Matt is a student at Salisbury State who has really been growing in his faith this summer.
"One of the things that God has been putting on my in the first few weeks that I’ve been here is the importance of evangelism and just loving others the same way Christ loved people. Growing up, I went to a church that did not actively tell others about Christ, so I was never exposed to evangelism. I viewed it as something that overbearing Christians do just so they could get their church attendance up.
When I got to college, I joined Campus Crusade and went to Big Break in Panama City, Florida. This was my first taste of evangelism. Using the QuEST surveys and gospel (KGP) booklets made evangelism seem like something better than what I viewed it as, but it still was not enough to change my passion in regards to sharing my faith.
Coming on a summer project has changed my heart in so many ways. Trusting in the Lord for finding a job, providing money, and strengthening friendships has been hard to do, but my heart has been absolutely softened to letting the Lord do whatever he wants with me; all I have to do is trust that he will have great plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11).
Another one of those areas where I’ve been trusting the Lord is in the area of evangelism. Even at the start of the summer, I wasn’t too hot on the subject, but I was willing to give it a chance.
One night, I went out sharing my faith. My partner and I saw this kid sitting on the ledge. When we approached him, he was willing to let us do the survey with him. His name was Nathan, and he just graduated 10th grade from Virginia. When I asked him to describe his life in three words, he said his life was tough. I always try to ask questions to try to get a glimpse into their life, so I asked him why his life was tough. He said it is tough because his parents are divorcing.
Immediately, I felt a connection with this kid because two years ago, my parents split up, and it was the hardest time of my life. He was willing and wanting to go through the gospel with me. My partner was praying hard for me. She definitely pulled through for me because I didn’t stumble or miss anything--that was definately God speaking through me. At the end, Nathan ended up praying to accept Christ! It was the best feeling in the world! I had a great feeling of accomplishment, but that wasn’t the only feeling I felt. I felt an overwhelming love for Nathan, a love that I had never felt for someone that I had just met before. I believe that this is the same love that Jesus felt for people. And as Christians, our goal is to be a little more like Christ. God has totally changed my heart and I want to go out and share my faith with everybody!"
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