Bourbon Street: 5 Bibles and 100+ Tracts
I got onto Bourbon Street just before 9pm with 5 Bibles and 100+ tracts. As I started walking from one end of the busy section to the other I just began handing tracts out to people saying, "Here, let me leave this with you as a reminder that Jesus loves you." Most people shrugged the tract away but by the end of the night all of them were handed out!
As I got to the end of Bourbon Street where it meets Canal, there were two tables with chess boards and apparently you could play one of the two men for $10 and if you win they would pay you $20. This brother, Byron, invited me to play a game but I explained what I was doing. Hearing my mission, he said, "well hey, play me for just $5 and you can witness to me while we play." Ha! Well, I agreed and played a short match while I shared my testimony and prayed for him.
After leaving the chess area, I encountered a young couple and when I told them that Jesus loves them, they both stopped in their tracks and admitted that they were Christians and new they shouldn't be out at the bars. We had a great conversation about God's calling for their lives and they left encouraged.
Then I met a man named Jim who claimed to be a faithful Christian who serves at his church. I asked, "man, so what in the world are you doing out here?!" and he replied that he was bored. BORED?! There are much better things to do for boredom than to dance with sin out on Bourbon... so I gave him a pocket Bible and challenged him to witness to someone and shine your light like you should! He accepted the challenge :)
Shortly afterwards, I met three generations of women. A grandmom, mom, and daughter. When I handed the grandmother a tract, her face just lit up! She went on to tell me that she has a friend that also does ministry on Bourbon Street. They encouraged me to keep going with the ministry because it had encouraged them greatly.
Then I met three other young women. They also said they loved Jesus and were happy to see someone witnessing. So I asked them the same question as the man earlier, "then what in the world are y'all doing out here?!?" They explained that they are in town for a softball match and they figured they would just go sight seeing. I shared my testimony with them, explained how God had call my family and I to the mission field, and how God has a purpose and calling for them in order to share the Gospel of Jesus wherever they are. I challenged them to be a witness as well so I gave them each a Bible to hand out. They said, "Wow! This is so incredible! You could give us 25 Bibles and we'd hand them all out!" Praise God! We had an awesome time of prayer where we were all rejoicing there in the middle of street. Afterwards, we couldn't help but reflect on being the light in such a dark place.
Then I met Ryan and Brandon. Ryan is a pastor's kid who has fallen off the straight and narrow and his friend Brandon is agnostic. Man, my heart just broke for them. Ryan knows the truth but claimed that he would rather just live life freely than be hypocritical and hide his lifestyle. I prayed with them for a transformation to take place from the inside out...that Jesus would give him a desire to pursue his relationship with the Lord. And we prayed over Brandon that as he seeks truth as to who this "higher power" is, that the Lord would surely reveal Himself to him.
Then I met four guys that were celebrating a bachelor party. One of the guys was completely wasted and almost fell on me a couple times. When I began to share Jesus with them, they explained that they knew where I was coming from because they had all met at a Baptist College. What?! Where has Christianity gone that we can just embrace sin in such a way!? I prayed over those guys, that the Lord would reveal their callings to them, help them get their priorities straight, and bless the union of the bachelor and his soon-to-be bride.
As I was nearing my starting point, a man named Carl ran up to me and asked me for a tract. He said he had been watching me and saw how people were basically refusing Jesus. He said he didn't want to ignore that and wanted to get right with God. Hallelujah!!! I prayed with him and he asked God to help him through his struggles. I asked him if he has a Bible and he replied, "yes, well, uh, honestly... no." So I gave him the last pocket Bible I had with me.
Then turning the corner to head back to my van, I met Percy who was singing for spare change. His cardboard box was empty and he asked me for some money to buy some food. I explained that I couldn't give him money but I could grab a burger for him from the pub next store. Man, his face just lit up! I grabbed him a cold water and got to witness to the host at the pub as I was putting in his order too!
Wow, what an awesome night of ministry!!
As I got to the end of Bourbon Street where it meets Canal, there were two tables with chess boards and apparently you could play one of the two men for $10 and if you win they would pay you $20. This brother, Byron, invited me to play a game but I explained what I was doing. Hearing my mission, he said, "well hey, play me for just $5 and you can witness to me while we play." Ha! Well, I agreed and played a short match while I shared my testimony and prayed for him.
After leaving the chess area, I encountered a young couple and when I told them that Jesus loves them, they both stopped in their tracks and admitted that they were Christians and new they shouldn't be out at the bars. We had a great conversation about God's calling for their lives and they left encouraged.
Then I met a man named Jim who claimed to be a faithful Christian who serves at his church. I asked, "man, so what in the world are you doing out here?!" and he replied that he was bored. BORED?! There are much better things to do for boredom than to dance with sin out on Bourbon... so I gave him a pocket Bible and challenged him to witness to someone and shine your light like you should! He accepted the challenge :)
Shortly afterwards, I met three generations of women. A grandmom, mom, and daughter. When I handed the grandmother a tract, her face just lit up! She went on to tell me that she has a friend that also does ministry on Bourbon Street. They encouraged me to keep going with the ministry because it had encouraged them greatly.
Then I met three other young women. They also said they loved Jesus and were happy to see someone witnessing. So I asked them the same question as the man earlier, "then what in the world are y'all doing out here?!?" They explained that they are in town for a softball match and they figured they would just go sight seeing. I shared my testimony with them, explained how God had call my family and I to the mission field, and how God has a purpose and calling for them in order to share the Gospel of Jesus wherever they are. I challenged them to be a witness as well so I gave them each a Bible to hand out. They said, "Wow! This is so incredible! You could give us 25 Bibles and we'd hand them all out!" Praise God! We had an awesome time of prayer where we were all rejoicing there in the middle of street. Afterwards, we couldn't help but reflect on being the light in such a dark place.
Then I met Ryan and Brandon. Ryan is a pastor's kid who has fallen off the straight and narrow and his friend Brandon is agnostic. Man, my heart just broke for them. Ryan knows the truth but claimed that he would rather just live life freely than be hypocritical and hide his lifestyle. I prayed with them for a transformation to take place from the inside out...that Jesus would give him a desire to pursue his relationship with the Lord. And we prayed over Brandon that as he seeks truth as to who this "higher power" is, that the Lord would surely reveal Himself to him.
Then I met four guys that were celebrating a bachelor party. One of the guys was completely wasted and almost fell on me a couple times. When I began to share Jesus with them, they explained that they knew where I was coming from because they had all met at a Baptist College. What?! Where has Christianity gone that we can just embrace sin in such a way!? I prayed over those guys, that the Lord would reveal their callings to them, help them get their priorities straight, and bless the union of the bachelor and his soon-to-be bride.
As I was nearing my starting point, a man named Carl ran up to me and asked me for a tract. He said he had been watching me and saw how people were basically refusing Jesus. He said he didn't want to ignore that and wanted to get right with God. Hallelujah!!! I prayed with him and he asked God to help him through his struggles. I asked him if he has a Bible and he replied, "yes, well, uh, honestly... no." So I gave him the last pocket Bible I had with me.
Then turning the corner to head back to my van, I met Percy who was singing for spare change. His cardboard box was empty and he asked me for some money to buy some food. I explained that I couldn't give him money but I could grab a burger for him from the pub next store. Man, his face just lit up! I grabbed him a cold water and got to witness to the host at the pub as I was putting in his order too!
Wow, what an awesome night of ministry!!
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