A lifestyle of Soul Winning: Sharing the Gospel at Mini-Golf

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland

I desire to be a woman who lives a lifestyle of soul winning! 

Jesus did it, he was the best evangelist that ever lived.  He "came to seek and to save the lost" Luke 19:10.  He was always proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God and sharing the good news of relationship with the Father to people he encountered. In Romans 10:13-14, it states "For everyone who calls on the anem of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" God gave us a mandate to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" Mark 16:15.  We are all evangelists and have the honor of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others!

God has been moving in my heart about how our witness is not something that we can switch on and off.  It is not oh it is evangelism time so click the on button and lets go share the gospel with people.  Our witness, which means simply to give testimony of what we have seen or experienced, is always being transmitted to the people around us.  Our witness is something that we can not shut off.  It is our attitudes, character, choices and actions that are showing all the time and shows what in life is most valuable.  They are always being transmitted, you can not shut it off.  

Soul winning starts in the places closest to our God.  Hearing his voice and understanding his heart for all to be saved are foundations for it.  It starts with our own intimacy with God. Sharing our faith is the overflow of our praise to God that then brings others into deeper intimacy with God. (Concepts from my DTS, John Stenson teachings on Evangelism)

God has been challenging me recently to live this lifestyle always. Spending time alone with God, always be alert to the voice of God during my day and listening to his heart for the people I encounter, and always having praise on my lips (Psm 34:1) of the good news! If it is asking to pray for a woman (later learned her name was Nicole) at church when I knew Holy Spirit was working in her life or buying lunch for Larry, a homeless man, as I was entering a restaurant for myself.  God has been calling me to live with a greater awareness of lost souls and how He desires to use me to win them to Jesus through my lifestyle!   

So today after church, Dan and I went mini-golfing in Hains Point.  We played 18 holes of golf and I won! After we played I was joking around and said "Ok Dan I won so that means I can tell you to do something! Go tell the gospel to the girl that is working at the mini-golf." He laughed and say ha ha.  As we were walking out, I felt Holy Spirit nudge me "Why not? What would you lose if you shared the gospel with her?" I stopped and said "I am going to tell the gospel to her! It is the best news I have ever heard."

(Picture Dan took from our van in the parking lot)

After a little hesitation and deciding to ignore the thoughts of what others might think, I walked over and started the conversation like this "So we were joking around and said that the person who lost had to share the gospel with you.  You probably heard it many times but can I share the gospel of Jesus with you?"  She, later learned her name was Lavonna, opened the window, stopped everything she was doing and gave me her full attention! I started with the how we were created for friendship with God and how God walked in the coolness of the garden with Adam and Eve.  She say no way, Adam had a friendship with God? Is that in the bible? . . . an hour later we had talked about the consequences of sin is death, God as a holy, just judge, Jesus life, death and resurrection and how to receive the free gift of salvation and make Jesus your Lord.  And said a simple prayer repenting living on our own, receiving God's forgiveness and making Jesus Lord. As we prayed, people came up and she said please wait, Carole keep praying!

Throughout the time, people came to play golf and heard us talking and we would stop and set the people up for golf and then go back to our conversation.  She was hungry and eager to know more of God!  At one point when she was serving a customer, I ran to the van and got my bible, the bible that I got when I first became a Christian.  I gave it to her and she was SO excited! She did not have one! The moment I gave it to her she opened it and asked "Where do I start?"  I suggested the book of John, the stories of Jesus life, she started to open it, with guidance found John and started reading it. We did a bible study on John 1:1-18 discussing Jesus as the Word and Light, and that she was now a child of God because she had received Jesus today.   

(Lavonna and me) 

We exchanged information and plan to get together again.  She asked if I was a preacher and if she could come to my church.  I shared that I do go to church and she is more than welcomed to come! She asked if her boyfriend could come. Of course I said yes.  And she could email me any questions she had about the bible and God.  And she said This is a great day!  I hope that I can share with my family like you shared with me. I encouraged her that she was only called to share what she knew and that God would use her testimony powerfully!  My heart was so full I thought it might explode! I love living a lifestyle of soul winning! Thegospel is truly is GOOD NEWS! And the harvest is READY! 

"I am not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" Romans 1:16