Summer Ministry Begins
At the beginning of June, I headed to Ocean City to begin evangelism work on the boardwalk. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times already, the boardwalk is a wonderful place for evangelism. We talked to countless people and saw God work in wonderful ways.
One particular instance that stood out to me was three young men who approached me. Their curiosity about what we were doing brought them over. They were light-hearted about the whole thing at first, but as I walked them through the law and showed them the filthy picture of their own soul, their faces began to change. They took on a serious tone. (On a side note, this is why it’s so important to bring the law of God to the minds of those we are about to preach the gospel to. If I had just told them about the love of Jesus and His death on the cross, they would not have come out of their light-hearted disposition. First, I needed them to understand their lost state, then I could bring them the light of the good news.)
After they condemned themselves to hell by honestly recognizing their own sins, I brought to them the love and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. I talked to them about the love of God, the cross, and their need to repent and believe. The Holy Spirit was very evidently working in them. When I asked them when they would repent and believe, they hesitated. One said, “I’d like to say right now, but…” I asked what was preventing them from doing it. One said, “To be honest…ego.” His pride was keeping him back. I prayed for them and encouraged them to let go of their pride. I have no doubt that it was a life-changing moment for them. I’m praying the Holy Spirit would continue His work in their lives. We had many encounters like this.
Perils of Public Preaching
Besides Ocean City, I spent a couple of days at Rehoboth Beach, DE. On my first night out, I was by myself. I was a little apprehensive about being on my own on the boardwalk because I had always done it with a group. However, I was there, and I was going to preach, and I wasn’t going to let fear stop me. I preached my first message and drew a huge crowd! However, when I began to speak about the cross, the crowd slowly dwindled away…I lost everyone except a small boy eating an ice cream cone. My second message didn’t do much better. However, as I painted up my third message, a large crowd gathered around. I preached the cross and I can’t remember if even one person left before I was through! From that moment, for about three hours after, I talked to person after person. God gave me great conversations and many humble hearts.
The next night, my friend Mark joined me. How nice it was to just have one brother with me to preach the gospel! I could understand exactly how Paul felt when Silas and Timothy finally joined him in Corinth:
“When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.” – Acts 18:5
Ministry and Personal Needs
God has been very faithful to us! We have not lacked! However, we do have some one-time needs that eventually need to be addressed. We recently filed an insurance claim for our roof. It was damaged in a wind storm and needs to be replaced. Our insurance company is giving us $5000, but we need another $9000 to fully replace it. I also need a new computer soon. The cost for that is $2600.
We are also looking for ministry partners who would like to partner with us on a monthly basis. Whether you partner a little or a lot, it is much appreciated!
Visit our website for more information (halchaffee.com), or email me at halchaffee@gmail.com.
God bless you! Enjoy your summer!
Hal Chaffee 