The Olympics

The two young men carried on with their conversation and ignored me, even though I was just three feet away from them.

You’ve been there before, too. You stand in a grocery line and the bagger and the cashier chat with each other while they work. This situation makes it harder to connect with them, but I still try to talk, even briefly, and give them the Gospel in a tract they can read during their break or at home. The natural time in this case is when they are finished working and the cashier asks for my payment.

After I swiped my card and signed, I handed each of them a tract.

“This is for you, if you would like it,” I said. “It’s about Jesus.”

This is the minimum conversation I hold with cashiers, especially when I did not get to chat with them while they worked and when people are waiting behind me.

I did not run off this time, though.

“Did you guys watch the Opening Ceremonies last night?” I asked.

The three of us agreed that the drummers were awesome.

As I left the store, I remembered that the Olympics is a great conversation starter, so I have put some thoughts together on the Sower Tools site on how to use the Olympics to communicate the Gospel to others.

Red Sox

When I learned my cousin was deployed to Baghdad, I placed an order for some sports DVDs from Athletes in Action, Campus Crusade for Christ’s sports ministry.

I told some friends who love baseball about the DVDs and sent them the baseball one, Reversing the Curse, with stories from the Red Sox during their comeback in the 2004 season when they won the World Series.

A week later, our friends, John and Karen, wrote us:

“The DVD arrived today and we just finished watching it. It was GREAT! Thanks soooo much.

“At the end, [the DVD] told us how to order more. We actually ordered 25! We want to share this with every ‘baseball nut’ we know! Thanks. Your kind gesture may take the Gospel to many.

“Also, our daughter’s fiancé is on a ship in the Gulf of Bahrain/Persian Gulf and is a Red Sox fan. He is saved but I know many around him are not. I want to send him a copy to share with his ‘mates’.”

I was so excited that sending one DVD to a friend multiplied to twenty-five more DVDs sent which will possibly be viewed multiple times as well!

PS: Read my story about sending these DVDs to my cousin Kevin in the previous Sower blog article. You can also find more tips for reaching the sports fans in your life at The Sower companion blog: The Sower: Tools and Tips.

War and Peace

Kevin re-enlisted.

The words stood out from my cousin Martha’s e-mail. Her mid-40s brother, my cousin, was re-enlisting in the Army.

Martha kept us up-to-date with Kevin’s training and deployment to Baghdad as an MP. After only a short time overseas, he shared in an e-mail to Martha that the soldiers enjoyed DVDs and missed sports.

I quickly ordered some sports DVDs from Athletes in Action, Campus Crusade for Christ’s sports ministry. I packaged them, along with The Jesus Film: Fact or Fiction, and shipped them off to his APO address.

After I knew Kevin had received all the DVDs I wrote:

“Thank you for helping protect our freedoms. We pray for you often.

“I heard from Martha that you and the other soldiers miss sports and that you guys like DVDs too, so I hope you will enjoy the sports DVDs we sent last month and can share them.

“The Jesus Film DVD I’m sending is the most-translated film around. It has been translated into 1000 languages.”

My hope was that Kevin would share the DVDs and that some of his friends would find peace with God in the midst of the war.

I have not heard from him if others have enjoyed the DVDs, but I DO know of another story where one DVD resulted in twenty-five more being sent! I will post this story in a few days.

Announcing: new The Sower: Tools and Tips blog. This new site will be where I collect links and resources for sharing your faith. I already added more tips for reaching your friends and loved ones who are in the military at this companion site to The Sower.