countries. The Gospel cant be stopped, for centuries the world has tried to do whatever they could to stop it, but it will never stop! His kingdom is advancing! Would you pray for laborers to enter the harvest field, especially of South Africa! They are hungry for good God centered Gospel preachers there.
This is the most disheartening part of what happened while I was there. I was preaching in downtown Johannesburg, when a guy came up and wanted to know about how he can be saved, I explained the Gospel to him and shared how he could be saved, And he was real thankful, Then he asked me, if I could direct him to a church. And I couldn't! I didn't know any good sound churches in that area and I got his contact info so I could give it to our hosts. He said what is this you are doing, preaching and not leaving me with a good church to go to. I just about cried. The Lord broke my heart while I was there, I want so desperately to go back and plant some good solid churches. there is such a need. It is time to start looking into going to bible college and find out how I can go back.
Thank you my friends for all your support and prayers because I know without your help none of this would have been possible. I am truly grateful for you.
1 comment:
Good to hear God was at work brother. Keep preaching the pure gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!
-Greis
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