Last week, I stopped in to buy a snack from at a Exxon gas station.  One of Switchfoot's songs was on the radio.  I asked the attendant, Manuel, who is 22 years old, if he had heard the song before. Manuel said that he had.  I asked him if he had ever listened to the words.  Manuel said that he hadn't.  So, I started speaking the words of the song as Switchfoot was singing.  Then I asked Manuel what he thought those words meant.  From that, the door was flung open for me to share, over the next 30 minutes, a full presentation of sin, righteousness and judgment.  He asked questions and I answered them.  Before leaving, I asked Manuel if he had a Bible at home.  He said that he did.  I encouraged him to read it because it would explain in greater detail what I just got through sharing with him.  Manuel said that he would.

Today, I stopped back in the Exxon station to buy another snack (Sobe's and Snickers are great snacks after a workout - carbs and protein). Manuel was in there again.  Immediately he exclaimed, "Welcome, my friend!"  I returned the greeting.  My daughter was in the car so I couldn't stay and talk, but as I was checking out, I asked him if he had thought any more concerning what we talked about.  He said that he has thought alot about it.  I asked him if he has started reading his Bible.  He told me that he had started reading a little bit each day since then.  I told him that I would stop back by later when I had more time (I had a meeting to get to).  He answered, "Okay."

As I drove away, he waved bye to me.

Two prayer requests:

1. Prayer of thanksgiving and praise that God has 'begun a good work' in Manuel AND that God would take the next step in that work (i.e. salvation).
   
2. Forsyth County (the county in which I live) has the 7th fasted growing community in the nation.  Being that there are a lot of home developments, many Latinos are moving to the area to find work.  The Latino population is increasing steadily.  When I was at Carson-Newman, one way I reached out to the Brazilians on the men's soccer team was letting them teach me a little bit of Portuguese - their native language.  You could see they were very grateful and felt honored for someone trying to learn their language and great friendships were cultivated as a result.  I desire to witness to the Latino's, however, I do not know Spanish. Please be in prayer that God would provide the resources to purchase computer software to help me learn Spanish or that God would, perhaps, provide someone in a local church who can teach me. I want to use every opportunity I have to share the Gospel.

As always, thank you for your prayers and e-mails/phone calls of encouragement.