This next testimony (below) comes in from Jeff Sobieralski. He is an awesome man of God, with a heart after Jesus. He has done many outreach events and is a passionate soul winner. He is part of RAVEN ministeries in our local area. Please keep Jeff in your prayers as he an his wife are expecting their secound child. It was a blessing to have him assist us in this outreach. Thanks Jeff!
Last Saturday's Outreach was spectacular. There were 4 teams of 4 people each that walked approx a 4 block radius by the Oak Park trailer Park.
Amanda's trailer - Amanda was very open, she said that she stopped going to church because of time constraints, but she knew that she definitely needed to return to church. We prayed for Amanda that her and her sister would get back into church, that God would draw her to Him and give her a hunger and thirst for the Truth that only He provides.
Josh’s trailer - Recently, Josh began having Bible studies in his trailer and seems to know a lot of folks in the trailer park. Apparently, Ed (one of the ministers in the group w/ me), had met Josh previously and really wanted to follow-up with him. Josh opened the door and was happy to see us. Josh told us he had just had a Bible study a few days ago and would love to have others come and join him. He allowed us to invite many other residents to come to his place and talk/study with him. We prayed that Josh will continue his new found love in Christ and continue his daily commitment to Jesus.
A man with 4 children - The next trailer was a man that was very happy to see us. He stepped out of his door saying that God should bless us for coming to the door. He had 4 children and he was very thankful to receive the ham. It seems that he is already attending church. We prayed for his family to continue.
Jake and his girlfriend - We met a young man who wasn't very honest and claimed that he reads the Bible daily. I asked him what his favorite verse was, unfortunately, he said that it was Rom 6:13 "God so loved the world that He gave....." I encouraged him to look up Rom 6:13 and be sure that he is speaking correctly about his favorite verse. Just after that he began reciting Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Apparently, the young man was sent to camp Ray Bird when he was younger and memorized that verse.
I was able to share with him that I am a new Christian of about 5 years. The only verse I ever knew in the Bible was Rom 6:23, which I also learned as a youth at Camp Ray Bird. I didn't quite understand it until I became a Christian, so I thought I would explain it to the young man so that he might get a better grip. His girlfriend was standing behind him listening to the whole conversation. Her response was, "I believe in Jesus, that He was alive, but I am not into all the other stuff." We prayed for the young man to become a leader in the home, and that his lady friend would also come to know the Lord. We also prayed that the young man would train up the children living there in the Lord too.
Gladys - We decided to cross the street and the very first home that we came to belonged to Gladys. She was a very sweet lady that had a hard time getting to the door. She invited us inside to pray for her, after we found out that she has Lymphoma Cancer, just recovered from the flu, lost her husband, lost her oldest child, and was having other multiple health issues. She hadn't been reading her Bible lately, but she seemed very upset that she hasn't, knowing how important that it is. Gladys was so grateful that we stopped by and asked us to stop by to visit anytime. She has wonderful children that stop by to help her take care of things. I went to school with her grandson.
Mother of 4 - We went next door, and visited a mother and 4 children. They were very excited to talk with us and invited us to pray for them. I gave a couple of the million dollar bill tracts to the children and they really enjoyed them. The father was working at the time we stopped by.
Justin - He has a 4 year old daughter and just started attending a new church on Day road, although he did not know the name of it. Previously, Justin was into Wicca, an occult that started in Great Britain during the 19th century. Justin had a very large dog, named Cerberus (a Greek Mythological name of a 3-headed hell hound that kept the living away from the land of the dead.) We talked for a few moments, and I am looking forward to visiting Justin again soon, to talk about the things of God.
Family Reunion - Our next stop was one of a bit of reunion. The person living at this home was the sister of a young lady in our group. Only three of us started speaking to Jill before Kathy came over. Jill claimed that she believes in God, and that she is Catholic. She was hurting and sad over the recent tragedy of the accident involving 2 police officers killed in a car accident. One of the officers was a dog, and the dog was crying to get out of the vehicle. She was still hearing the cries in her head. We prayed for her that she would receive the peace of God and know him. After praying, Kathy came up and the two hugged. We decided to give them some time to talk awhile.
A few other stops:
A young man (Jesse) that didn't like "organized religion", but seemed to have a different outlook when we were done talking about truth.
Amanda's trailer - Amanda was very open, she said that she stopped going to church because of time constraints, but she knew that she definitely needed to return to church. We prayed for Amanda that her and her sister would get back into church, that God would draw her to Him and give her a hunger and thirst for the Truth that only He provides.
Josh’s trailer - Recently, Josh began having Bible studies in his trailer and seems to know a lot of folks in the trailer park. Apparently, Ed (one of the ministers in the group w/ me), had met Josh previously and really wanted to follow-up with him. Josh opened the door and was happy to see us. Josh told us he had just had a Bible study a few days ago and would love to have others come and join him. He allowed us to invite many other residents to come to his place and talk/study with him. We prayed that Josh will continue his new found love in Christ and continue his daily commitment to Jesus.
