Post by Kerrigan on May 16, 2006 20:30:01 GMT -5
Wow! Let me say that backwards....WOW! Evangelism Bootcamp in NYC was unbelievable! The new saying about Evangelism Bootcamp is, "If you wanna know, you gotta go!" So true, so true. Bootcamps can't be explained with words alone. You have to experience it for yourself. The fellowship is like a little taste of Heaven on Earth. Being around so many soundly saved spirit saturated sanctified seed sowing superstars is just like having a taste of Heaven. Evangelism Bootcamp is probably the only place you will find fellowship like this, this side of Heaven. Unless persecution hits America hard and weeds out all the false converts and fire's up all the true believers, Evangelism Bootcamp is the only place you will find fellowship like this. Spirit-filled prayer meetings where people are passionately crying out to God together, anointed preaching that stop's the mouths of the ungodly and shows them their need for the Savior and encouragement like you have 70 Barnabas' around at all times. The hardest part is going home. The only reason I was excited about going home is because I missed my wife and kids so much. Maybe in the near future there will be a Family Bootcamp. Not sure how that would work, but I would love to take my whole family to one.
Wednesday Night
On Wednesday night, we got our co-leaders and mine was Jose Muniz. This man has been out there on the streets witnessing for over 20 years! Then Jose picked our team out of the hat while I wrote them down. Couldn't have asked for a better team! Sarah Culotta, Tony Denham, Vitaly and Nick (two Russian brothers from the Boston area), Mary Magnusen, Thaddeus, Randi, Doug Renz, Andy Schelmer (sorry if that is spelled wrong bro), Me and Jose. They were some fired up people! I have been out witnessing/preaching with Sarah and Tony in Raleigh numerous times and was excited to have them on my team. Mary had come down with her husband, Nathan, to do some preaching in Louisiana with me after Hurricane Katrina so it was nice to have her on my team as well. It was a good team and I was thanking God for that blessing.
Thursday
We didn't have vans this time, because we were going to be traveling by bus/subway. We preached on the Subway the whole way to the Staten Island Ferry/Battery Park and we preached the whole way back to the hotel on the Subway. It was definitely different preaching to people who didn't want to hear what you had to say in such close quarters. There were numerous times that we had hecklers and people who were offended. We had to talk pretty loud since the subway was loud at times. I am reminded of Andy's first two witnessing encounters of the whole bootcamp. Man, were they mean, rude and downright ugly. I thank God for his persaverance. On the way back to the hotel on the Subway the first day, I had a couple of hecklers at once, but God gave me wisdom and wit to get them to be quiet. One of the hecklers had come on to our cart to escape the preaching in the other one. Is was really quite humerous that people literally could not escape the preaching of the Gospel. We preached on the Staten Island Ferry on the way over to Staten Island and on the way back. The only criteria is that you had to be walking around the whole time and you couldn't "yell." Some of the other teams had some problems with the police, but they never said a word to us. We tag-teamed on the Ferry, just popping up, one after the other. We also tag-teamed on the Subway at times. Then we went out into Battery Park to preach O/A, witness and hand out tracts. It was a little emptier than usual, but it was still good. While getting some food outside of Battery Park, we ran into the "Twelve Tribes of Israel." At first, I wanted to yell at them and rebuke them, but realized it would do no good and that I would just be drawing them a crowd like a heckler does for us. God spoke to my heart as I looked across the street and saw the three ladies in our group (Sarah, Mary and Randi) praying for these guys. They are SO deceived and blind, that they need our prayers more then most. They basically said that ALL white people are children of the devil and are on their way to Hell. You can see pictures of them in my pics: www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=yc8evj0.z3766gk&Uy=-3rndgi&Ux=0
Then we went back to the waiting area for the Staten Island Ferry. I had the honor and privilege to preach to at least 300 people at one time in that waiting area. And I made sure that they ALL heard me. There were great acoustics and echo effects in there, so it didn't take much. That was the biggest crowd I have preached to yet. Here is the audio to that O/A: www.pinpointevangelism.com/Kerrigan-EBC11_FerryWaitingArea_Day1.mp3
Friday
On Friday, we went to Washington Park, where there is a huge dried-up water fountain that people like to sit around. It is right near New York University, so a lot of "intellectuals" like to come out and try to heckle you. I followed Kevin Vanover in the preaching order and Kevin is very good with apologetics. I came up there and preached pretty hard and strong. I rebuked one mocker a couple of times. I was concerned for the people sitting near him. I thought that God might strike him with lightning or something. Here is the audio to that O/A: www.pinpointevangelism.com/Kerrigan-EBC11_WashingtonPark_Day2.mp3
We didn't confine ourselves to preaching at the fountain alone though. There was preaching going on in at least 3 other places. Doug and Tony decided to go to another part of the park and O/A to some people who were walking-by and some people who were sitting on benches. Doug did a great job, so watch out Rochester, NY! All in all, it was a great day of preaching, witnessing and handing out tracts. People were really stepping up to the plate, getting over their fears and preaching the Gospel!
