“Until
you know that life is a war, you cannot know what prayer is for.” – J. Piper
I was talking to some friends, and the
topic of canvassing came up. They asked, “Are you coming canvassing tomorrow?” I replied, “Of course! You don’t have to
convince me.” Little did I realise it would be more difficult than I had
anticipated. I woke up the next morning with a very sore throat, struggling to
talk, and coughing a lot. I determined to go out anyway.
After lunch, my team leader said, “Are you ready to get out Ash?” I hesitated as I really don’t like letting
people down, but I said, “I’m really sorry I’m not feeling to good, and I
have lost my voice…”
After a while, I decided I was going to try, although I knew in my own strength I was incapable but with God all things are possible, so I said, “Can you drop me off
– I’ll give it a shot!” With a prayer and some encouragement I was sent to
canvass with a friend, and as soon as we got together we knelt down and prayed, asking God to bless, open hearts and doors as he saw fit, prepare the way
for us and fill in for our insufficiency.
Not
long later we came to this door, and the elderly gentleman who answered expressed he wasn’t really interested, but was more than happy to
have a chat. So we talked about religion, God, the misery in the world, loving
your neighbour, and a number of different areas of religion. Throughout the
conversation he inferred he thought we were doing a great job, but he had
looked at all the religions and he had set his mind on the right one. He then
mentioned that, loving your neighbour is the underlying principle of
his religion. After discussing with him, I asked if he would be willing to take a Path to Peace or a DVD and just have a read/watch, He said, “Okay, I can do
that.” I then asked if he would mind if we prayed with him before we left, and
he agreed. So he turned from not being willing to look at anything, to committing to read the book.
A couple of doors later we met a very
devout atheist. He was handicapped and rarely left his house; it took him a
while to open the door. I handed him the Great Controversy, but he was not interested. He told
us he had been through enough and seen enough years to know what was right and
wrong. But I wasn’t convinced. He wanted to donate to us, but I didn’t have
enough change, so I radioed the team leader and asked for some change.
As I walked to the van to get the change, I
was trying to think What could I say
to this man? I kept thinking, He just doesn’t know what he is missing out on. I got to the van, talked with
the leader, and asked a few questions, as well as sharing the experience, and went back to the door – with a new fire to ignite this man’s candle. After
some discussion he agreed to take a DVD and watch it. Praise the Lord! I was just delighted. It is one thing to
sell a book, but it is another thing when someone commits to study and take a
serious look into Christianity. Especially
an atheist!
Time
always passes too quickly, and it wasn’t long later when I heard the call,
“Get ready for pick up. We will be there in five minutes.”
My
heart almost sank, I thought, We can't finish a day here. So we walked quickly on to the next door and to my surprise, after a
drawn out conversation, we sold a Great Controversy. My friend was over-joyed
and laughing just as the van came to pick us up. Our
team leader said, “Looks like you two are having to much fun; I might have to just take one of you!” We were both enjoying it so much, we
requested to continue and our request was granted – thanks to our team leader!
As we went on, we came to another door, canvassed the lady, and smiled as we told her about
Bountiful Health, which she had already taken a vested interest in. I canvassed
her the Great Controversy and without any convincing she told us she liked it
and would like to get both. But she only had a fifty-dollar note, so I suggested, “Well, you could get
any other book we’ve got as well for that much.” She said, “Oh okay! Can I get another
cookbook?” We agreed, and the deal was done!
That day was a blessing, and although I found it
challenging to talk, between coughing and being unwell, God intervened and
through my weakness He was strong! On the first door we got out two Bountiful Health and one Great Controversy, and on the last door we got out two Bountiful Health and one Great Controversy!
God’s grace is sufficient for you. His
strength is made perfect in your weakness. Don’t doubt what He can do for you; pray and except miracles! He is waiting for an excuse to bless His ambassadors!
-Ash
