All Finished -What's Next?

My August calendar is full of sticky notes with several activities, but they are quickly finishing. Friday was my third and final day at the Iowa State Fair and today was my last week of preaching after five Sundays in a row. Other than hair cuts and a few regular doctor's appointments, I currently have a fairly open calendar for the rest of 2021. Therefore, I have been wondering what is coming next?

In May, I helped lead a team of people to do gospel outreach during a three-day outdoor event. At the fair these past several days, I had several conversations about the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in Kentucky and a number of short gospel talks with mainly other Christians. I prayed to help non-Christians, and all who briefly stopped for gospel tracts also, but didn't really get to until late Friday.

About five minutes before the end of my shift, a man stopped to look at a commercial for the Ark playing on one of the booth's televisions. He was between another volunteer and I, and the other person went up to him to ask any questions or possibly talk about his experiences with the Bible and Christianity. They were close enough that I could hear most of the conversation and I moved closer to see if I could help.

A few seconds after I joined the conversation, the first volunteer departed from us. This man, Larry, was talking about thoughts on psychics, some of the Bible, and various other related topics. For the next several minutes, I let him talk, but also tested him to see if he was a good person according to the Bible. Larry realized within one question he failed the test. I made sure to present the gospel to him multiple times and bring up what the Bible says on various topics he brought up, such as reincarnation.

The entire time, none of the other volunteers joined me to help work with Larry. Later on, my assistant Sara said that one of the volunteers we have worked with several times before, and who I consider more experienced than me, said he wouldn't know how to handle Larry. Sara assured him I could manage him and whatever came up. By the time our conversation finished, I had given him some booklets about the Ark and presented the gospel a number of times. When I went to leave, my wheelchair started having electronic issues and wouldn't let me drive. I wondered if God had another conversation coming for me, but I was able to depart about 20 minutes after my scheduled time.

I feel like I'm definitely still learning evangelism and not an expert at all, but fully rely on God to give me what is needed at the right time. Apparently in that situation and with who was around, my fellow volunteers thought I was the most qualified person.

In my second week of preaching, the man that was my mentor to get my license to exhort, came to hear my message. This pastor has had decades of preaching and life experience and I pray to get close to his quality of presentation. I was thankful he was able to come and I looked forward to getting his critiques or pointers when the service was complete. However, he surprised me and said the message I gave was well given and he took notes on passages I used for his message. The pastor's wife also said he could take a few tips from me!

Whatever I have been given to serve God, I know I can always improve and learn. It is a life-long process of study and practice. With rapid changes in the political climate and my parents at retirement age, I don't how much longer I'll be able to be active. This longer than usual post shows that at least for now, I keep an active quad life. I also just received a message asking for help at a church this fall. Therefore, the calendar is starting to fill again and I look forward to staying busy in God's work.