What a weekend.  It was my second year speaking at Winterfest at Liberty University, a place that has become very, very special to me recently.  I need to tell you a story about something that happened this weekend that I believe you will enjoy.

It was a big event with big names and big bands.  Stellar Kart, Disciple, Jeremy Camp, Kutless.  Charles Billingsley, Ayiesha Woods and KJ52.  There were over 6,000 people from all over the country.  And over 400 students made first time professions of faith as they stood to their feet publicly, with the lights on and all eyes open, and no music playing, to confess their sins and begin a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ.

As wonderful as all of that was, that is not what I want to share with you.  The real story for me is about 4 teenage girls who came to Winterfest with their 4 friends.

A youth pastor challenged his students to become friends with people in their schools who were not Christians.  A few of his girls from the youth group took him up on the offer, and apparently loving a good challenge, became friends with 4 Wiccans in their school.  These 4 Wiccans were not hard-core witches of any sort, but were curious about the spiritual world and were exploring it through Wicca.  They were invited to Winterfest and came.

They heard me preach the first night but did not respond.  They did not know me.  They had never met me and would never hear me again, most likely.  But because they had been befriended by these christian young ladies, it opened a door for them to talk about Christ, His death and resurrection, and most importantly, His love.

Later during the weekend, late at night in their hotel room, all 4 of those girls decided that what they were really searching for was unconditional love and acceptance.  They found that when they prayed with their christian friends and asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins.  When the youth pastor shared that story with me the next morning, I realized that is how you do evangelism.  You love people just as they are, right where they are, expecting nothing from them, showing them the mercy and grace of God.  He will take care of the saving.

A giant THANK YOU to those 4 christian young ladies who decided to be counter-cultural.  Instead of being obsessed with media gossip, downloading ringtones, or spending 16 hours a day on MySpace, these 4 girls invested time, friendship, and genuine love into the lives of 4 other girls who needed to see God.

They saw God in their friends, and as a result, they MET God and found exactly what they were looking for.  That is evangelism done right.

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