God Showed Up posted by John Sorensen on Mar 02, 2012

Anyone involved for any amount of time in Evangelism Explosion has seen or heard how God shows up when we reach out with the Gospel. It’s an amazing, profound, and thrilling experience to bring the Good News to those in need.

My friend Malcolm Thomas has been involved in Evangelism Explosion for 30 years and is Chairman of the Board for EE South Africa. “If you’re involved in this ministry,” he says, “you know that God is alive because you see him in action. You see the power of his word that penetrates the hearts of people.”

Malcolm shared this dramatic encounter with a man desperate for help at our 50^th anniversary celebration on Feb. 24. It demonstrates, once more, that we serve a God who cares deeply for the lost. It shows how he will use us, if we’re willing and equipped. Here’s Malcolm’s account:

I was driving home one day and had no intention of stopping on the highway when I saw a young soldier walking on the side of the road. And as I drove past, it was like an elastic band was around me in my car and I just swerved and I stopped. And as he came running to the car, the Spirit of God said to me, “Don’t speak to him about anything. Immediately share the Gospel with him.”

He got in and I introduced myself and I said, “This is going to sound crazy to you but I’d like to ask you a question. Have you come to the place in your own spiritual life where you know for sure that if you were to die today you would go to heaven?” And he was stunned. He was shocked. I saw he was very emotional. He was a young, strapping soldier and I asked him for permission to share the Good News with him. I shared the Gospel with him. He was very emotional. He was actually weeping. And he prayed to accept Christ.

And then he said this to me. “Malcolm, you need to understand what’s happened here. My life is a total disaster. I made a decision this morning that there’s no reason left for me to live. My car’s parked elsewhere in Johannesburg. I was going to fetch my car and kill myself. And as I was walking along the road, I said, ‘God, if there is a God, you’ll reveal yourself to me.’ And then your car stopped.

My friend, God loves sinners. And he wants to use forgiven sinners like you and me to bring his grace in Christ to others. That’s what EE is all about—training you to share Christ so you can, in turn, train others to do the same. All so that people on the road to hell, like this young soldier who cried out to God, will discover, sometimes with tears of joy, how very real and good God is.