This year we were blessed with a family pass to Cedar Point from my parents and through this we have had the blessing of our kids getting to meet with their cousins, having time with the grandparents and taking internationals with us too!
And then through the help of Emmanuel Baptist Church, we were able to take our family and friends from Afghanistan, Argentina and Malaysia and then meet up with another dear family there. Though we said we would be back by 7:00 pm, we finally made it back by 10:00 pm because we were enjoying the time out.
Of course we rode rides, ate food and fellowshipped together! One memorable moment for me was when one friend from Afghan and I got on a “boat/tube” water ride and were not actually ready to get wet. I’m not sure what we were thinking, but there we were with phones in our pockets, shoes on and strapped in and looking at soaked riders who had just gotten on again, on the seats across from us. Things were going well till the young man from Afghan was the one moving directly towards going under the waterfall! All of the sudden, he took off the seat-belt and sprang around the boat in order to avoid getting yet. All of the other riders began laughing as I tried to encourage him to sit back down. We passed the waterfall, everyone in the boat laughing.
Apparently they have cameras. Apparently the staff saw.
As we came back to the dock, the staff reminded all riders to remain seated during the ride. We nodded our heads, got off and were laughing as we shared the story with the rest of our group.
Encouraged by the prospect of fun and maybe getting a little wet, the rest of the group with us got on to try it out. We waited. They returned a few minutes later…soaked! They stayed seated. They got hit by 2 waterfalls!
While these moments are not directly “Gospel sharing” moments, they are genuine relationship building times in which Gospel moments enter. They function like an ice-breaker activity that helps open doors into people’s lives so that more heart conversations can happen. We need both.
So on the way, I was able to listen and learn about how this family escaped from Afghan and make it to the US. On the way home, I was able to share various truths about God, Jesus and the Gospel. My wife was able to sit in the back with some of our friends and ask them about and encourage them to read the Bible we gave them, challenging them not to be afraid to read it but see what the Bible actually says. She was able to forge a stronger friendship with them.
From Power-Towers to Gospel conversations and expanding friendships, we were blessed through this time and are planning more trips to Cedar Point with other internationals as a way to genuinely befriend and plant Gospel seeds.
We don’t befriend with alterior motives. We sincerely love God. We sincerely love people. And this is one way to do just that.
Turners at WFI 