It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Life is busy, which is so great. Thankfully I haven’t neglected any of my program stuff just to write on this blog! I still have postcards to send, but it will happen eventually. We’ve had 3 Saturdays here so far, meaning 3 beach evangelism days. It’s been really cool so far.
I’ve experienced a variety of scenarios. The first week, my partner and I didn’t get rejected once…it seemed everyone we talked to was very nice and very open to hearing what we had to say. Nobody made any major decisions, but who knows what went on even after we talked with them. We came across a couple pairs of girls where one was a believer and one was not. I’m sure that definitely opened up some conversation once we were gone!
The second week, though, included 8 rejections in a row. This definitely helped get rid of any pride we might have had, thinking “We’ve got this.” Another factor was that we went to another beach, with an entirely different crowd. Not only were our rejections many, but they were rude. It was a little discouraging until near the end of the day, when we came across a van that was sinking in the quickly-rising tide. The people were panicking, and I really didn’t think the van was going anywhere…ever. After much chaos and a handful of fearful moments, a very nice man offered the use of his truck and a rope. Finally the van was able to move! My partner and I helped this family move their coolers, tables, chairs, and tent so they could get out of there before the tide got even higher. Although we didn’t have very many chances to share the Bridge with people, it was really great that we were able to help this family out.
Last week, our third, we were back on our original beach (with the friendlier people). It was a very interesting day. I saw what looked like a big circus tent on the other side of the pier, and I was actually pretty excited about it. I wondered if we could check it out after we were done, in case their was something fun going on. Well, as we were walking around talking to people, the “circus tent” started coming closer. Soon we could hear music and chanting, and it started seeming less like a circus. Actually, it was a big group of Hare Krishna followers who were having a celebration and were handing out information about their religion. I decided that it would be good to talk to these people about the gospel, too, so I went up to a lady handing out papers with her young daughter, and asked her what religion she was. She explained that they worshipped Lord Jagannath, and that they consulted a lot of philosophers with questions about life, even though there was no way they could ever know the answers. Pretty bleak, really. I told her were were Christians, and that we were also here on the beach sharing our faith, and I almost got to talk to her about it. Unfortunately, the moving circus tent thingy-ma-bob was leaving her behind, so she had to run and catch up to it. My partner and I continued on, and by the end of the day we had met several Christian girls, who were very encouraging to talk with. One of them is trying to join us for our Monday rally nights if her work doesn’t go too late! New friends are always good. :)
A couple more beach evangelism Saturdays are left…looking forward to it for sure!
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