Louise (L) & Kay (R)
The title of this blog post describes in endearing terms the special bond that develops when a believer gives the gospel and a friend accepts God’s amazing exchange – His holy record for her sinful record. It was not easy to reach Louise, but Kay was persistent. Louise had visited Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mechanicsburg, PA several times. During the invitation Louise raised her hand, confessing that she was unsure of her eternal destiny. This “just so happened” to occur in the middle of our Exchanger seminar, and Kay, who was participating in our seminar, felt compelled to reach out to Louise with The Exchange Bible study. But no-one seemed to know her address or phone number. However, Kay’s husband found a giving envelope with Louise’s address, so Kay dropped by for a visit. Kay was so disappointed because Louise wasn’t home. However, a note on her mailbox read, “If you are delivering a package, please call this number.” Praise the Lord! Kay called, connected with Louise and in Kay’s words, “We have been friends ever since.” Following is Louise’s salvation testimony in her own words.
“I always thought that I was ‘rooted and grounded’ in the Word because of my upbringing. Although I was baptized and had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I never felt truly worthy of God’s salvation. I always thought that I must do more to repent of my sins. How could it be so simple to achieve everlasting happiness with my Lord and Savior, without constantly working at it?
…And then along came Kay, wonderful and blessed Kay. If it would not have been for Kay’s perseverance and dedication to the Lord, I would not have discovered the Bible study — the “Exchange”. Working through each lesson made me realize (in plain language) that although I believed and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I fell short of trusting and exclusively depending on Him.
By the time we reached the final lesson I finally realized that I was doubting God and not trusting his Grace and Mercy. I realized that I could do nothing, because God has already done everything necessary to save my soul. I finally realized that Jesus died in exchange for my sins and there is nothing I could possibly do to change that. I accept and trust ‘that It Is Finished’, because God cannot lie.
I thank God for Kay bringing me to that realization through our brief Bible Study. I was blind and now I see…Alleluia!”
God is at work at Emmanuel Baptist and this is how Kay describes the work God is doing in her church:
“This Exchange works! Thank you so much for creating it! Our church is excited, and I’m sure you will be hearing from Pastor Crews soon, if you haven’t already. The last couple of weeks the testimony time has been all about cultivating relationships – it’s very exciting watching God work!”
We share this in hopes that it will inspire you to persevere in your attempts to reach out to people with the gospel. The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.”