DT Greenville

Last night we went street preaching with Kerrigan, John, Jesse, Gary, and Ross. The weather was chilly with a little bit of rain toward the end of the night, but this did not stop the college students from lining outside of the various clubs. This was the first time that Tony wore his sandwich board downtown Greenville; it is just amazing how many people read it to themselves and even out loud (usually in a mocking manner, but it still amazes me). Then there are those that just stare at the words on the sandwich board... which usually prompts the question "So what do you think about that statement?" It is a great conversation starter.

I (Shayna) offered two guys a gospel tract. They said they had already rec'd several that night. There names were Patton and Jesse (not James... Patton kept calling him James during the conversation. It was funny!). They had just met that night and during our conversation discovered that they are both from Richmond, VA AND that they graduated from the same high school, just different years. Jesse graduated in 2003 - just like me. He said he couldn't imagine already being married; he was raised catholic; knew some scripture; and was very talkative! He kept interrupting (in a polite kind of way). A couple of his friends came over and distracted him and they ended up going to one of the bars across the street. Patton stayed to talk with me. He was very interested and asked several questions, one being "so what does one have to do to be born again?" He was glad that I wasn't "forceful"... he had went to a couple Young Life camps and they were very focused on getting a decision and were not able to answer his questions. He was so grateful for the conversation and accepted the little book titled "How to Live Forever, Without Being Religious".

Ryan was a guy that had stared at the sandwich board and was kind of pacing back and forth. He was also raised catholic. It was as if he was trying to ease his conscience during our conversation. "But I am a good person and I think God will understand that I am just having a good time." We had a lengthy talk and he took a gospel of John and put it in his pocket. He had a lot to think about...

The cops tried really hard to put a stop to us, but because of our first amendment right, we have the freedom to be there. They had told us that if we were going to stay on the sidewalk, we had to "keep moving". So we decided to stand in one of the alley ways, which is also public property.

Tracy was one of the girls standing in line to get into the club. She came over to me and with tears in her eyes, expressed how grateful she was for us to be there. "Keep doing what your doing. Don't take anything these people say personally. I'm a Christian too. I'm just here to protect my friends. I'm the responsible one." She knew that she shouldn't be entangling herself with the world and her conscience was heavy.