As I’m learning how to evangelize to the world around me, I find myself drawing on my experience in working with horses. There are three areas especially that come to my mind that can apply to training a horse and teaching a prospect.

When starting to work with any horse, it is vital to build a relationship with him. I get to know the horse by spending time with him and doing activities the horse is comfortable with. Things like grazing or just hanging out together help me get to know the horse and help him become comfortable with me. I also observe the animal in his natural surroundings. I watch how he interacts with other horses and how he reacts to everyday things like paper blowing across the road. These observations tell me if the horse is a skittish animal or if he is confident.

Next I begin the actual training process, which is a fancy way of saying I start to communicate with him. I put many of my observations into action. For example, watching the horse interact with other horses shows me how I can communicate with him. I also try to move each of these training sessions along at an individualized, organized pace. Some horses, like some people, learn faster than others. The pace should be tailored to fit each horse’s need. I also have a certain method I use each time I work with a horse. In illustration, I always teach a horse ‘ground manners’ (how to respect my space, stand tied, pick up his feet, etc.) before putting a saddle on.

The third thing I keep in mind when working with a horse is that it is a continuous process. As long as I train a horse, I will continue to build our relationship. Also, every session we review the things we learned the last session, work on things we didn’t understand, and, if time allows, we move on to new things (generally each session lasts 40 to 60 minutes). Another element of the continuous process is that things learned in the first session are used for higher level training. For example, part of ground manners is teaching the horse to move the front half of his body away from you with the point of a finger. Later on, I will use this movement as a stepping stone to teach the horse to ‘rock back’ on his hindquarters, plant one hind foot, and ‘spin’ on that foot (which looks really cool!).

Now I bet you are wondering what all this has to do with evangelism. Well, when you find someone to study with, you first build a relationship with him or her. This involves doing things the individual enjoys and observing his or her interactions with other people. When we sit down to study, I can build our sessions on the relationship we have. Also, I make sure that the study moves along at the right pace for the prospect in an organized manner.

Teaching a person about Christ is also a continuous process. We continue to build our relationship. We work on each point of scripture until there are no questions. And I show the person I’m studying with how to apply the things we discover in our day to day lives.

The Narrow Way

I was walking on a narrow way
I could barely see the light of day.

No friendly face could I see.
Fell voices swirled all around me.

The dark was closing all around
When at last I cried out, and fell to the ground.

Oh God, my God, I need Thee now!
Please lift me up and wipe my brow.

At first I heard no reply;
I could not understand how God could lie.

Surely this could never be!
He told me He would never forsake me

But when I had quieted my weeping
And stilled my heart from its rapid beating

I heard the faintest sigh
And it came to pass by and by

That the darkness began to lift
And the mists began to drift.

I lifted up my head
From my self-inflicted world of dread.

I could see my path marked clearly before me
All along, prayer to God on High had been key.

Our Amazing God

Have you taken a moment today to stop and look at your surroundings? Take a moment now to stop what you’re doing and look out the nearest window. If you can, step outside to physically experience nature. Take a piece of grass or a leaf and examine it thoroughly. Isn’t the intricate design on the leaf amazing? Look up at the mountains. Drink in their immense size, notice the contrast between their purple shrouds and the snow white caps. Your God created these things.

Now let’s look up into the night sky. There are a vast number of stars in the expanse of the nighttime sky. Each one of those stars is like our sun, which seems so large and bright in our sight. Some of these stars are actually much bigger than our own sun, but are so far away they only appear as tiny pricks in the sky.

Let’s see if we can put two of these stars into perspective, starting with our own sun. If the earth were a golf ball, the sun would be 15 feet in diameter. Imagine trying to find yourself on the golf ball that represents earth.

Now let’s look at the biggest star astronomers have found, Canis Majoris (Latin for Big Dog). This star is so big, we will need to take a trip to Nepal, hike up the tallest point on the surface of the earth (six miles above sea level), and stand on top of Mount Everest. Now while you’re taking a breather, pull out your golf ball and compare it to the size of the mountain you are standing on. Try finding yourself on that golf ball now! Do you feel small and insignificant yet? Canis Majoris is so big, the number of earths that could fit inside is tremendous. It is equal to the number of golf balls it would take to cover the state of Texas in a layer 22 inches deep. Now how do you feel?

