E-Tools Newsletter | August 2010
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010Welcome to our E-Tools Newsletter for August 2010! This monthly TCC field report also includes strategic outreach resources to encourage, equip, and empower you to more effectively share the Gospel with all the loved ones in your life as we faithfully serve Christ in Canada together.
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Preachers of the Caribbean!
The 2010 Barrie Xstream Team Missionaries | Back row (l to r): Andy Koch, Tom Briggs, Duane Carrier, Keegan Shultz, Bill Dawson, Stephen Baptist, Michael Beaubien. Front row (l to r): Cory McKenna, Brad Young, Jeff Mardling, Greg Coyne, Jacob Baribeau, Chris Wood
This past August 14th, thirteen street preachers came together to experience the power of the Gospel first-hand at the annual Caribbean Festival on the waterfront in Barrie, Ontario. “Caribest” boasts a crowd of close to 100,000 which makes it an ideal location for an Xstream Team Mission (XTM).
Right: Jacob Baribeau, one of our newest XTM missionaries, talks to one of the fascinating people at Caribfest 2010
While many of the regular TCC team members enlisted for this local mission, several first-time XTM Barrie participants also stepped out in faith to join us!
Here is a testimony of one of the newest members of the team:
“I became a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ on November 3rd, 2001. Recently, I had the privilege of joining The Cross Current evangelism team in Barrie, Ontario to witness at the city’s annual Caribfest event.
Left: Greg Coyne, another new XTM missionary, shares the Gospel on the street for the first time
This was the first time I’ve ever participanted in street evangelism. I’ve always been amazed and inspired by others who bravely share their faith. By comparison, I always felt like a cowardly Christian watching safely from the sidelines while others advanced the Kingdom of God.
Right: XTM Barrie newcomer, Andy Koch, pleads with a Caribfest passerby to consider matters of life, death, and eternity
Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with total strangers was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. While I wouldn’t go so far to say that it was a transcendent experience, I would say that in my heart I knew that I was doing something of eternal significance. I went there to confront my cowardice and glorify Christ, but I got a lot more than I could have ever expected. I found the cry of lost souls desperately seeking answers, and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit working through obedient, humble, and unworthy followers to deliver a message of eternal hope in Jesus Christ.
Left: Martin of Harvest Bible Chapel Barrie (our partner church for this event) takes the time to talk truth with two young men at Caribfest
Since then I have spent more time in the Word, worshipping, praying, and getting down on my face in humility and awestruck wonder of God’s love. I found everything I was looking for and God still perfected His plan to exalt His Son Jesus Christ.
The Lord has put one nagging thought in my head since then…there are still so many more lost souls to tell the gospel to…now go!”
~ Greg Coyne
Right: Keegan Shultz was not only one of the brand new team members of XTM Barrie, but he was also the recipient of our “open air extraordinaire” award, a prize given for preaching the Gospel open air for the very first time
Other new XTM Barrie team members included: Michael Beaubien, Duane Carrier, Bill Dawson, and Brad Young. We thank God for each one of you and for the boldness He has given you to preach His precious Gospel!
View our entire 2010 XTM Barrie Photo Album
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Witnessing Workshop Small Group Testimony
This montha group of Christians of many diverse ages, backgrounds, and vocations came together to serve as a pilot project to “test drive” the Witnessing Workshop Small Group training for themselves.
Here is the testimony of just one of the graduates:
“When my husband asked me to take an 8-week witnessing workshop this summer I thought, “Sure. Every Wednesday night socializing with other Christians. Great!” However, God had another plan for my heart and this is what it was…
The workshop gave us great tools and techniques for sharing the Gospel. It addressed how to share with loved ones and a different approach for sharing with complete strangers. From how to start a conversation to using the Ten Commandments to show how we are all sinners separated from God.
Early in the workshop I tried out one of the field questions with an unsaved friend. I never realized she was terrified of death and the field question I asked her motivated her to ask another Christian friend about death. The conversation lead to him sharing the Gospel with her. So I shared this story with the small group and I thought the results were neat, but that was it.
In my Christian life I was on my way to becoming an isolated Christian, only making time to be with Christian and church friends. My heart was hardened and my attitude was that everyone who is unsaved is going to hell and they deserve it. I just didn’t have a heart for the lost.
It wasn’t until the realization that one of my 3 unsaved brothers is very involved in an occult lifestyle that I fully understood the need to share the Gospel. God used this experience to wake me up and show me that there is an urgency to share the truth.
