The number one reason I don’t initiate conversations with strangers isn’t that I think they’re too busy. It’s not because I’ve tried and been ignored too many times. It’s not even because I can’t think of something warm and friendly to say. It’s because I’m too busy. I rush from...

Colossians 4:5 says, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.” Making the most of an opportunity doesn’t always mean diving into a deep conversation or sharing the gospel immediately. Sometimes, it’s as simple as offering a warm smile, speaking a kind word, or asking a...

Colossians 4:2 urges us to “devote ourselves to prayer.” But what exactly should we pray for? Colossians 4:3 provides a clear answer: pray for open doors for the gospel. When someone shares a personal story with you, they are opening a door into their life. These moments are opportunities to...

One of the goals of “Know Their Story” is to help us, as a church, grow more comfortable initiating meaningful conversations with both acquaintances and strangers. Every day, we cross paths with people who need to experience God’s love and hear the good news about Jesus. But in our eagerness...

This year, we’re embarking on an incredible journey — to hear 2,000 new stories in our community. Everyone has a story, and as a church, we believe that truly listening, engaging, and caring for others is a key step in sharing God’s love. That’s why we’re launching the “Know Their...

Today is our travel day. We have a group that left at around 7am and another group that flew out at around 9am. My group had a pretty smooth trip home, but the other group had some challenges as some important items didn’t arrive when expected in Peoria when the...

This was our final day ministering in NYC. We went to Central Park. While we were in Central park we took a little time to visit Trump tower and the Plaza hotel where Kevin McCallister spent so much of his Christmas vacation back in 1992 (movie reference!). Sully and I...

A story wall is an invitation to those who are passing by to come and write out a short story from their lives and literally nail it to a wall. It can be a story of struggles and obstacles. It could be a story from childhood. It could even be...

Today we went to a food and gospel distribution center called 9 Million Reasons. It was a powerful experience. This ministry is lead by a church that meets in Queens. We spent the day running a prayer station, sorting out good and bad fruit, and organizing clothes. I sat with...

Today we went to Washington park. We used world view surveys to start conversations with people. One joy for me was talking to three college students girls from Paris. I was able to show them the Story App on my phone and it really helped because it was in French....

We spent the first couple of hours in the morning worshipping and training for evangelism. The phrase of the morning from Jerry was “You never know what’s on the other side of obedience.” Our first day was spent doing evangelistic prayer. It was a little different than prayer stations, but...

This morning Sully and I found a little NY shop where we could buy coffee and bagels. Later in the day quite a few of us from the team picked up groceries at Trader Joe’s which is walking distance from the hotel. We all went to church together at Times...

An excited group of travelers left for NYC this morning from the Peoria airport. One unexpected treat was meeting a sweet saint from New Castle Bible Church who was traveling on her own to NYC. She was so encouraged to be adopted by our team while we traveled. On arriving...

What is an Advocacy Team? It is a small group of people who are committed to caring for our sent partners in various ways. Sent partners are those who have been commissioned by Bethany to go out from among us in order to serve Christ locally or globally. What does...

Today we began by visiting a local village church. The pastor didn’t seem to know how to expound upon the text. Therefore, what we heard came close to the gospel at times, but never really communicated boldly and clearly that there was grace available for sinners. Instead, we heard moralistic...