Our God, the God of the heavens and the earth, created those stars. He created the Sun, and He created the Big Dog. In Psalm 33:6, the psalmist writes the following:

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

God is so powerful, so large, so amazing, that He spoke the stars into existence! Can you wrap your mind around this concept? I would encourage you everyday to stop for a few seconds and look around at God’s creation. Praise Him for His marvelous works with the words of the psalmist:

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
Psalm 33:8

A Clean Slate

It is the start of a new year, 2009. Normally, I am sad to see the previous year go; I know I will never gain that time back and I hope I have spent the year in the best way I can. As I reflect back on 2008, however, I not only shudder, but I also rejoice in the Lord for the uplifting of my soul.

This year of trials truly began for me in the fall of 2007, when I was a sophomore at Colorado State University. I had just transferred from my dream college in Cheyenne, Wyoming after becoming discouraged with my fellow classmates. As the fall progressed, I became more and more depressed until I was no longer attending classes. The only thing getting me out of bed everyday was the necessity to go care for my horse. Otherwise I stayed holed up in my apartment, doing little more than eating and sleeping. Some may look down on me for my apparent laziness, but at the time I could see no reason for my purpose on earth.

That year ended with my mother and father splitting up. As the long painful process of separation began, my stress and anxiety rose. I decided to take a semester off in order to work and start up classes again in the fall of 2008. My plan back fired when I became severely ill after working only 3 days helping to open a Chipotle. By the time I was well enough to work, I had forgotten all the things I had learned. I was not cut out to work in such a high stress environment under normal circumstances; in my stressed out, highly anxious, depressed state, the job only made me worse. After a minor breakdown at work and a major breakdown several days later, my mother insisted I come home, something I did with relief.

For three months I was worthless. I had just enough energy daily to get out of bed, shower, dress, ride my horse, come home, and sleep some more. But I resolved that I would soon recover and find a purpose for my life. I believe the weekly event that helped me find my purpose was my Tuesday night Bible study. During these studies with people I had known all my life (Mikey and Terry Martin and Kevin Baldwin; also Bob Brown, a new character), the Word refreshed me and renewed the passion for the Lord I had found the previous summer on a mission trip to Ghana, Africa. I began to get an inkling of the purpose I had been searching for.

In March 2008, I secured a job at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply, where I worked all summer. As the summer wore on, a sense of urgency took hold of me. It took me awhile to figure out what I needed to fulfill the sense of purpose within me, but I finally decided that I needed to become a worker for the Lord. As the prophet says in Jeremiah 20:9,

But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him
Or speak anymore in His name,’
Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am weary of holding it in,
And I cannot endure it.

I determined that I would be a missionary to the people of Ghana. However, I knew I was not quite ready. As Paul writes in II Timothy 2:15 I needed to “be diligent to present [my]self approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” In order to teach the word to the people of Ghana, I also needed to “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (II Timothy 4:2). I decided to go to school to devote myself to the Word completely. At the end of July 2008, I applied to Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, where I am currently a student.

Well on my way to recovering from the dark days, something else happened that I would not have thought possible for someone like me. I found a kindred spirit in a fellow student, peer, and friend. My now-boyfriend, Quinton, has a similar vision to mine: to reach the lost of the world, no matter the sacrifice. I could not tell you what the future holds for us, but I pray that whatever our relationship becomes, it will be for the glory of the Lord and the furthering of His kingdom.

Now, on January 20, 2009, I look back over the past year and marvel at the hand of God that is clearly evident in my life. To sum up, I began the year depressed, discouraged, and without hope. As the year wore on, I placed my hope in the Lord, and as He promises in Isaiah 40:31, I began walking and did not become weary, so I ran and did not grow tired. Soon I will be lifted up on wings like an eagle as I introduce the lost to my Lord Jesus Christ.