Last year we held our first evangelistic outreach meeting within walking distance of my S. Providence parish, right on Broad Street in Providence. Last Saturday evening we had our second. As before, we recruited Pr. Luis Morales to translate for me. We sang Psalm 1 in Spanish and English, and we read and preached from Matthew 21:1-11 on the Triumphal Entry.
In addition to many of our own folks, as well as the Morales family, several African contacts in the parish and the larger community came out. These are all professing Christians, but definitely not Reformed. While evangelism is my top concern, close behind is the pressing need to raise the profile of biblical, Reformational theology and worship within urban evangelicalism. Please pray that God may own these efforts as well.
I had hoped that we might get a number of my warmer Latino contacts to come out, such as the “Ortega” family, but it was not meant to be that night. I am reminded that open doors do not translate into truly open hearts without the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Yet we must not “grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”
Nevertheless, one young lady, “Leah,” came with her little baby boy. She is one of a number who walked to our meeting. I had met her last March on my rounds, and again this year in the last couple of weeks. She has had some Christian exposure in her past, but is living with her boyfriend. Yet, she has shown great interest, even asking to be picked up for church the following Lord’s day. She was ready right on time and had her precious, blue-eyed little boy all bundled up in his car seat. She happily stayed for both services with the meal in between. In the afternoon, I preached on the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. She says she wants to come next week; and judging from things this weekend, I’m cautiously hopeful. Please pray for her, that the Lord would do a glorious work and “discover” the hidden treasure hidden in Jesus.
One striking postscript. She lives in the very same apartment as “Tyrone and Charlene” used to live. I regret that I’ve lost all contact with Tyrone, though I still have a number for him. O, my heart is heavy for him; please pray that he will be drawn with cords of love. But now “Leah” comes in his place — and indeed, the very same place. It’s intriguing how not only certain neighborhoods prove more open, but even certain buildings and certain apartments.
Oh, and post-postscript. Pr. Morales, my fellow-helper in Christ, is experiencing a number of striking encouragements among his Latino Pentecostal connections in Massachusetts. Please pray for him and his very dear family, especially as he continues to bring solid Reformational preaching and teaching to his own congregation and also takes opportunities to bring reform into his wider circles. He is also bivocational, which certainly places a good amount of strain on him and his family.
West Port Experiment 
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