Week 11 - Evangelism and Baptism

Week 11
This week our speaker was Jim Hurn on Evangelism. We had a short week this week because of Christmas. Jim did a really good job of shifting our perspectives on evangelism from something scary that we're required to do to something that that we want to do. He shared strategies with us that makes evangelism all about the conversation. He also emphasized that we are each links in a chain - we don't have to convert someone in one conversation. God is in charge of that and He will keep bringing people into their lives. This relieves the pressure that we can often feel and allows us to just walk in faith and allow God to guide our steps. Jim also emphasized that even though evangelism can come naturally there is some preparation involved. We need to have a testimony prepared and we need to be alert for opportunities. This was something that challenged me. Often we feel like God will do all of the work, and He will meet us and do the heart changing, but we have to be ready to be used by Him.
This week was also a life changing week because Jeff and I both got baptized. We were both baptized in the past, but feel like this is a turning point in our lives and want to draw a line in the sand and say that we want to live intentionally for Jesus for the rest of our lives. It was a really powerful experience. Our school leader, Patty baptized us, and our outreach leaders prayed for us supported us. It was such a powerful symbol of dying to self once and for all and rising new with Jesus. We're both really excited to go forward in Jesus and walk with Him.