The Lord began to speak to me about going door-to-door in Portland, OR. So, I googled “Worst Neighborhoods in Portland,” and decided to go to the first one on the list. I knocked on 30 doors, announcing the love of Jesus. I heard a lot of unkind words, but I kept on going.
One of the last doors I went to, a man answered. He didn’t want to hear anything about Jesus, but he said that he was inspired by my courage. That was enough for me, so I told him, “I’ll be back next week.”
The following week, I returned to the man’s house and the Lord told me, “I want you to give him all of your birthday money.” The man protested, but I gave him the money and promised that I’d return.
On the third week, he began to open up about his life. He had three children with his girlfriend of 14 years, and they were going through a tough time. My gift of money had really impacted him, so I invited him to come and hear me speak. He agreed, mostly out of a sense of duty. But, that night, when I invited anyone in the crowd to become radical disciples of Christ, he was the only one who came forward for prayer. Weeping and trembling under the power of the Holy Spirit, he repented of his sins and asked to be baptized.
With no water available in the church, he was baptized that night in a friend’s hot tub. Afterwards, I gave him instructions: “I don’t want you to preach Jesus in your home. Every morning, I want you to read your Bible, and beJesus to your household.”
After a few weeks, his 12-year-old daughter began to notice the changes in her dad’s life. He told her about Jesus, she began to read the Bible for herself, and soon he was baptizing his young daughter in a nearby lake.
A few weeks later, he came to me, explaining that he and his long-term girlfriend wanted to get married. Our team helped them to organize the event at a beautiful church, and we all witnessed as the couple made a covenant before God. At the reception, their 12-year-old daughter lifted her glass of soda and gave the most powerful toast: “I want to thank God for what He has done in my family!”
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