Here are various testimonies from members of this year’s outreach team to Grahamstown. We hope they are an inspiration to you, just as they were to us!
I noticed a lady at a corner and decided to approach her. She didn’t look very happy and seemed like she had a lot of things on her mind. As I handed her a pamphlet I asked her if she knew Jesus.
” Give me a good reason why I should believe” She replied right away in a heavy and weary tone. I asked Jesus for wisdom in my reply and told her that Jesus loves her and for only this reason it is worthwhile to give it a try and to let Him have a chance to show His love and power in her life. I told her Salvation is for the taking freely regardless where we are at in our lives. She was listening attentively so I went on explaining His unconditional love, and what He went through for us.
She asked me few more questions and after giving the best answers I could, she agreed to open her heart and let Jesus come in! As we finished the prayer together, tears were running down her face – and mine too consequently.It was so awesome to see that Jesus touched her heart and gave the answers to her questions. We left each other with a hug and I reminded her to never forget that no matter what Jesus is here for her; everyday, all the time.
I got into a conversation with an elderly lady who seemed like she’d been drinking. She said she felt that like such a failure and wicked person for the mistakes she’s done. We spoke about Jesus’ unconditional Love for us.
She was so happy to hear these things about Jesus that she kept giving me hug after hug. Then I prayed for the Lord to give her strength to change. Then she was so excited that she gave me a kiss on the cheek. She was very thankful for the time we shared and the Activated I left her with. What everybody needs really is love – His Love!
Over the many days in Grahamstown, it became more and more obvious that God was at work behind the scenes. One such occasion was when I decided to approach two men by the side of the road. One seemed to be more of a conversationalist, while the other was retracted and quiet. As I began to talk to them, the conversation naturally became more directed towards the talkative one. However, as he was a car guard, he took a break from the conversation to go and help a car out of its lot. So I began to witness to the other man, and he turned out to be very receptive. He was receptive to the Message and it did not take much persuasion, so after only a couple minutes he prayed to accept Jesus into his life!
No sooner had we finished praying than the first man returned. I tried to continue my conversation with him where I had left off. It did not take long to discover that he was very against what I had to offer, and he tried his best to give me a hard time. In the end I had to leave him to his own choices, but when I look back I see that if he had not been called away for those couple minutes, the other man’s soul might never have found Jesus. God’s timing is perfect.
I met again with Mrs. B this year. We exchanged testimonies and talked about the different things that the Lord has done in our lives. It was so inspiring to hear her happy and fulfilled, uplifting Jesus in her conversation and giving Him the credit for all the changes in her life since we first met 2 years ago.
She said: “I’m not sure why you decided to pray for me this year but it’s utterly amazing that I met you at the festival in 2013. The only thing I can say is that day this prayer changed my life! God is Good!”
I handed a tract to an older lady who was hurrying past me. I didn’t have time to say more than Jesus loves you as she passed by. She looked at the tract in her hand, and came back to me. “Thank you for that”, she said as she took my hand in hers. “ I needed to be reminded of that. You see, I have cancer. The doctors hope they cut all of it out but I have start radio therapy tomorrow morning. So I really needed to be reminded of Jesus love. Thank you for what you are doing.”
We were out witnessing in the evening and it had been quite slow with few results. We were just about to head home, when I noticed a man standing by himself and so I handed him a pamphlet and began speaking to him about the Lord. When I asked him if he knew Jesus, he replied yes, but that he hadn’t made that choice yet to accept Salvation, he wasn’t sure if he was going to Heaven. So I began to explain the Message to him and he really intently and respectfully listened. In the end I asked him if he would like to pray to accept Jesus. And right there on the street he received the Lord! I gave him a Gospel of John and our contact details and then began to explain about how his Salvation is eternal and I said, “if you ever wonder now, If you’re not sure will I go to Heaven or not…” and in mid-sentence he interrupted me with a smile and said, “No. No. I know!
From that point on he knew. He knew what it meant, and he knew where he was going! Praise the Lord!
I approached a man and his friend and gave them tracts. When I asked them if they believed in Jesus, the one said “I’m the kind of guy who likes to ask questions so I want to ask you some questions!” I said “Sure! That’s also what we’re here to do to try and help answer your questions about the Bible.”
So then he asked a lot of questions, about Adam and Eve why did God judge them so harshly etc and many other questions. He shared that the people in his community know him well because he asks questions, and as a result they often get into long arguments with him. But it was really amazing because instead of arguing with him, I just listened and answered his questions from the Bible. After awhile he nodded and said “I’ve really learned something today”. And in the end both him and his friend bowed their heads on the street and prayed to ask Jesus into their hearts! Well worth it!
