The Everyday Club

4/12/11     Javier, Venus     about 18, 22
I met a young couple on the sidewalk with their young daughter practicing walking as they pushed her stroller. I used MDB gospel tracts to start a conversation, talking mainly with Javier who could speak English well, while Venus listened. He claimed he had been “saved”, at a church he had attended, though he couldn’t really say what that meant. “It’s what they told me when I prayed that prayer” he said, though he had no idea what the prayer was about. “Ï’ll make it easy for you” - I told him – “ït has something to do with Jesus”. He still didn’t know. He showed no signs of remembering or understanding until I had taken him through some “good person” questions, let him know his need for forgiveness, and explained that Jesus had done something for him so he could be forgiven. Then he brightened up, like a light came on – “He died on the cross” he said suddenly. Although he really didn’t understand what he had done or believed, I felt that his heart was open to the things of God and I went on to talk with him like he was a believer who had lost his way. But I was careful not to give him a false assurance of salvation. “Önly God knows your heart” I told him, and explained how they could grow in faith, inviting them to church and encouraging them to read the Bible for themselves.