Today’s post is for you.
I started the Sower on xanga.com on November 3, 2005. My first post was not even written by me, but was from a friend’s email. This post, The Harvest, is still very popular even two years later. In fact, I used an email from Janey again in my most recent post.
Almost all my relatives are Christians. I am not overseas. I am not on a campus. I have never served in the military. I do not go to work 9 to 5, but YOU do. If you have a story about sharing your faith, please comment here on this post. Your comment may encourage someone or spark an idea for someone else who has a similar situation as yours. Your comment may give someone a new perspective about a co-worker or new hope for a loved one, as this post from another friend’s email.
I have a few overseas stories from books and other sources, but this post about Bonnie Witherall came from a subscriber to the Sower
You can help expand the ministry of The Sower by sharing your stories. Your comment may even become a Sower post! I am specifically looking for stories outside of my experience, but ALL stories about sharing your faith are welcome. I don’t have very many stories about sharing with people of other faiths and would like some more of these.
We all look forward to reading your stories here in the comments of this post. Hopefully, this post will become a popular post, too, as we encourage and learn from each other.
Mike and Sus Schmitt 
Here’s a letter my wife Sue and I sent our ministry partners that might be an example of what you’re requesting.
November 2005
Jennifer had been Down in the Valley for over 30 years, first as a weekend skier with her family from New Jersey, and more recently selling off-price ski wear in her Dad’s above mentioned store near the base of a resort in southern Vermont. During a recent trip to New England, we dropped into her shop in our search for the perfect Vermont sweatshirt. To our amazement, we found it waiting for us on the front table. This led to a pleasant conversation with this genial, female proprietor.
As Paul finished paying the bill, typical of his interest in initiating a spiritual conversation, he asked, “That cross you’re wearing – does it have significant meaning for you or is it simply a nice piece of jewelry?”
She hesitated, “Jewelry, I guess. Why?”
“Well, crosses are generally a symbol for Christians, so I wondered if you might be one.”
“Of course, everyone in Vermont’s a Christian” she exclaimed!
An animated thirty minute conversation ensued.
She drew her typical, taciturn, Vermonter husband in by commenting, “David, you pray. What do you think?”
“I read the Bible and I know what it says. I got turned off by church, that’s why I don’t go, but God’s inside me and I talk to Him every day.”
“I want to be like you,” she replied. “You have something I don’t.”
“You could,” he quipped.
In a brief moment of inspiration he leaned toward us, bright eyed, “I just read this neat thing in the Purpose Driven Life….!” We all listened to Christian truths expressed by a man who may well have never before engaged in a spiritual conversation.
Paul and I stood by and watched God at work as they discussed something that may rarely if ever have been mentioned during their 26 years of marriage.
Then she looked at us. “I walk every morning with an agnostic friend named Angel. Ironic, isn’t it? I’d like to be able to talk with her about this, about faith. I don’t know if I ever could.”
We smiled and offered, “You could.”
Twenty-four hours later, having left a pair of sunglasses at Down in the Valley, we returned and were greeted by our new friend with an enthusiastic, “I knew you’d come back! I walked with Angel today. I kept thinking about you and our conversation and I really wanted to talk to her about Christianity but I didn’t quite know how.”
I reminded her, “Yesterday you told us your girls are both freshmen at the University of Vermont and that yours is attending mass weekly and seeking to develop her relationship with God. That could be a good opening with Angel.”
Jennifer smiled, looked relieved and offered, “I feel like I’ve know you all my life, kindred spirits, I guess. Can I have a hug before you leave?”
“Yes, you can, and we will be praying for you.”
Sometimes we’re so focused on the destination that we miss the blessings of the journey along the way. Enjoy your journey and don’t forget to watch for the Holy Spirit’s opportunities to express God’s love and truth.
Paul and Sue
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Thank you, Paul and Sue, for this great story!
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