Taking it to the Streets!

Looks like we’ve come across one of the reasons that God still has us in Key West! In fact, we have already formed a contact with a local church. Last night, we were walking in Mallory Square (a boardwalk type area) watching all kinds of outdoor shows- dogs that do tricks, unicycle riders, fire breathers etc- when all of a sudden we heard someone preaching! Then we saw a street preacher who was convincingly sharing a presentation of the gospel using paper and marker paints to highlight important words. He had drawn a good crowd of people that were listening intently to what he had to say! Kyle and I were so encouraged to see him out in the open among all sorts of circus-like acts and vendors. You must understand that Key West is an area full of people that are not necessarily open to the Gospel and many are deep into sin. Although some have come for a relaxing vacation, many have come to loudly and lavishly dress up, get drunk, walk around Duval street from bar to bar, and attract attention from the opposite and same sex. It is a very dark place... but here we stood in front of a beaming ray of light. We walked over and began to smile and nod our heads in agreement with his presentation. At the end he handed out tracts to anyone that was interested in this message. We approached him and introduced ourselves and told him how encouraged we were to hear the gospel being shared boldly and appropriately among so many people. He told us that this was the 20th year he had been out at Mallory square sharing his presentation. He pastors a church in the Keys and comes out to preach on the street three or four nights a week. Members of the church come with him to mingle with the crowd, answer questions and to support the pastor. We were so impressed with the way that he was able to share... his voice was commanding, but authentic and loving all at the same time. He spoke with conviction and not with a boisterous, heated attitude like some street evangelists we have encountered. He spoke to the crowd letting them know that he wasn’t there to waste his time nor theirs, but that he had a message so important that he had to share. We learned that years ago the street performers first rejected the Pastor, but later came to know him as genuine and loyal to his message. They turned to him with a great sense of respect and admiration. We found out that Pastor Bill even holds funerals for the performers that pass away, and acts in many ways as a father figure and friend to this community of what people might consider “freaks.”

How awesome! Let us be encouraged by this man’s boldness! Not his pushiness with the gospel, but his unashamed love for those around him, proclaimed through his tone of voice and compassionate words. Also, let us be challenged by his location. He shares night after night in the streets- where people are perhaps the most callous, the least open-minded, and quickest to make fun of him, but also the most desperate, lonely and lost. Jesus said in Matthew “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Our Lord loved and ministered to the lowest of the low, tax collectors and prostitutes, the exact type of people that walk Duval street in Key West, the same types of people that you and I might feel uncomfortable meeting on the streets, who may hang around bars or clubs. We are called to take our light into the dark where the sick and searching hearts will be found!

We wrote down directions to his church with hopes to visit on Sunday, and asked him if there is anything that we can do for him or his church over the next few days. He was very interested in our mission work and immediately let us know that he has something that needs to be taken into the mission field. Apparently someone donated a few boxes full of IV bags to be given to a missionary team for medical work. He said the boxes have been in his office for about five months and need to be taken. We told him that we would gladly take all that we could carry as we are planning to visit a medical missionary family in Guatemala. How great is our God! We are also hoping to join him in his street evangelism the early part of next week- talking to people and doing whatever we can to help out.

We are overwhelmed with the plans that the Lord has for us and reveals to us little by little when we trust in Him.

Stay tuned! Keep praying!