I was in Norway a few years ago and I found the country in general was not really open to hearing about Jesus. It appeared that years of Socialism had taken it's toll.
Our team of about 30 Americans and 20 Norwegians was to be on the street inviting people to the conference that was to take place starting that evening. I am not personally very good at approaching people on the street to talk about Jesus, but I was there and I assumed that I had a purpose for being there. I remember simply praying in my room that I would be able to be effective during the 3 or 4 hour outreach in Oslo. It was just way out of my comfort zone. I actually considered telling that team that I would stay at the hotel and pray for them. During my prayer time, I decided to simply ask the Lord for a number; the number of people that I would actually talk to on the street. At first it was the number 3. I was so relieved and then there was a 1... 13, well I could do that.
At the beginning of the outreach we were worshipping in the rain downtown. Then it was time to disperse in small groups and hit the streets. I took 13 invitations from the outreach leader. I was one of 2 adults in a group of 3. We stood on a busy sidewalk and began to approach people. Many of them did not even respond to our gestures. I started to pray and ask the Lord who He wanted to reach today. Miraculously, everyone that I talked to was engaging enough to take an invitation to the conference. Within an hour or less, all 13 invitations were gone. I began talking with my 2 team mates thinking that I was done. God had a different plan, He impressed on me to keep praying and reaching out even though I was out of invitations. I used up all of mine as well as all of those that the 2 gals I was working with had. With still over and hour to go, I reached in my pocket and for some reason I still had 1 more left. Maybe I misscounted, I thought. I gave that away and reached in my pocket and there was still 1 more left. As you might imagine, I was pretty surprised as I had counted out 13. This happened a few times and 3 of us were amazed at what God was doing there on the rain-soaked street corner in Oslo. We just began to praise God for His provision.
The outreach leader happened to walk by to see how we were doing. What a wonderful testimony we had to share. That evening I saw that faces of some of the folks that I had talked to on the street that day. Many of the others from the team were disappointed that no one they had talked to showed up at the conference.
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