Off The Map will be producing the Conversational Evangelism Conference in St. Paul/Minneapolis May 16-17, 2008! Jim, Randy and the Off The Map team will be joining and serving some of the icons of evangelism over the past 30 years, including: Becky Pippert, Mark Mittleberg, Dan Kimball, Garry Poole, and Todd Hunter!

For detailed information or to register, click HERE!

From Bill Herzog:

I have been so impacted by the stories here and the words from Jim Henderson and his books. I began to hang out at a local coffee shop. I would get a gift card and buy coffee for random customers who came in.

The first conversation I had as a result of this was with a young lady behind the counter. I noticed she was the only one I ever saw working there when I showed up. I asked her what was going on and she explained that the owners wanted her to work 12 hour shifts, 5 or 6 days a week, and she just could not do it. I told her I would pray for her that she would get some help soon. Within two weeks she had hired three more people. Still, a few weeks later she quit. On her last day I reminded her how faithful God had been to answer the prayer. I told her that I did not know how she felt about God but I knew God cared a whole lot about her.

It was an amazing moment for someone like myself who, even though I am a pastor, is an extreme introvert. I just offered to pray.

I have so many more stories about what God is doing that maybe I can share more in the future but I wanted to say thanks to Jim and the others who have been so encouraging to just be a listener and a friend. I am having more fun right now than I have had in a long time and that says a lot because I love my church and what God has allowed me to be a part of. But this is like riding my motorcycle…fun and refreshing.

(How many times have you heard someone say they thought doing evangelism was “fun and refreshing”? Or compared it to riding a motorcycle? Wow.  Thanks, Bill!  -Randy)

When you sit in the lobby of a hotel, you can watch people wandering in and out of the revolving doors.  Some people come in with a clear purpose and go directly to their destination.  Some people will wander in and pause to register where they should be going.  Some people will be waiting for someone.  I’ve always been the one who sits there with a cup of coffee and watches the traffic.   This weekend,  I spent some time taking a long look at the people who have wandered in and out of the revolving doors of my life and I was contemplating how people always seem to be so transient.  

It’s not that I want to live in the past, but I guess I have always felt a certain disappointment when I meet people whom I invest myself in and before I know it they are moving on.  Sometimes they move on after only an hour, sometimes after a year, sometimes after several years, but they move on all the same.  It feels as though my heart has a revolving door on it.

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