Randy will be speaking at Christ Church on Sunday, September 26, 10 a.m. service.  If you’re in that neck of the woods, come hang out!

Christ Church of Oakbrook

http://www.cc-ob.org/

It was a Friday morning several years ago, and I was leaving for the weekend to go to the airport and fly to Washington, DC, for a wedding. I planned on dropping my then nine-year-old son off at my parents’ house and that is why, at 7:30 am that morning, we stepped out into the sunshine of the morning air. Our moods were light, mine because I was nervous about my trip, his because he loved staying with his Grandma and Grandpa and had already spent four of his five days that week with them since school had been out that week.

Just as we stepped out into the light, my son’s exuberance overflowed from within him in the form of a long and fairly loud note in about the key of A or A flat. Before I could shush him as I normally would, I heard laughter erupt from across the street and I saw two women there, openly appreciating the impulsiveness of a young boy.

I had seen these women before. One was elderly and one younger. They both walked the neighborhood in which I live going through garbage cans to pick up the recyclables. Usually, people such as these two are homeless, but in this case, I didn’t know for sure if there were. For one thing, they were on the wrong side of town where most of the homeless reside, but they weren’t particularly poorly dressed and seemed quite cheerful doing what they were doing.  I wondered if maybe they were just down on their luck.

“I guess someone’s in a good mood,” I laughed out loud as I approached my car and started to load my baggage into my van.  Those words seemed to become the catalyst for them to feel comfortable enough to come over.

The younger woman laughed again, then both women moved to our side of the street and came forward and greeted me. They wore thick garden gloves and aprons over their shorts and t-shirts. Their eyes were kind and I felt no trepidation in speaking briefly with them.

“Do you mind if we go through your recycle and see if there is anything there we can take?”  the younger of the two asked me.  I invited her to help herself.  She looked inside and nothing was there, but she thanked me all the same. Then, she pulled off her dirty glove and stretched forth a hand, offering it to me along with a friendly smile. “I’m Rochelle,” she said.

I took her hand and shook it firmly. “I’ve seen you around this area,” I mentioned, “so, it is nice to meet you, Rochelle.” My eyes then turned then to the elderly woman next to Rochelle, and I stretched forth my hand to her as well. Rochelle gave me the name of her friend which I have now forgotten, but the older woman remained mostly silent. I wondered at first if she could speak and then she did. Her arms were filled with recycled goods, and she apologized that she couldn’t take my hand, so I stepped forward and patted her arm instead, feeling as though that would somehow bridge the gap between us.

It’s funny how a gap can exist and yet it can be so easily bridged. I could’ve remained the lady who lived in the big house on the corner, but now I had a name. Rochelle and her friend could’ve remained nameless people, if not for my young son’s vocal gymnastics. They could still have remained nameless if I had retreated back into my home. They might never have been seen, had we not been stepping out into the sunshine at that precise moment, on that precise day. But we did bridge the gap, and now when I see Rochelle and her friend in the street, I will remember the sincerity of a soiled glove being removed. Perhaps they will remember the lady on the corner with the big house, and they will know that they will again find kindness there and acceptance.

“God Bless, ” I said as they turned to continue down the street. I wondered how many people had chased them away from their garbages, how many people had been angry at the sight of them, how many people would simply avert their eyes. I took a moment and prayed for them and got into my car to go to the airport.

A few weeks later a neighbor of mine complained about people going through the trash cans on people’s streets.  I remembered  Rochelle and her friend and wondered if this woman would have felt the same had she met them as I had.  Perhaps, if Rochelle had a name and a smile to go with it, it might seem more acceptable for her allow the two women to delve into the contents of her trash. 

It’s been years since I have seen Rochelle and her friend.  Perhaps they were run off by police or do-gooders, perhaps she was able to make enough to move on, perhaps she just didn’t need the extra money anymore.  Whatever happened to them, I hope that my prayer made a difference, but more than that, I thank her for showing me how easy it is to bridge the gap.