-When the main festival grounds where closing, many people were leaving the grounds and lots of people were coming down the road. So I wanted to make the most of it and was handing out a lot of tracts saying, “Jesus loves you with each one!”. Most people were walking in little groups of 2 to 5 people so was trying to give each one a different one so they could swap between themselves. Due to the speed of people rushing past I was often only able to give them one per group. There was a group of three teenage girls, students from Grahamstown. They looked like they were in a happy mood saying funny stuff especially the one in the middle. I handed the one in the middle a tract and said, “Jesus loves you!”. When the girl loudly exclaimed, “Jesus f****** loves me so much today!”, throwing the tract over and behind her head. Her one friend stopped while the others walked on ahead and gasped with her hand over her mouth looking at me. So I picked up the tract and continued handing out to other people. All of a sudden the girl who had made the comment turned around and ran back to me saying, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know why I said that! I’m so sorry. Can we start over and you give that to me again?” Wow, what a change! I was so glad to hear that she wanted the tracts and handed them to her right away. She really did feel badly about what she said and kept on apologizing, it seemed like she couldn’t apologize enough. I really wanted her to know everything was okay and to feel that Jesus still loved her. I asked her, “Do you need a hug?”. She immediately said, “Yes!”. After a hug and understanding that all was okay. I asked, “Have you accepted Jesus in your heart?”. She said, “I’m working at it, I’m getting there.”. I told her, “It’s just a prayer away, would you like to pray now?”. She thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, I would!”. Her friends were calling from down the road to come, she then shouted their way, “Leave me alone, I’m busy!” Ha! And she prayed to accept Jesus as her Saviour. She then – thankful and knowing she had Jesus forever – went to catch up with her friends. Thank you Jesus for divine intervention and for making the change in her heart so quick and miraculous.
We had seen D on previous years and bumped into her one evening, where she told us that she worked at a nearby tattoo store. We promised to come see her there. The next day we made our way through the rain to her store and had a great time getting to know her better. She explained how she battled with worry and we were able to discuss the topic for a while and encourage her with verses such as 2 Timothy 1.7 “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” We also gave her a “Dare to be Different!” book and invited her to get our weekly devotional audios which she was so very happy for. It was like a second chance to give her more of Jesus.
I had two Bibles in my backpack to give away and it was nearing the end of the day but I still hadn’t found that “special”person yet. Two young men were slowly walking across the road to the park heading right in my direction. I struck up a conversation with one of them. It turns out that he had accepted Jesus as his Saviour sometime before but said he wanted “to know God.” I explained that getting saved is like exchanging email addresses with God. Getting to know God is using the email address, and we can do that when we pray and by reading our Bible. He liked that but said he didn’t have a Bible. Now I knew why I still had the Bibles in my bag. He could not believe the Bible was his for free. He kept saying, “Are you sure? Are you serious? This is for me? I can have this?” It was so precious to see the value that he placed on the Word of God.
I was walking away from the Village Green, planning to tell people about Jesus on the other side of town, and distribute “Jesus Love You” pamphlets on the way. While I was about halfway there, I got a very strong feeling to turn around and head directly back toward the Green, where most of the festival is held. “But I just came from there!” I said to myself, as I began to retrace my steps. Approaching the entrance, I lifted my head and looked around. In front of me is a very slight descent where one walks through a small hallway before entering the tented area known as the “Village Green.” Stalls, food vendors, and musicians come to to ply their trade, and it makes for a very lively and interesting place to spend one’s day. To my right are large stone steps, acting as a retaining wall for a small lawn, with a basketball court on the side. I was standing there when, all of a sudden: I could not, for the life of me, remember what I was doing, nor where I was going. My mind went completely blank! Stumped, I took my seat upon a stone step, trying to recollect my thoughts. I had been there for several minutes at least when my musings were interrupted by a gentleman talking on his cell phone. He gestured to me, asking to sit next to me. Now, the stone seats were empty, so there really wasn’t really any logical reason for this man to sit right near me, but I agreed, and he carried on over the phone. After the call ended, he asked me what I was doing. We struck up a conversation, and he began to explain how he and his friends were returning from a funeral in a nearby town. This festival was on the route home, so they decided to stop for a day and visit the pub. When there, though, he didn’t feel like having a drink, so he walked about town for a bit, and then spotted me. He said I looked a bit lost, so that’s why he came over, ha. We started talking about Heaven, and what a wonderful place it is. I was able to really encourage him, and answer many of his questions; particularly where we will go if we die, and if God still loves a sinner. He told me he had asked Jesus into his heart many years ago, but felt like he had slipped away from Him, and didn’t know if Jesus would want him back. We prayed together; he re-dedicating his life to Jesus, and I, asking the Lord to set his life on a new path, one of a disciple’s at heart. We swapped details, and I left him with tracts, Activated magazines, and some daily devotional material. At the end, he said: “Now I know for sure why God led us come to Grahamstown.” As for me, I know why, for a very special reason, God allowed my mind to go blank.
In the Village Green a young woman came up to me with a tract I had just handed her. “ Who writes these things? I find them at my place of work. I work at a KFC and I see them sometimes left at the tables. I was feeling really down and then I read one and it picked me up.” She then went on to explain how she had felt so unloved and betrayed by “friends” in her former church who had been spreading lies about her on Facebook and was finding it hard to trust people because she felt like they betray her all the time. I said I understood. We are like a glass ball that we place in others hands and some people cherish it and hold it gently and others throw it on the floor and it breaks. No matter how hard we try to put it back together we can’t because there are too many pieces. But Jesus knows and he comes along and picks up all the pieces and fits them back together until we are whole once more. Even though you can still see where the break was, Jesus holds us close and cherishes us always. She started crying and asked me to pray for her, which I did. We exchanged numbers and have been chatting via whatsapp.