Day 4

Today was a day of worship and witnessing. We traveled up to Salt Lake City for the Sunday morning service at Lord's Word church. Lord's Word is the church that Shawn McCraney started to feed the word to those who have come out of Mormonism, those who are still in it, and those believers who just want to study at the Lord's feet. Those who are still in it you may ask? Yes, believe it or not, there are LDS here that really hunger to know the truth of God's word. And they, under the threat of persecution, come to a Christian church to hear what the bible actually teaches. We led worship for them. As it turns out, this was a brand new experience for some of the LDS in the room. They were blown away at the sight of God's people worshiping him with abandon, lifting their hands, and singing out with their whole hearts. Pastor Shawn's comment to us after was "if this was the only thing you did on this whole trip, it would be totally successful."

After service we went to the local food court and passed out some tracts. What surprised us was that the people here were just like the people in So Cal. We expected their to be alot of LDS who, as we had been told, would be open to talk about the things of God. Instead we were met with violent opposition to the Gospel. Nobody wanted tracks, or they just gave them back. They didn't want to talk about God or anything to do with him.

We then we out to the streets. The area we were in was like an outside mall, somewhat like the 3rd street promenade at Santa Monica. I approached a lady who was setting up a table to sell some jewelry and handed her a track. Her response to me was "Ya, I've gotten one. Actually I've gotten all of them, the million dollar bill, the good test..etc." She then proceeded to tell me how I should be telling people about God's love instead of trying to make them feel guilty about being a sinner. She told me she was a Christian and that I'm doing more damage to the church than good. Mike joined me by asking "well, what is your opinion about the cross?" That really made her mad. She told us that the cross isn't the issue. That we aren't supposed to focus on the cross but on the loving relationship we have with God. She closed with "You judge me and tell me I'm a sinner and that isn't what God wants." Mike said to her "Aren't you judging us right now?" Angrily, she said "Yes, I am. so leave, leave now." We left. And I was discouraged. Street witnessing scares me. And it seems that every time I do it, the first person I speak to is venomous and bitter and mean. But God honored my perseverance later on.

We ended up at a local park to debrief and have a group devotion. As I started teaching, two homeless Navajo walked up and asked if they could join us. We welcomed them and they sat. But as I was teaching, they kept interrupting me with questions that had nothing to do with what i was talking about. He asked me if I believed they were Lamanites, which are one of the fabricated early American people groups named in the book of Mormon. At this point I was wondering if they were LDS plants sent to disrupt our devotion time. I looked around and imagined LDS hiding in the trees with binoculars and walkie talkies.

Mike pulled the guys away from the group so that I could finish without disruption. I told one of the guys that I would answer any questions after I was done. So we finished up our devotion and broke up to relax until our next appointment.

Well, i went over to talk with the two Navajo whom Mike was still speaking with. After ten minutes or so, the first Navajo, named Boyd, seemed to be hearing us. His buddy kept interrupting the conversation with nonsense so I told him to keep quiet, and I asked Boyd if he wanted to be forgiven of his sins, set free from his bondage of alcoholism, and be saved. He said yes, and we prayed with him right there.

Now, never in a million years would I have expected to travel all the way to Utah, having prepared to speak to LDS, and end up leading a homeless Navajo alcoholic to Jesus Christ. And get this, his first question after we prayed was "What about my friends?" I told him to share with them the same we shared with him. Ben gave him a bible to read and we started to pack up and leave. He asked us if we had any food for them. We gave them some of our snacks but he wondered if we had any meat. I asked them if there was a restaurant close and he indicated that there was a Dennys close. We drove over there and I bought them two steak dinners. When his buddy saw that we actually got them dinner, he seemed to realize the truth of what we spoke. he did receive Christ there, but a seed was definitely planted. Steak Dinner evangelism!!!

Please pray for Boyd.

After that we ate at a restaurant called "Wingers." I told the General manager that Mike's last name was Winger and that he might be related to the owner of the franchise (there are alot of them up here). It turns out that the owners last name is "Sleighmaker" and the reason he named it "Wingers" is because he liked flying planes. No discount on our meal, bummer.

That night we led worship at Lord's Word evening service and came back home to rest up for the next day.

God is good, amen?

- nathan