Nicholas Fielder and Josh Brown were kind enough to record a podcast with Jim a couple of weeks ago.

You can download it from The Nick and Josh Podcast blog or directly from here.

Check out Nick and Josh’s other podcasts too: they’ve talked with lots of interesting people.

Here are the particulars

Family of Faith
975 Mount Vernon Rd.
Newark, Oh 43055
740-366-7931
www.family-faith.org

If that’s close to you and you’d like to attend an event with Randy and Jim, or see if they have time to meet you for coffee, please contact us at infoAToff-the-map.org (replace AT with @ to turn this into a real e-mail address).

Ephesians 4:11 tells us that some are called to be evangelists… to equip the saints for the work…. My experience in church taught me just the opposite. Evangelists DO the work. They’re typically way too busy to train anyone. It’s the rare evangelist who realizes that his/her real work is not preaching or being on a stage but rather to give their gift away to others.

If Jesus modeled anything it was “restraint”. Instead of doing everything better he invited others to do it poorly and in doing that ended up developing a movement where ordinary people got to play rather than watch.

I’m not an evangelist. I started Off The Map largely out of frustration with the fact that when it comes to helping others connect with Jesus (a.k.a evangelism) ordinary people don’t get to play. I decided to create a new category of evangelism called Doable Evangelism (which of course is an oxymoron).

A few years ago I was lucky enough to run into Randy Siever who unlike me is a gifted evangelist. Randy Siever can lead people to Christ just about whenever he sees fit. They fall into faith when they get too close to him. Most of us, hard as we try, are not like that.

Randy took to Doable Evangelism because he truly cares about ordinary Christians getting to play. He wants them to experience the joy he feels when someone asks him about life and God. He believes they have a God given right to stand in God’s place when people decide they might want to know more about Jesus.

Randy and I have been co presenting the principles and practices of Doable Evangelism for the past few months. He is a real leader. People like him. Often after we finish presenting, it is Randy people want to talk with more than me (for which I’m grateful ).

Our Board recently decided to invite Randy to take on the leadership of spreading Doable Evangelism to churches all over America and eventually around the world. We are receiving a continual stream of requests from pastors to bring Doable Evangelism Training events to their churches. We are grateful that Randy has accepted this invitation.

Randy is walking the talk of faith and stepping out at a time most people (including Christians) are planning their retirement. Frankly, churches not only need Randy’s gift of making evangelism doable they need his example of leadership, trust and sacrifice.

Want to learn more about Doable Evangelism Training events and consulting? Email Randy here: randy at offthemap.com

Phil Wyman is one of the most courageous followers of Jesus I know.

Phil led his church to connect with a group whose address for Christians seems to be 667 (neighbor of the beast).

I’m talking Witches, Neo Pagans and Wiccans.

In fact Phil and his family moved from California to Salem Massachusetts so he could get closer to them.

Sounds suspiciously similar to God so loved the world kind of thinking to me – how about you?

Apparently he got a little too close for his denomination’s comfort –so they asked him to leave.

This story was so provocative that it made the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this year Phil and I made the cover of the Christian Science Monitor as well. Apparently he and I have something in common.

Phil needs a break (a.k.a. sabbatical). His friends of his are trying to raise some money to send him and his wife to France for a few weeks in August. We’re going to put in $100 and I’m asking many of you to match that or give what you can.

You can do this online right here and right now.  

P.S. Phil and his colleague John Smulo recently launched Missional Concepts Consulting and will be presenting at Off The Map Live later this year in Seattle.

At 8 p.m. CST Jim and Casper will be interviewed on the live call-in show Open Line on the Moody Broadcasting Network.

Both shows are live-streamed over the Internet. Open Line will be available later as a podcast (I’m not sure about The Mischke Broadcast)

Catch up on recent articles, podcasts and webcasts

If for profit companies can do this then why should the church be holding seminars on how to reach their community? This person provides expert advice on how to make your serving experience top notch for both the recipient and the provider