Saturday
Next, we went to Times Square, the heart of the city that "never sleeps." The police were breathing down our necks the whole time we were there. They were very young cops who had much zeal for the law, but had little knowledge as to what it said when it comes to O/A preaching in public places. They probably just didn't like the message, got convicted and therefore decided there was a law somewhere against such a thing. Ray Comfort, Scotty, Mark Spence and Todd Friel all joined us to preach the Gospel in NYC. Doug and I went to get a couple of white bed sheets and a stool so our team could be more effective. Doug decided to be Lazarus for the day. One of my team, Andy, had a decent size crowd on Broadway at one point in time and he did a great job preaching the Gospel. The police were getting so ridiculous, that at one point in time they told us we couldn't preach from on top of a milk crate. They said that it was like having a stage and that we didn't have a permit for that! Satan is so crafty at times, but we rose above it, literally. Andy and Bart McCurdy decided to give Ray a lift, so he could continue to preach the Gospel. Ray jumped up onto their backs and continued to preach to the crowd. The cops were out of excuses at this point, so they didn't have much to say. We decided to finish-up our preaching for the day across the street. We didn't go straight back to the hotel when we were done preaching for the day though. We went to the Way Of The Master Radio Banquet in Jersey City. There were tons of people there and it was a lot of fun. Man, were we all tired by the time we got back to the hotel at 2am! But all for the Glory of God! We beat our bodies into submission so that as many as possible could hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sunday
The last day was graduation day. The team leaders from each team would call out their team members one-by-one, say a few words about them, give them their certificate and get their picture taken. I was so proud of my team and know that they will be doing great damage to the kingdom of Hell wherever they are!! It was hard to leave, but I couldn't wait to get back to see my wife and kids!
Wednesday Night
On Wednesday night, we got our co-leaders and mine was Jose Muniz. This man has been out there on the streets witnessing for over 20 years! Then Jose picked our team out of the hat while I wrote them down. Couldn't have asked for a better team! Sarah Culotta, Tony Denham, Vitaly and Nick (two Russian brothers from the Boston area), Mary Magnusen, Thaddeus, Randi, Doug Renz, Andy Schelmer (sorry if that is spelled wrong bro), Me and Jose. They were some fired up people! I have been out witnessing/preaching with Sarah and Tony in Raleigh numerous times and was excited to have them on my team. Mary had come down with her husband, Nathan, to do some preaching in Louisiana with me after Hurricane Katrina so it was nice to have her on my team as well. It was a good team and I was thanking God for that blessing.
