As a ministry team leader, I always get excited when one of my team members steps up to take the initiative in a certain circumstance to really get involved with whatever we are doing that day. As such, I want to recount a story from a few weeks ago that really encouraged me and made me thankful for my amazing team during our Fall Festival at the Florida Bible Institute campus.

This particular event deviated from our normal weekly ministry schedule, so I was naturally a bit tense about logistics, how my team members would adjust, food, transportation, etc. for the night. Everything worked out fine, and we dressed up as animals aboard “Noah’s Ark” for a Trunk-or-Treat event. As the team leader, I noticed that one guy would take a break from handing out candy and be gone for several minutes now and then. I didn’t think much about it, however, in the busyness of the evening.

Later, when I got tired of handing out candy myself, I decided to grab someone and talk to visitors standing in line for our exhibit. Justin McCombs and I hopped into the long line near the end and introduced ourselves to a father and his daughter. As the line slowly moved, we were able to turn the conversation to Who we represented (Jesus Christ, not just Word of Life) and and share the Gospel. As we started into the Gospel message, I could immediately tell that the dad was disinterested and not even listening. Nevertheless, his 11-12 year old daughter was engaged, reading verses and responding to questions! As I wrapped up my presentation, the daughter said she understood the message and didn’t have any questions. I couldn’t believe it, so I quickly summarized the main truths and verses. When I asked her if there was anything keeping her from trusting Christ, she replied no. Justin and I led her in prayer and then encouraged her in her newfound faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation!

As touching as this story is, I was actually impacted more by the faithfulness of my friend Justin. After talking to him a bit later, I realized that he had been doing alone exactly what we did together all that evening whenever he would disappear. Even though he did not get the privilege of seeing anyone else trust in the Lord that night, He was still faithful to present the gospel. God was gracious and blessed us that day in seeing someone come to a saving faith in Christ, but I think the greatest lesson that I will remember from that night is the example and testimony of Justin.

This all serves to highlight that the ministry teams that Word of Life emphasizes are catalysts for growth. They do not cause spiritual growth, but they certainly do provide ample opportunity for it!

Thank you for allowing me to share a firsthand story of God’s working!