Who said evangelism can't be fun?

Well, the one-day 42-mile hike went very well. Four of us "knuckleheads" woke up around 3:30/4 am and drove out to the Mason/Dixon Line (border of PA and MD) and began the hike at sunup around 5:45am.

As I had already accomplished this "feat" in one-day I suppose I was a bit confident in my hiking skills - so I decided to bring 1) lots of food, 2) bottles of water and gospels of John to hand people, 3) a camera, 4) an digital audio recorder for the upcoming podcast on this expedition, 5) assorted survival gear (compass, rosary, bible, guidebook, cigars, etc.), and 6) water for myself. Needless to say, my pack was very heavy - my feet now "bear the marks."

So what does all this have to do with evangelization?

Well, as the last post explained we stopped hikers along the way and asked if they would like a bottle of water and, if the opportunity arose, a mini-version of the Gospel of John (called "The Water"). That went pretty well. We met about 15 or so hikers, most of whom were hiking the whole 2000 miles GAME (Georgia to Maine)! We even met a couple dudes with kilts on - interesting!? But, all were very thankful for water and several accepted the gospels - one dude, who had, I must say, distasteful music playing in his backpack ... accepted the gospel and said, "I'll read it in the next few days." Praise God!

As we left each encounter we prayed for them and went on our way. Who knows what the Lord will do through those random acts of kindness and the gospels?!

While the hike was a success - the physical toll it took on our bodies was quite heavy - as my feet now show. I think we have a greater appreciate of suffering now :) We actually ended up running about 40 - 50 % of the hike (mainly to make up time due to one of the guys getting injured and to slacking off early in the hike).


Anyway stay tuned for a podcast devoted to the hiking trip - with lots of fun details and some teaching on begin missionaries: anytime, anywhere. Also, click here for more pictures from the hike.

Finally, just being out in God's creation was awesome. Seeing the beauty in Brazil this past May, Pope Benedict told the youth:

"When we see the beauty of creation and recognize the goodness present there, it is impossible not to believe in God and to experience his saving and reassuring presence. If we came to see all the good that exists in the world - and moreover, experience the good that comes from God himself - we would never cease to approach him, praise him, and thank him. He continually fills us with joy and good things. His joy is our strength.”

Amen to that!

Cleaning toilets for Jesus!

Yes... the title says it all. Last night as a ChristLife/Newman Club (Catholic Campus ministry for UMBC) sponsored activity, we got a bunch of students together to go around and offer to clean people's bathrooms for free. Why? In order to show God's love in an incredibly radical way! Known as servant evangelism, this type of activity combines humble service with evangelization. I got a bit of a kick out of it, especially after seeing people's surprised, confused, and often suspicious reactions when we arrived at their doors.

So anyways, why did we even do it? Well, to be honest first and formost I thought it was pretty crazy, that's often reason enough for me to do something. But secondly, I do hope and pray (when my flesh isn't giving me a hard time about this) that people will see that there is such a thing as God's unconditional love, and that people can come into touch with that in the person of Jesus. Maybe showing up at people's doors and offering to do clean their toilets gives them a hint of that. Anyways, that's the idea... I'd like to offer this up for comments:

Does this activity actually demonstrate in a visible way God's love? Or is this too easily reduced to a stunt to get attention?

What are ways in which you have opened up someone's heart to God or evangelized through acts of kindness?