I kid you not – this not made up… not sure if it is an evangelism win or fail (you decide)!
Today, after church I agreed to meet someone who wanted to pick up some fencing supplies. I rarely do this on a Sunday, but a number of ‘coincidences’ and it was arranged.
Rick (not the mans real name), rang a little before the scheduled time to say he was 30 minutes away, though this time it was abundantly clear, he was drunk.
Myself and 5 of the boys took the supplies to the gate & waited to meet him. And here they come, two Landcruisers full of people, Rick bounding out of the car.
He was all smiles, stumbles & swear words, we hit it off right away. He started with: I read your advert & thought F&^$ what kind of freak am I going to meet? (My adverts all have mention of Jesus).
He joked that when I said ’the boys will get the items up to the gate’ he thought I might be a bikie. He loved the boys & their demeanour & our lifestyle.
I was able to share part of my testimony with Rick and his wife, who freely admitted they wanted to be able to drink less.
TWICE Rick actually said something like:
“I’m a cray fisherman I don’t know any of this stuff about god – tell me what it’s all about” !! (swear words removed).
I was able to share parts of the the Good News about Jesus with him – other members of his family listening intently in the background. This was brutal as was his rebuttal about particular sins he loved.
Others had commented on my Tshirt (a shirt with “Jesus Christ” written in the style of a certain cola brand). They loved it.
Anyway – the family was itching to get to the pub to have a feed so were trying to hurry Rick up, but he kept coming back for hugs & fist bumps from myself and the boys.
Then he joked :
“We should swap shirts”
The shirt was given to me by my late mother in law, but I knew what she would have wanted.
“Sure I said – as long as you are going to wear it to the pub?”
“Of course!” he said, howling with laughter that he would be calling me to bring the boys if anyone started a fight with him…
And that was that I took my shirt off and gave it to him. We swapped shirts right there on the street. (Yes have photos prove it 🤣)
So if you see a genuinely happy bloke at the pub, swearing his head off, telling you what he knows about Jesus (or some Jesus freaks he met just now) – I am #sorrynotsorry: he may be wearing just for you. You see Jesus is real & uses all kinds of crazy to reach people.
I am praying that anyone & everyone who sees that shirt in the next chapter of its’ life will come to know the refreshing ‘taste’ of Jesus Christ…
Oh, in other news, if anyone would like a shirt with fish on the back (I think) hit me up! (Joking, I will keep it to remember this encounter with Rick & pray for him).
#fool4Christ #allthings #KingJesus #JESUSsaveRick