So last night, after talking to a lot of people a lot smarter than I am, we started our second meeting in the new place. And though this morning I feel like I lost a sand-drinking contest, everything went relatively well. It’s pretty cool, really. Some strong points jump out really quickly.
It creates some real interest via curiosity. As long as you can experience all of something, it’s pretty small. But when you know there’s things happening that you don’t even know about, that you don’t participate in, it creates curiosity and, I think, interest. I think next week some people will come to the opposite meeting just to see what in the world’s going on!
It makes everyone more comfortable. We had about the same number as last week, 3/4 of them came to the first meeting, and 1/4 came to the second for a total of around 80 people after you chuck the repeats (4 not counting my wife and I). But it felt infinitely more comfortable. Everyone had shoes, the temperature stayed reasonable, no one had to sit on the stools. All that adds together for a more attentive audience. We have an hour between the end of the first and the beginning of the second, so it allows plenty of time for fellowship and the “changing of the guard.”
Doubles our work force. We only have a few workers right now, so there’s a limited number of people we can talk to. I probably get to ten every week, but they’re usually the wrong ten. Now I can get to twenty. My probability went up. We had two professions of faith last night, both at the smaller meeting. We’ve got to have more workers! It’s a necessity! It is absolutely what keeps more people from making decisions. And on the training front, it gives the people interested in serving plenty of opportunities to do so.
Plus, I get two chances not to blow my chance to present the Gospel! Which is great, for someone who makes as many mistakes as I do! We were concluding our lessons on the amazing death of Jesus, talking at last about His resurrection. I didn’t want to come from an argumentative standpoint, so I decided to talk about I Corinthians 15, where Paul explains the ramifications of the resurrection. I thought the first time through was okay, but the second time through seemed a lot better. Part of it is a smaller audience, which gives you less stress. Part of it is the benefit of the second time around. But both of the salvation decisions were during the second service, and altogether there was a much higher level of conversation and interest. About killed my throat, but I’m a wimp and need to toughen up, anyway.
I’ve asked for prayer before for Jt., who I’ve eaten lunch with before. He caught up with me last night after the second meeting and wanted to know about when I became a Christian. It frustrates me sometimes how many times I have to explain the Gospel to people, but I try to remember how many times I heard it before I got saved, and how strange and new it is to understand the first time through. He wanted to know if there was a special ceremony when I became a Christian. So I took him back to Romans 10, where we were at the end of the second meeting, and Jt. seems to have a pretty good understanding. Then he asked me about our leaders meeting and wanted to know if I’d have a problem with him coming.
There’s a lot more to tell about last night, but for now I’ll say that St. kicked off the second service for me, doing all the introductory junk I usually do. He was pretty nervous. But he had seen me do it the first hour and he did a great job. He threw in a Gospel presentation, some introductory information about our Bible study, and led us in prayer. Plus, St. had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ last night. When he told me, I don’t think you could have wiped the smile off his face with a baseball bat! He was pretty excited! Pray for this excitement to stay burning all along the road to maturity in Christ.
The Gospel in China 
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