Outreach Means Witness

I became a follower of Jesus when I heard someone a few years older tell me at our church: “God loves you and I love you.” These “witnesses” were total strangers. I thought they were weird. I had never heard anything like that before. We did not use that kind of language … anywhere. It was confusing and deeply troubling. That weekend experience (called a “Lay Witness Mission”) did not teach Bible trivia, but the result was I had a personal experience with Jesus. God’s love transformed my heart: “God loves you and I love you.” Until that weekend, our youth group was just a fun gathering of kids my age where I found a place to fit in. Larry and Verla Richardson were our volunteer youth sponsors. Not only did my sister Kathy and I have conversion experiences, but my parents and the Richardsons did, too. Overnight, we went from a group of kids having fun to a group of people with a brand-new identity in Christ. A new and better way replaced my old life. Had my parents not insisted that I attend that weekend experience in April 1969, chances are slim I would be in ministry today. Had it not been for those witnesses who came to Rose Hill UMC in Tulsa that weekend when I was 14, we would not have found faith