Thursday
We didn't have vans this time, because we were going to be traveling by bus/subway. We preached on the Subway the whole way to the Staten Island Ferry/Battery Park and we preached the whole way back to the hotel on the Subway. It was definitely different preaching to people who didn't want to hear what you had to say in such close quarters. There were numerous times that we had hecklers and people who were offended. We had to talk pretty loud since the subway was loud at times. I am reminded of Andy's first two witnessing encounters of the whole bootcamp. Man, were they mean, rude and downright ugly. I thank God for his persaverance. On the way back to the hotel on the Subway the first day, I had a couple of hecklers at once, but God gave me wisdom and wit to get them to be quiet. One of the hecklers had come on to our cart to escape the preaching in the other one. Is was really quite humerous that people literally could not escape the preaching of the Gospel. We preached on the Staten Island Ferry on the way over to Staten Island and on the way back. The only criteria is that you had to be walking around the whole time and you couldn't "yell." Some of the other teams had some problems with the police, but they never said a word to us. We tag-teamed on the Ferry, just popping up, one after the other. We also tag-teamed on the Subway at times. Then we went out into Battery Park to preach O/A, witness and hand out tracts. It was a little emptier than usual, but it was still good. While getting some food outside of Battery Park, we ran into the "Twelve Tribes of Israel." At first, I wanted to yell at them and rebuke them, but realized it would do no good and that I would just be drawing them a crowd like a heckler does for us. God spoke to my heart as I looked across the street and saw the three ladies in our group (Sarah, Mary and Randi) praying for these guys. They are SO deceived and blind, that they need our prayers more then most. They basically said that ALL white people are children of the devil and are on their way to Hell. You can see pictures of them in my pics: www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=yc8evj0.z3766gk&Uy=-3rndgi&Ux=0
Then we went back to the waiting area for the Staten Island Ferry. I had the honor and privilege to preach to at least 300 people at one time in that waiting area. And I made sure that they ALL heard me. There were great acoustics and echo effects in there, so it didn't take much. That was the biggest crowd I have preached to yet. Here is the audio to that O/A: www.pinpointevangelism.com/Kerrigan-EBC11_FerryWaitingArea_Day1.mp3
Friday
On Friday, we went to Washington Park, where there is a huge dried-up water fountain that people like to sit around. It is right near New York University, so a lot of "intellectuals" like to come out and try to heckle you. I followed Kevin Vanover in the preaching order and Kevin is very good with apologetics. I came up there and preached pretty hard and strong. I rebuked one mocker a couple of times. I was concerned for the people sitting near him. I thought that God might strike him with lightning or something. Here is the audio to that O/A: www.pinpointevangelism.com/Kerrigan-EBC11_WashingtonPark_Day2.mp3
We didn't confine ourselves to preaching at the fountain alone though. There was preaching going on in at least 3 other places. Doug and Tony decided to go to another part of the park and O/A to some people who were walking-by and some people who were sitting on benches. Doug did a great job, so watch out Rochester, NY! All in all, it was a great day of preaching, witnessing and handing out tracts. People were really stepping up to the plate, getting over their fears and preaching the Gospel!
Saturday
Next, we went to Times Square, the heart of the city that "never sleeps." The police were breathing down our necks the whole time we were there. They were very young cops who had much zeal for the law, but had little knowledge as to what it said when it comes to O/A preaching in public places. They probably just didn't like the message, got convicted and therefore decided there was a law somewhere against such a thing. Ray Comfort, Scotty, Mark Spence and Todd Friel all joined us to preach the Gospel in NYC. Doug and I went to get a couple of white bed sheets and a stool so our team could be more effective. Doug decided to be Lazarus for the day. One of my team, Andy, had a decent size crowd on Broadway at one point in time and he did a great job preaching the Gospel. The police were getting so ridiculous, that at one point in time they told us we couldn't preach from on top of a milk crate. They said that it was like having a stage and that we didn't have a permit for that! Satan is so crafty at times, but we rose above it, literally. Andy and Bart McCurdy decided to give Ray a lift, so he could continue to preach the Gospel. Ray jumped up onto their backs and continued to preach to the crowd. The cops were out of excuses at this point, so they didn't have much to say. We decided to finish-up our preaching for the day across the street. We didn't go straight back to the hotel when we were done preaching for the day though. We went to the Way Of The Master Radio Banquet in Jersey City. There were tons of people there and it was a lot of fun. Man, were we all tired by the time we got back to the hotel at 2am! But all for the Glory of God! We beat our bodies into submission so that as many as possible could hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sunday
The last day was graduation day. The team leaders from each team would call out their team members one-by-one, say a few words about them, give them their certificate and get their picture taken. I was so proud of my team and know that they will be doing great damage to the kingdom of Hell wherever they are!! It was hard to leave, but I couldn't wait to get back to see my wife and kids!