Am I going to be the next biggest street evangelist standing on a box in the middle of downtown? Unlikely (unless, of course, that is God’s plan for me). But to have a heart for the lost close to me has changed me forever. This workshop training has helped me be more comfortable and bold in being all about Christ, instead of the Gospel being something I only talk about at church or when I am comfortable.”
~ Kim Winia
This DVD-based Witnessing Workshop Small Group curriculum will help you and your church leverage TCC’s experience in the local mission field to “normalize” sharing your faith in all of your personal relationships and beyond.
Comprised of 8 interactive sessions, the training series is also supported and supplemented by web-based facilitator and participant resources. It is scheduled to be available early this fall.
TCC Radio: Equipping you for follow-up too!
TCC Radio is designed to connect you in spiritual conversation with all the lost ones in your life. But did you know that the show is also being used for following up with those who have already heard the Gospel?Here is a TCC Radio follow-up testimony, courtesy of our program host, Cory McKenna:
“I was enjoying a relaxing Saturday with my family. Just when we arrived home after picking up some groceries, we were greeted by a door-to-door salesman. Now, I know that thought likely makes you cringe (because it used to make me cringe too), but for the Christian concerned with preaching the Word when it’s convenient and when it’s inconvenient, door-to-door salesmen are what we call low-hanging fruit.
Salesman Manny announced that he was selling new energy efficient water tanks. However, it turned out that we just had a brand new water tank installed. So as he was about to leave, I passed him a million dollar bill Gospel tract, saying: “Manny, it doesn’t look like we’re in the market for a new water tank, but I will still give you a million dollars for all your hard work today!”. As people usually do, Manny asked what the tract was. I then proceeded to ask him “The Million Dollar Question” (where will you spend eternity?) before sharing the Gospel.
As our conversation finished, I gave him my contact information, encouraged him to check out our radio show, and closed the door. However, just a few minutes later, I remembered him telling me that he was raised Roman Catholic but had walked away from it. “Wait a second!”, I thought to myself. I could ask Manny for his email address and offer to send him a link to our recent series on Roman Catholicism. That way he could learn the truth about their religion while digging into the weightier matters of life, death, and eternity. PLUS I could also do my best to keep in touch with him over email! I immediately chased Manny down the street and asked him for his personal email address and he gladly gave it to me. Right away, I came back home and sent him an email thanking him for his time, along with the link to the TCC Radio series on Roman Catholicism, as promised.
Now, you might be thinking: “Yeah, Cory, that’s great for you…but I don’t host a radio show.” True! But did you notice that I mentioned nothing to Manny about hosting a radio show? In fact, everything that I said in our conversation was something that you could share with all the loved ones and strangers in your life too!”
To begin using TCC Radio to follow-up with those you share the Gospel with, simply visit www.tccradio.com to get familiarized with the many topics we have covered on the program, and then begin asking for emails with each Gospel encounter. Remember: eternity is at stake, so go for it!”
~ Cory McKenna
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Your Prayer Pulse for September
Let’s continue partnering together to keep our prayer pulse for TCC and the Church in Canada strong!
We humbly ask you, your family, and your church to remember to pray for the following TCC ministry needs in September:
Video Editor – With TCC TV just launching on The Stream TV, we are in need of a competent video editor. Though this position will start as volunteer, we trust this broadcast will eventually bring the exposure necessary to require a salaried position.
XTM Niagara Falls (September 25th) – Our Xstream Team Missions team will again be reaching out to the world in Canada’s tourism hotspot to pass tracts, preach open air, and witness one-to-one.
Continue keeping a pulse on our prayer needs
Bookmark our ministry calendar to continue praying for our local missions
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We again thank God for you and your partnership in preaching the Gospel.
For the Glory of God,
The Cross Current Team
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This past July 1st, The Cross Current partnered with the Gospel Outreach (”GO”) Team of Harvest Bible Chapel London to celebrate the birth of our nation and to share the grace and truth of Christ with our community.
GO Team missions leader, Chris Wood, sourced us a prime location for our salvation station; a high-traffic hotspot in the centre of the city where we set up two tables: one containing free Canada Day souvenirs and the other containing Bibles and church information.
Our Gospel outreach team of men, women, and children then spent the afternoon sharing Bibles, balloons, and the Good News of Jesus Christ. The most popular conversation starters proved to be Canadian million dollar bill tracts and Canada Day surveys.
We thank God that many people heard the Gospel, were prayed for, and are continuing to be followed up with. In fact, we have already re-connected with a young man we prayed for that day named Doug who is still anxiously awaiting a kidney transplant. Would you take a minute right now to pray that Doug will receive a healthy kidney and that he will keep his promise of joining us for church to receive the ongoing support that he needs?
