(Here is the VHS tape and the man who started it all back in 1998! Or should I say it was all started for the love of the Lord, but this man Ray Comfort is what sparked a fire in me to reach the lost.)

Several of us from Good Messengers Ministries of Northwest Indiana went to our sister ministries Evangelism Conference on July 24-26, 2009.  Those who attended were, Sue Raven, Carol O'leary, Brett Burbage, Hugh Harper, Jen Van Der Weide and Doug Van Der Weide. The conference took place at Bethesda Baptist Church in Brownsburg, In. ( http://www.ebethesda.org/ ). Over 100 churches, and ministry organizations were represented at this conference.  The guest speakers for this conference were Ray Comfort and Mark Spence from Living Waters Publications / Way of the Master.  Ray spoke 4 times at the conference on..."How to get on Fire for God, How to Overcome Fear, The Atheist's Six Sense, and the Battle for the Lost. " Mark Spence spoke twice on..."The Lost Moral Dilemma, and 5 Effective Ways to Reach the Lost." I can not expound on all that we learned during the speeches but I will tell you that a lot of this information will flow into upcoming Way of the Master Evangelism courses being taught by us.

There were many, many testimonies on how this teaching has impacted people and how they use the law in witnessing. I was fortunate enough to be able to share a short 10 min testimony of how I was  introduced to "Hell's Best Kept Secret," and how for the past 11 yrs God has been building Good Messengers Ministries in Northwest Indiana. I was also able to share how God put this ministry together and what God has done through this ministry over the past year.

There were many display tables present such as "Living Waters Publications (www.livingwaters.com) , The Board the Movie, One Million Tracts (www.onemilliontracts.com)  and Good Messengers of Indy. Many books, tracts, literature and DVD's were available. I will say that A LOT of people were talking about a small booklet written by Jon Speed called, "Evangelism in the New Testament." The booklet is Very inexpensive... around $3.50 http://shop.onemilliontracts.com/product.sc?categoryId=16&productId=105 and is a short read...around 41pgs but it is PACKED with information and is a VERY encouraging book. I would recommend that anyone who has a passion for the lost must read this short booklet!!!

During one of several of the breaks they showed "The Board Movie" which is a wonderful Gospel Presentation. This movie is now going to be picked up by TBN Network and put on public television for national broadcast! Please be in prayer because they are also working on the sequel. Jen was very excited to be able to talk to all of the cast members in person. http://www.boardmovie.com/ I was also encouraged to talk to one of the directors during lunch, and to voice my opion about the "decisional prayer" that is presented at the end of the film. Only to find out that in the newer releases this "decisional prayer" will be removed. That was the only thing holding me back from ordering copies of this movie to hand out to non-believers.

During lunch we were able to get to know Wayne Davies who is about to start Good Messengers Ministries of Fort Wayne Indiana (www.good-messengers.com). Please be in prayer for him and this New Ministry. We were able to share "war stories" with him and hopefully able to get him started in the right direction! We are very encouraged at how God is opening so many doors.

After the conference on Sat. there were several who went out witnessing at Allstate 40 race and in downtown Indy, and also again early Sunday morning.

Mark Spence preached Sunday morning at Bethesda Baptist Church (where the conference was held), and Ray Comfort preached at E. 91st Christian Church (http://www.east91st.org/). Jen and I met some old friends (Paul & Darleen Theaker & family) at the East 91st street church to hear Ray preach. I thought my church was big (we attend Bethel Church www.bethelweb.org), but found out there are some VERY LARGE churches in the country. Ray did a wonderful job of presenting the gospel and also encouraging Christians to step out of their comfort zone to witness. They had three service (we went to the second) and they sold out of his material in the first service!

One thing that was the most encouraging was to be in a room filled with people who have the same passion for the Lost and also for the preservation of the Biblical Gospel message. We met people from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Atlanta, Michigan, and Florida. I even remember one older lady (in her late 60s) found out about the conference, and signed up. She went out at purchased a GPS and drove by herself to attend. Nothing was going to stop her from attending that conference. She has such a passion, and AGE means NOTHING when it comes to sharing Christ!!! It was also encouraging to know that most of us have the same struggles such as we come from non-evangelising churches. Sadly , very few churches are evangelisic in the biblical sense, or in any sense at all. I believe this is why there are so many parachurch ministries such as us, and we really shouldn't exist. But God is sovereignly raised up parachurch ministries  to meet the needs of equipping Christians to share Christ Biblically. God has also kept a remnant of believers all around the country who have a passion for "contact evangelism," and who are not only teaching it but putting it into practice! 

All I can say about this weekend is that, "Iron-Sharpens-Iron" and you better look out because my blade is SHARP!!!

Until the Nets are Full,

Doug Van Der Weide