She Took the Challenge!

The email (below) is from a new friend that I met over the phone recently. Her husband, Brett, is a pastor in Southern California and open air preaches weekly at courthouses and various places. I met Brett for the first time at the April Ambassadors' Academy and he handed me his little red cell phone and said his wife would be blessed to speak with me. I was honored to meet Connie over the phone,and after minutes of wonderful fellowship, she told me that she passed out tracts and spoke with people one to one but had never open air preached. I had no intention of doing this but I ended up asking her,

"Connie are you up for a challenge?"

"Sure." She said.

"Here it is, I'll give you one month to open air with your husband...what do you think about that...are you up for it?"

"Sure."

I could tell that Connie was excited but nervous at the same time. The good news is she did it! She open air preached for the first time!

We had another phone conversation at the May Ambassadors' Academy, after she open air preached, and here's my remembrance of what the we said,

"Wow Connie, I'm so happy you did it..." I exclaimed.

"I waited till the very last day but I keep the one month mark." She explained.

"That's wonderful Connie! Praise the Lord! ...so how did you feel afterwards?" I inquired.

"Well, I got up on the box two other times that day...so for a total of 3 times!"

"Wow...unbelievable...that's great Connie! It's really the first time that's the hardest isn't it?" I asked.

"Yep!"

Look what Connie emailed me after our last phone conversation:

Hi Trish, It's me Connie. I just wanted to thank you again for the challenge you gave me. Something exciting has come about from it. Not anything that I expected. You see I do not really have a fear of public speaking. The Lord has allowed me to minister to the ladies in our church for many years now, by speaking at events and ladies retreats. Last September I had the opportunity to speak on a piece of our armor - "The Gospel of Peace". Now at this point I had only handed out tracts and had done a few one on ones. Well in sharing I shared what our evangelism team does, letting them know my fears and that I could never see myself open air, but would continue to do one on ones.

Fast forward to last Sunday. Brett being the proud husband that he is, let the whole church know that there was a few new open air preachers in the congregation (he does morning announcements), naming us.

You would not believe how many women came up to me saying "You said you would never do that. What changed? What was it like?" I could see the wheels turning. Some of these women are even in leadership and I could see an excitement about them. Not an excitement about me and what I had done, but an excitement of maybe what they could do.

I was able to encourage several of them that they could step out and do the same. A few of them said that they are even interested in going out with us next time. Praise the Lord.

I have been praying about each lady that approached me last Sunday and I have a personal challenge for each them. This Sunday I will ask each of them to take a challenge. It could be handing out tracts and for some to do a one on one. As for me I am hoping to sign up for the August Ambassadors' Academy.

Many Blessings To You,
Connie Coronado