What do you call it when 15 plus seed sowers set aside an entire Saturday to hit Canada’s premier tourist trap for the purpose of passing tracts, preaching open air, and witnessing one-to-one? We call it Xstream Team Mission (XTM) Niagara Falls 2010!
Left: XTM newcomer, Tanner Morrison, breaks the ice into a one-to-one witnessing encounter
I began by asking Dan the “million dollar question”: “Dan, where do you believe that you will spend eternity?” He gladly shared his view that whatever any individual believes about the afterlife is what happens in the afterlife. I responded with a very thought-provoking question that we teach in our witnessing workshops: “Dan, are you looking for something to believe in, or are you looking for the truth?
In the late afternoon we began open air preaching. It was when TCC Rep Jeff Mardling began preaching Christ crucified that Dan and Toby came back to listen. Both were arrested by the Good News and stuck around to talk more about the truth of life, death, and eternity. In the end, both Dan and Toby received Bibles to take home with them and were very thankful that they had encountered Jesus Christ that day at Niagara Falls.
We also want to congratulate Brad Young for “breaking the sound barrier” and preaching open air for his very first time! This bold demonstration of faithfulness resulted in Brad becoming our first “open air extraordinaire” and being awarded his very own portable open air preaching pulpit. We thank God for you Brad!
TCC exists to preach the Gospel in talk and walk and to help pastors equip their churches to do the same. TCC TV will support this mission by enabling our viewers to experience the encounters in everyday evangelism that we experience for themselves. This program will also evangelize non-Christians and disciple Christians into more faithful proclamation of the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Left: The CYWAL class of 2010 boards the bus bound for their field witnessing trip
What would be most important to you in you only had 3 minutes to live? What would you say to an unsaved loved one or stranger if they only had 3 minutes to live? Is there something, anything you could possibly share to help make the difference between Eternal Life and Eternal Death for this dying person? In this candid series, our street team confronts the culture with a “truth or dare” challenge to prepare their souls for the journey we all must take into eternity. This is literally the series of a lifetime!
I truly wish I could tell you that sowing into the local mission field every week is a sure-fire solution for becoming becoming a fearless super soldier for Christ – but this has simply not been my experience. Yes, God rewards our faithful witnessing with increased confidence in conversations, but the fluttery feelings of trepidation and insecurity just never seem to go away. So all I can do in those tough times is cling to Christ’s call and command to leave the ninety-nine to go after the one who is lost and remind myself again and again that (thankfully!) all my God asks of me is to be faithful.
Christ also said that after the sheep was found, the man came home and called together his friends and neighbours and said to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” That’s why I share this story with you all as friends, neighbours, and brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s encourage one another to continue leaving the ninety-nine for the ones that are lost. And let’s rejoice that the lost are being found…in Jesus’ Name!
Paul serves as the director of HeartCry Missionary Society and is known for preaching strong truth surrounding the biblical Gospel.
Paul was one of the most humble and gracious conference speakers whom we have ever had the privilege of meeting. He spent hours sitting with the conference attendees to get all their questions answered. He skipped lunch to counsel one single soul who desired a more biblical understanding of the Gospel. And he joyfully did all this despite dealing with a debilitating bone condition that causes him constant pain and stiffness in his neck and joints.
This month we humbly ask you, your family, and your church to remember to pray for the following TCC outreach events in July:
Left: “Lazarus” lays it down to draw a crowd before Cory preaches open air
Planting seeds in the Lord’s field with not only Cory and his team, but other evangelists, was the best day I think I ever had in my life. ~ John B.
Left: Ange takes the time to share the Good News with a fast-talking Torontonian
Teen Challenge (TC) is a 12-month, faith-based, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. The Cross Current has the privilege of facilitating the students at TC with hands-on life and witness training twice a year. The training this past month took place over two Wednesdays nights and we are very pleased to report that not only did four TC students join us for XTM Toronto, but several more are also scheduled to take the training to the streets of London with us as well.
Every year the All Ontario Youth Convention brings together over 800 youth from all over Ontario for a full four days of fun, excitement, and opportunity to learn more about God. This year Cory McKenna was invited onsite to share TCC’s new one-hour witnessing workshop. Believe it or not, it is possible to learn how to become a more biblical, confident, and effective seed sower in just sixty minutes! In fact, would you believe that this mission was accomplished in just fifty minutes?