A man with 4 children - The next trailer was a man that was very happy to see us. He stepped out of his door saying that God should bless us for coming to the door. He had 4 children and he was very thankful to receive the ham. It seems that he is already attending church. We prayed for his family to continue.
Jake and his girlfriend - We met a young man who wasn't very honest and claimed that he reads the Bible daily. I asked him what his favorite verse was, unfortunately, he said that it was Rom 6:13 "God so loved the world that He gave....." I encouraged him to look up Rom 6:13 and be sure that he is speaking correctly about his favorite verse. Just after that he began reciting Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Apparently, the young man was sent to camp Ray Bird when he was younger and memorized that verse.
I was able to share with him that I am a new Christian of about 5 years. The only verse I ever knew in the Bible was Rom 6:23, which I also learned as a youth at Camp Ray Bird. I didn't quite understand it until I became a Christian, so I thought I would explain it to the young man so that he might get a better grip. His girlfriend was standing behind him listening to the whole conversation. Her response was, "I believe in Jesus, that He was alive, but I am not into all the other stuff." We prayed for the young man to become a leader in the home, and that his lady friend would also come to know the Lord. We also prayed that the young man would train up the children living there in the Lord too.
Gladys - We decided to cross the street and the very first home that we came to belonged to Gladys. She was a very sweet lady that had a hard time getting to the door. She invited us inside to pray for her, after we found out that she has Lymphoma Cancer, just recovered from the flu, lost her husband, lost her oldest child, and was having other multiple health issues. She hadn't been reading her Bible lately, but she seemed very upset that she hasn't, knowing how important that it is. Gladys was so grateful that we stopped by and asked us to stop by to visit anytime. She has wonderful children that stop by to help her take care of things. I went to school with her grandson.
Mother of 4 - We went next door, and visited a mother and 4 children. They were very excited to talk with us and invited us to pray for them. I gave a couple of the million dollar bill tracts to the children and they really enjoyed them. The father was working at the time we stopped by.
Justin - He has a 4 year old daughter and just started attending a new church on Day road, although he did not know the name of it. Previously, Justin was into Wicca, an occult that started in Great Britain during the 19th century. Justin had a very large dog, named Cerberus (a Greek Mythological name of a 3-headed hell hound that kept the living away from the land of the dead.) We talked for a few moments, and I am looking forward to visiting Justin again soon, to talk about the things of God.
Family Reunion - Our next stop was one of a bit of reunion. The person living at this home was the sister of a young lady in our group. Only three of us started speaking to Jill before Kathy came over. Jill claimed that she believes in God, and that she is Catholic. She was hurting and sad over the recent tragedy of the accident involving 2 police officers killed in a car accident. One of the officers was a dog, and the dog was crying to get out of the vehicle. She was still hearing the cries in her head. We prayed for her that she would receive the peace of God and know him. After praying, Kathy came up and the two hugged. We decided to give them some time to talk awhile.
A few other stops:
A young man (Jesse) that didn't like "organized religion", but seemed to have a different outlook when we were done talking about truth.
A young high school girl (Larissa) who was very confused about who Jesus was, what praying was, and why we were there.
A man (unnamed) that didn't want to hear anything about church. It seems he had a run in with one of the cults (possibly JWs)
A lady (Rita) that wants Jesus to hurry up and come back because the world is horrible, as long as we weren't selling anything....lol
A young lady whose husband was at work. She had 2 dogs (an italian grey hound, and a chiguagua). They just moved in last May and love it there. She doesn't attend church now, but has in the past. She claims that she is a Christian, but couldn't really define what she meant by it. She was very nice and also very confused.
A lady running a day care, whose son is beginning a new church this week. She was ecstatic that we were out.
God saves the best for last - The last stop was Stacy. She met Al, the leader of my group, at a previous outreach. She was ready to commit her life to Jesus, and asked Him to remove her sins and begin to work on her heart. She said she was ready for a new life in Christ for her and her children.
We prayed for many families and children. We handed out 23 hams, a bag full of stuffed animals, and bag of NIV New Testaments to each family. Fortunately, we had so many “Divine Interventions,” that I cannot remember all of them…..yee haw!
God truly blessed the time we were out serving Him with each other. He gave us dry weather, safety, clarity of words, planted a lot of seeds, began building some relationships, as well as continued to build onto ones that started only a few months prior.
This testimony is only 1 from the 4 groups that were out last Saturday. As soon as I receive the testimonies from the other groups, I will forward them on.
Love in Christ,
Jeff Sobieralski
www.biggrace.com
