By Jim Torres “Towers”
As you can tell by my last and most recent article, I’m becoming bolder in sharing my faith, almost to the point of being fanatical. But having striven to be a well rounded rational Christian for all of my spiritual life, I’ve learned to restrain myself and my tongue until I’m certain that God is involved so I am taken seriously and not be considered a fool. This attitude also prepares me for divine appointments that border on the miraculous.
Let me explain. While in the train station awaiting my ride I ordered a Chinese meal at a train depot fast food restaurant, and it proved to be more than I could handle at one sitting. So I left half of it in the Styrofoam box, got a new fork, a couple of napkins and condiments and looked for someone to give it to. It didn’t take long. A shabbily dressed man in his late thirties was standing against a wall looking forlorn. (I’ve learned to be able to tell when someone is hungry or hurting.)
Walking over to the man I asked if he’d eaten lunch. He said, “No, I haven’t.” I asked if he liked Chinese food, to which he replied, “Yes, I do.” I handed him the food and asked if he wanted prayer. “Would you?” he replied, obviously taken aback. I prayed a short prayer for him and left. Then I wondered if God had really directed me to him. I turned, walked back to him and asked, “Were you praying for food before I came to you?” The man answered, “How did you know I was?” It was confirmed that I had done the right thing.
I boarded the train to Fargo and rode a bus from there to Jamestown, North Dakota, my next stop. Although a good many Muslims have been brought to Jamestown from Somalia, I never encountered one since I was confined to bed with a severe cold. But I wondered if the government was bringing in the persecuted Somali Christians as well. In any case I also wondered if they are going to be exposed to the Gospel in the cities where they are being dumped, or to alter our culture and way of life with Sharia.
With the dispersion of these mostly non-Christians in our country comes an opportunity to witness to them for Christ. But I’m afraid that Jamestown is experiencing an ever increasing lawlessness to contend with, much like the rest of the country.
In Jamestown I wasn’t able to do much witnessing as I was sick all the time I was there. However, I did speak to an older man who claimed to be a church-going Christian who doesn’t miss a Sunday service at his church, but he had no assurance of salvation. He was a Lutheran. I asked him if he read the Bible and he said, “No, my pastor tells me all I need to know.” After questioning him and was assured that he knew Jesus Christ as savior; I quoted some scripture verses of assurance of salvation to him. Then I told him to begin reading the Bible for himself and I prayed for him. The poor soul has only months to live and isn’t sure where he’s going after death!
On my way back toward Florida I drove to Fargo and lo and behold it was the homecoming football game for the Fargo Bisons against the University of Northern Iowa in the FARGODOME. I stopped to eat directly in front of the stadium. This gave me a rare opportunity to publicize “The Prophecies 2016”. I had stocked up on my business cards and had plenty to distribute among the teeming thousands of college students across the street. I’m hopeful that they will consider looking at my website and checking out Rapture Ready on the back. Perhaps one of the articles in RR will pique their interest and set them on the right track with Jesus Christ. There I ran across a Catholic who was a wheelchair bound invalid and prayed for him. And I’m not even a prayer warrior! (I wonder who coined that phrase since I can’t find it in the Bible.)
I’ve gotten quite used to having God show up more and more frequently in my life as I go about ministering to people from all walks of life. As usually happens to me now more than ever, something unusual happened (I call it a divine appointment) when I called for a taxicab to take me to the airport. The driver was a young man in his early twenties. He was black as coal with black eyes and pearly white teeth. He was very helpful in loading my luggage into the trunk of the car. “You can sit up here with me if you like!” he hollered from the other side of the car. I took one look at him as I got into the front seat beside him and said, “You must be Somali.” He looked startled but replied, “How did you know?”
I replied, “God told me.” The young man stiffened up, not knowing how to respond.
“He also told me to share this information with you.” With that I began sharing the Gospel without any niceties or formalities since I knew that I only had a few minutes to share with him. The first thing he said was that he was a Muslim. I had assumed that already, but told him I knew something of his Muslim faith and that my Christian faith was different. It is about love and forgiveness and peace. I also told him that Jesus was /is the Son of the living God and not just a prophet. I shared scripture verses with him and urged him to get a Bible and read about the great salvation that Jesus offers. The encounter was short and sweet and when he left me at the airport he waved goodbye with a sincere smile on his face.
PS
My younger brother K.C. just called from Lansing, Michigan. He said that a large number of Somalis and Syrians had been brought into Lansing to begin a new life there. I just hope we can convert them before they convert us to Jihad and Sharia!
YBIC
Jim Torres “Towers”
Contact me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com for a synopsis of the movie “The Prophecies 2016.”