High Light of Schoolies 09

There are so many stories I could share from Schoolies. I'm not here to chuckle about Kiwi accents though, so I've decided, instead, to tell you about what was for me the pinnacle of my time at Surfers Paradise.

We were at a place known as Headquarters where there are many people waiting outside the building for their friends. One such person was standing on his own a few metres outside the entrance. I went up to him and started talking to him. I cannot remember how the conversation progressed but he was an easygoing guy, seemed completely sober and I think we made a pretty good connection.

After we talked about different things he asked me what I was doing. We got talking about chaplaincy which led on to Christianity and since he didn't seem to have a clear understanding of what that was about, I deftly enlisted the help of the KGP, in addition to the Holy Spirit in order to give him the truth of the gospel. I'm not just saying that either. I've used the KGP a number of times before but this time was different. I sincerely believed what I was saying and knew, perhaps only in my heart, that my words had the authority of him who sent me; it was almost as if I was experiencing the things I was saying for myself and empathising in a way. There was a power in what I said that did not come from me.

He was enthused by what I was telling him and fairly soon we reached the response point. I went over what we had talked about and asked if he wanted to place Jesus in the driver's seat of the car of his life. To my delight and no small amount of surprise he said yes! I had never reached this point before but after I recovered from shock we said the prayer together and he received Christ into his life.

Others in my group came over and asked how it had gone. I don't know if it only occurred then as I realised what had happened or whether it was earlier on, but I was filled with an inexpressible and overwhelming joy in the Spirit. I've never felt so good in my life. It was amazing. Praise God for working through me to bring that guy from death to life in Jesus our Saviour and Lord!

I don't believe this experience is limited to people at Surfers Paradise. God desires that all might come to know Him and when we present people with the gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to their hearts, it is abundantly clear that we can and will see people come to Christ.