July 2008 Evangelism in NYC

By Shawn Holes

NYC The last few weeks have been non stop witnessing and open air preaching. We have had the blessing of hosting three groups that came to the city to do short term mission trips. We did prayer stations, one on one witnessing, open air preaching, we prayed together, ate together, sang together, cried together, read the Word, it was amazing. One of the men that was here said that it was the closest he has ever come to the book of Acts in real life. And another man who preached was shaking so bad I could visibly see his legs shaking. It is very challenging to get in front of people and take a stand for Christ. On separate evenings two men gave their lives to Christ. This is very unusual for street preaching, but always an encouragement beyond description. Both times the men fell under conviction and they were realizing their need to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness. There are so many stories to tell and I know that your time is limited.

Inspiring

Doug Tollett’s grandma is 82 years old. She came to NYC with Doug and other saints from Alabama this last week to share the Good News with the lost. She has amazing zeal with her tireless passion to tell people about the Lord. I would love to be 82 years old and share the Gospel with strangers. Here is a photo of her witnessing by the prayer station to a man that she approached. She said to my wife after sharing with two other young men, “Please come over here and speak with these young men. They realize they have broken God’s laws and deserve hell. Can you tell them about Jesus and what they need to do next!” Grandma Tollett is 82 years old!

Doug Tollett gathers a crowd

Hey, lets keep some order around here

We put tape on the ground to mark out a free zone that people should not cross. It is a great way of keeping the crowds at bay and it keeps order in the meeting. The easel is a visual that keeps people’s attention on spiritual things. We have the ten commandments, Bible verses, etc, on the easel which we downloaded at www.livingwaters.com.

Here is a photo of the tape on the ground. The tape on the ground keeps the crowd at bay.

And here is a photo of the box that we ask people to step into when they have a question or comment. Again, it keeps order in the meeting. Once the rule is established, it is the people themselves who enforce it! They understand the need for order.

Youth with a passion

The Pennsylvania team was a youth group that came to learn how to do prayer stations and witness.

I believe with the other two groups included we handed out over 13,000 tracts in one week. Some of these young adults had never shared the Gospel before. We taught them how to share the law to the proud and grace to the humble.

Texas Evangelism Team

Here is a photo of the Texas team in Times Square after having met with Solomon Millner.

Here is a before and after photo of what it looks like in Union Square

Union Square before crowd gathers

Union Square after crowd gathers

Encouraging Video of Man in Union Square

Video of a man who walked up to us at Union Square and encouraged us to keep sharing the Truth to the lost.

The underground

We ride the subway daily as our means of transportation. We like to preach to the lost while underground. This is perhaps the only time we can witness to people that are underground because we all know that the Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die and then comes the judgment.

Here Chris preaches to children on the 5 train

And here Chris is again on the N train

More Open Air

At the fort at Battery Park crowds line up to go into this historic tourist attraction. Here Corey James from Texas walks with the crowd and shares about a ten minute message to tourists from all walks of life and from all over the world.

Joy in Christ

Fellowship is one of the sweet blessings of being a saint. Fellowship is when you hang out with brothers and sisters in Christ and talk about Jesus. It may be a time of confession, a time of praise, a time of reading the Holy scriptures, a time of song, a time of prayer. I can tell you this, it is a joy.

Two photos of true Christian fellowship

Ministry Teams from Alabama and Texas

A Good Meeting in Union Square

I have had very little time for anything but eating, sleeping, praying, reading God’s word, and witnessing, Shawn. Report and pictures by Shawn Holes

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Shawn Holes and his family have been working with our ministry this summer and God has used them in a marvelous way to train Christians to share their faith. Pray for the Holes family as they continue to impact the lost in NYC.