Week 3, Location 2: Precinct Line Rd & W Harwood Rd, Hurst, TX

12/20/12 - last day at this location

"So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building."   - 1 Corinthians 3:7-9

Time:  3:45 - 5:45 pm

Main Happenings:

1)  Twice as many honks, thumbs up, waves and shouts as any other time being there.
2)  An older couple stopped by and gave me hot chocolate and a donut.
3)  Another “drive by shouting”: a lady had her window rolled down and screamed, “Hallelujah brother!! Shout it from the rooftops!!”
4)   Met a Christian brother on a bike passing by, handed me a bunch of tracts, and telling me about his church.

Sign Held:

This is my last day at this location #2.  I've been here three weeks now and it’s time to move on to a new location with new people!  I've already picked out the place…I will reveal the new secret location in the next entry.  But it will be a gold mine of cars… the place is busy!

Today I prayed not to have seeds planted so much, but just for the LORD to be with me, just to have His presence there filling me up, which actually will be my prayer from now on!  And sure enough, He answered my prayer!  Deep in my own spirit, where it bears witness with His Spirit, I knew the Lord Jesus was present there; He was there watching over my time there.

And for some odd reason, as if all the people KNEW it was my last day there, behold, I received TWICE as many honks, waves, thumbs up, shouts, etc, as all the other times being there.  Also there was a couple in this van that was in the main intersection, in the middle, waiting to turn left onto Harwood at the stop light (the people I can’t reach very well with my sign), and they were honking at me while my back was turned.  I turned my head and they yelled out, “What does your sign say?!”  I showed them and they got excited and gave the thumbs up.

Then out of nowhere, this older couple approached me from the sidewalk, crossing the intersection (I think they pulled into the Cash store parking lot). Behold, the conversation went like this: 

Lady:  We think this is great you’re out here, and we brought you some hot chocolate and a donut. (from dunkin donuts!)

Me:  Ohhhh…wow.  Thank you very much.

Lady:  My husband and I don’t come by this way very often, but today we happened to pass by and saw you holding that sign and we had to park and say hi.

Me:  Yep I’m out here proclaiming the Truth to the people!

Lady:  Amen to that. We just wanted to say we were very blessed to see you out here doing this.

Me:  So you can read the sign out in the intersection?

Lady:  Oh yes…  we saw the sign from the opposite side way out there.

Phew, thank God.  You see I can’t tell if people can read the sign or not while stopped at the intersection; they are only 3” tall letters after all, and the intersection is quite large.  But when the lady said she and her husband could read the sign at the far end of the intersection, I was encouraged by that.

Now I can’t say for certain, but I swear that different people and kids were taking cell phone pictures of me.  I could see a few people lifting their phones up in my direction for a minute or so, and putting them back down (but then again they could be texting, etc).  But you see, this works in God’s favor as well, and they don’t even realize it!  Take person A, who snaps a picture of me (probably because he has never seen someone doing this in all of Fort Worth), posts it on Facebook with a caption that reads like, “Found a guy today on the street corner holding this sign.”  20 of his friends list will see it, 40 of those friends, 50 of those friends, etc, that would otherwise never read it.  In fact, not just in Texas.  Those people will be in all different states, everywhere!   POTENTIALLY THOUSANDS MORE PEOPLE WILL BE READING THE SIGN ALL OVER FACEBOOK!

But I know one girl did snap a picture (or video perhaps) for sure – looked to be about Jr. high age in a van.  I was leaping and jumping in the air with my sign in front of all the cars, and apparently she couldn't read it because she was giving me a finger to the throat movement (the neck slicing motion thing).  At first I thought it was negative, some sort of derogatory thing, but it suddenly dawned on me that she was trying to signal to me to stop moving (like “Cut!  Cut!”) so she could snap a picture of me!  Once again, if she posts that picture on Facebook, many more people will read the sign that would never have before.  Remember my goal: proclaiming Truth and planting seeds in people, as it is written, “So then either he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” – 1 Corinthians 3:10

One lady rolled down her window for another “drive by shouting”:  “Hallelujah brother!! Shout it from the rooftops!! YAHHHH!” and off she drove.  She was actually quoting Jesus in Matthew 10:27, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.”

And finally, to end my final moments there, I met yet another Christian brother on a bike passing by.  He stopped on the sidewalk and called out, “Hey man…do you want some tracts?” 

"Tracts?" I asked.

"Yeah, I’ve got hundreds of them in my backpack.  I’ll give a bunch to you," he said.  

"Oh wow, I would love some tracts!  I could pass them out!" I responded.

So we get to talking and find out he’s saved and goes out and spreads the gospel too.  He said that currently he and a group from church just finished putting door knob tracts to every house in Hurst.  He was also telling me that there are people from his church that go out and hold signs too.

"You guys hold signs too??  No way! I thought I was the only one doing this!" I said to him.

"Nope…  that’s why I thought it was funny to see someone else sign holding that wasn't from our church.  We go downtown Fort Worth and hold signs and street preach too," he said.

He also related a story to me - a praise report rather.  He said that many times when they hand out tracts to people downtown they just throw them on the ground and won’t even look at them.  Well, that’s how it goes he said.  But one night this janitor from somewhere nearby came up to them and said, “You know, when people throw these on the ground, I have to pick them up because I clean up around here.”  And the group was very apologetic; they said, “Oh man! We’re sorry it causes litter! We don’t mean to mess up the streets or anything!” But the janitor said, “But I pick them up…and start handing them out to more people passing by!” LOL!  What an encouraging story!   

We talked until dark and then I went ahead and left.

It was kind of sad to leave a location I've been at which was getting familiar and comfortable, and which seemed like a long time being there.  But I am excited for my new location. 

What new adventures await me?