El Paso Day 4

Pay It Forward

We went to the UTEP campus again in the morning. Misti and I were paired up again to evangelize. We were feeling pretty confident on the way there. All the students seemed to be in a hurry though. They were rushing to class and the people we approached didn't have time to chat with us. Misti was able to share with two girls who were Catholic outside the library. She did a very good job. They didn't want to pray though. As a whole our morning of evangelism was a little discouraging.

We went back to the Nelsons and had lunch. Then we headed to some local business areas to start the Pay it Forward campaign. The Pay it Forward campaign is something that pastor Tom Brown started. It is very similar to the movie that came out in 2000. It mostly involves us doing some work of kindness given to someone with one catch. They are supposed to in turn show kindness in some way to 3 people. We passed out water bottles, gift cards, and also returned shopping carts for people. A few of us returned carts at Walmart, then we give them a $1 bill with the Pay it Forward card taped to the back. People were really taken back by the whole idea. The people I encountered were either very thankful and excited about the idea or they were completely dumbfounded. I had many people refuse to take the dollar. It's all about the approach I think.

People also stood by the highway with signs that had different phrases on them like: "Forgive your ex", "Encourage somebody today", "Forgive your coworker", "Live for eternity" and "Love one another". The reactions were great. The goal is to get people to respond in their cars. You get points for car honks, semi honks, etc. I haven't had a chance to try it, but it seems to be a fun approach.

This is me going down the slide at the Nelsons' pool.

After this we rested and a few of the guys jumped in the Nelsons' pool. It was a great time. The water was very refreshing for the 78 degree day. We ate dinner then we had some worship time and shared stories from the day. There was some great success on the UTEP campus for the South House. God was definitely guiding them to the right people. Overall both groups combined approached 50 people and shared the Gospel with 21 people. I was encouraged by the stories shared. I was having a discouraging day, but tomorrow may be very different. The Lord is stretching me and using us all.


Dan, Wayne and Nate lead us in worship.