"Evangelism on the street", or "A typical day for our atypical family"

Hi everyone.
For those of you who do not live near my home town of Thomaston, The fourth of July party is a big deal! Thomaston is a town of 2,200 people. The forth of July celebration brings in 3,000-7,000 people, one year there were as many as 10,000 . In other words, it is a great place to do some street evangelism  The day starts at 8;00am with a kids 1 mile fun run followed by a 5k race for the adults. Later in the day there is a parade, there is a band and some vending booths and they finish off the day with fireworks. My family used to be much more involved in the celebrations as my grandparents were in charge of the race, my grandfather also helped set up the fireworks display. Whenever something was going on in town Grandpa was probably there doing whatever he could to help.

This year my family had nothing to help with, so we were content to just enjoy our day, which probably looks a lot different than another family's version of fun.

Our day started with the family's tradition of donuts for breakfast ( everyone gets excited about this, because it was something Grandpa did for the family and since he passed away 2 years ago this is a once a year treat that adds even more fun to Independence day.) We then headed downtown where we went to find some friends to talk to.

After that we went out to street corner to hold gospel signs. We were able to pass out around 500 tracts and that was without even leaving the corner we were on.

Daddy got to have 2 of the strangest conversations ever. The first one was quite fun, Here's how it happened: A lady walked up to us with her little girl and while this may not be her exact words she  said something along the lines of, "Okay this is all pretend but play along with me, I have cancer and I have 20 seconds to live. what is the most important thing for me to know?" Daddy then proceeded to share the gospel with her.  After playing along with her for a little bit she then said, "I am actually a believer as well, I just do not have the guts to do what you just did, I was just wondering how someone would share their faith." Let us just say that that was one of the funniest conversations I have ever heard!

Daddy's next conversation was with a young man and while I do not want to share the whole story as I did not get permission from this man, I will say that this man is a new christian and it would be very helpful if you pray for him. Pray that God will make His will for this man's life clear to him and pray that this man's faith will be strengthened.

After being out in town for about 5 hours we decided to head home. When we got to our van there was a man sitting there who had been watching us on the street for a little while before. Mommy felt like she should give him a snack and we found out that he professes to be a Christian as well. Mommy and Daddy got to talk with him for a while and then we were on our way home.

While our day may seem a bit strange to others, this is what my family did all the time for 3 1/2 years. Our work included traveling across the country sharing the gospel with people. We traveled from Ohio to Texas to California to Key West, Florida and about 33 other states in between. I had a lot of fun and I would go back to full ministry if I was given the chance. We had help from a lot of other Christians, some would help whenever we were in the area and then there were other people who would travel like we did. There was the GNOM team ( Good News On The Move ) which was a group of 8 to 10 young men who traveled around the country like my family did. We would have a "surge week" where we would have prayer meetings, kid's club's, we would do door to door evangelism and much more. This was just part of our life.

For prayer requests I would like to ask for prayers for the Him family ( our friends in Cambodia. ) They are planning on being back in the states July 11 and would appreciate your prayers.

With love in the LORD,
Virginia.