Impacting Lives Through Sharing Jesus In The Marketplace (edit, back)
12/20/2017
I have a passion for personal ministry, so when I opened my tax and accounting office in 2007, I decided that this was a wonderful opportunity to share with my clients what Jesus has done for me. This led me to think, pray, and ask God what would be the best items to share with my clients. I was impressed that the most beneficial approach is to show a sincere interest in the things that they are concerned about and to share with them some reading materials. So I chose to share the Bible, Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, and Christ’s Object Lessons. Before putting the books into sets, with the help of my daughter, Jade, I prayed for them to be read by my clients and their circle of influence. After getting to know my clients, and if they were comfortable, I would offer some conversation, advice, and prayer. Most people to whom I offer the set of books accept them with appreciation.
This idea to share grew out of an experience I had a few years before, while studying on campus. I was taking classes at Miami-Dade College and decided to put about a dozen Steps to Christ books in my bag. I prayed before leaving home and asked God to allow my path to cross with people who would be open to receive the invitation.
Locating a quiet and secluded spot to study in the upper level of the library, I settled down to study. After about 30 minutes, a young lady came by and seemed to be waiting for a class. I took a break from studying to offer her a Steps to Christ. She declined the offer, so I went back to studying while she waited for her class to begin. About 20 minutes later, a crowd of young women and men surrounded the study desk. I looked up and extended the invitation for a Steps to Christ to one of the young men and he accepted. Then I extended the invitation again and the next person accepted. By God’s grace, I gave away all 12 of the books to everyone except the young lady who received the first invitation.
Over time as my clientele diversified culturally and by language, this list of sharing items was adjusted to include Spanish and French devotionals, based upon the person’s preferred language. Interestingly, one lady mentioned that for three years she and her husband had been using the devotional I had given them. Some of my clients are a long distance away and we communicate mostly by telephone and e-mail. Usually after the work is completed and as they get comfortable and share what is going on in their lives, we pray about their concerns, and as the Spirit leads, I offer a gift of a devotional. If they accept, which most have done, I personalize it with a note and mail it to them.
I know that God is blessing them through these items, as they have called and given me feedback from time to time, letting me know that the devotional was a blessing.