Richmond Outreach: Students, Richmonders, a Mormon, and a Muslim

Greg with Chiereme Fortune, one of Greg's student ministry leaders at Virginia Wesleyan.

      Chiereme Fortune is a sister in Christ with a big heart for people to know Jesus. We met recently in Richmond to spend the afternoon connecting with people and sharing Christ. It can be intimidating to start conversations with strangers. We had asked the Lord to fill us a new with His Spirit. The Holy Spirit emboldens us not only speak to people, but to do it with a smile and with joy. 
      "Hey we’re doing short interviews on the topic of hope! Three questions in three or four minutes, it’s kind of fun! You up for it?” We had 60 or 70% of the people take us up on it. We would get their names, introduce ourselves, then jump in with our first question. “On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 meaning you have so much hope that you’re contagious; and 1 meaning: ‘run for your lives we’re all doomed,’ how hopeful are you about your future?” We would get a number and usually a story about why they have or lack hope. “1–10, how hopeful are you about the future of our country?” Again, we would get a number and insight into who they are.
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Greg and Chiereme with Vicki, a campus minister at VCU. Pastor Roy McDonald of Divine Unity Community Church is in the background.

 “Third question, what is your source of hope?” Now we’ve started fishing! If they had a spiritual answer, we would run with that and draw them out by asking questions and encouraging them to share. Then, we would bring the conversation around. "What about Jesus? Do you think his story could be true? If so, what does it mean for us?” Sometimes we'd simply ask if we could share our source of hope and how Jesus showed himself to us. ​

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Richmonders

      There was a young couple that were open to the conversation. Both had church backgrounds, but clearly didn’t understand salvation by grace through faith. Their perception was it’s a list of rules to follow.
      The young lady said, “I got saved when I was 14.” I responded, “Wow, what happened?" She replied, "I got baptized." “And how does that save you?” She had no answer. We walked them through the Gospel, sharing that the cross of Christ was necessary because of our sins; and that the free gift of God was eternal life because Jesus has risen! We each shared some of our testimony to help them understand what it means to come into a relationship with Christ. We had almost an hour with them and they welcomed prayer. All of this was right along Broad Street.

 We had another great conversation with a guy who was sitting in front of his tattoo shop. We asked him about some of his tattoos, which led into a spiritual conversation. He felt like all religions were essentially the same. ​

Islam states that Jesus was not crucified. Buddhism teaches that the goal is Nirvana, the state of the snuffed out candle, and Jesus offers eternal life. These things are contradictions. They can’t both be true!

I challenged him, “Islam states that Jesus was not crucified. Buddhism teaches that the goal is Nirvana, the state of the snuffed out candle, and Jesus offers eternal life. These things are contradictions. They can’t both be true!” He was intrigued and allowed us to share some of our testimonies. We emphasized that nobody else has risen from the dead and that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. We invited him to Chiereme’s church and prayed for him.​

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a  mormon

      There was a Mormon missionary on the campus of VCU who we engaged in dialogue. “My understanding is Mormons believe that ‘as God now is we will become as we now are, God once was.’ So you can become a god.'” He was well trained, and his answers were evasive. “Not in the way you’re thinking. We believe we can become like God.” Yet, I had given him a direct quote from the Book of Mormon. 
      He was also not comfortable when I contrasted the Christian belief that Jesus is uncreated with their belief

 I contrasted the Christian belief that Jesus is uncreated with their belief that he is created just as Lucifer was created.

   that he is created just as Lucifer was created. I asked if he had any answer for why there was no archaeological evidence for the Nephites, who supposedly built up a large, ancient civilization in North America and were visited by Jesus. He did not have an answer. 
​     Many people are uncomfortable with confrontation and debate. However, Mormons make truth claims about Jesus that contradict our Scripture. Mormons believe that the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him revelation that contradicts the Bible. From Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we read “but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬. ​

A  muslim

      We also encountered a Muslim, who was protesting the war in Israel. He was wearing a keffiyeh (traditional headscarf) and sunglasses so you could not see his face. I said, “Hey man, I’ve got some questions if you’re open to a conversation.” He said he was. “Help me with this: why should we believe the Quran when it says Jesus wasn’t crucified while the eyewitness accounts from the New Testament say Jesus was crucified and then rose from the dead?” He suggested that the New Testament was corrupted and unreliable and it only appeared that Jesus was crucified. We went back-and-forth on this one for a while with me stating, "Muhammad is writing in the sixth century how would he have any idea?"
​      I confirmed with him that he and Muslims believe that Muhammad is the perfect example of humanity and the best model for moral conduct. Then, I challenged that assertion. “If Muhammad were here in Richmond today doing the things that the Quran says he did, mass killings, taking and selling slaves and pillaging properties, he would be locked up immediately!” “And if Jesus Christ were here in Richmond today doing the things that the Bible said he did, ​people would be in awe, following him,

and some would likely worship him. Others certainly would be scandalized by his teachings.”

if Jesus Christ were here in Richmond today doing the things that the Bible said he did, people would be in awe, following him, and some would likely worship him. Others certainly would be scandalized by his teachings.

      He could see where this was going and interjected, “Jesus would be locked up too! He’d be put in jail just as well. You remember what it says he did. He knocked over all the tables and whipped people in the temple. He would be locked up too.” I was surprised and simply said, “really, you believe that?” He didn’t answer. Chiereme tried a different approach, “What does Islam offer for women? They seem to be oppressed. It seems like all the rewards are for men.” He didn’t have an answer. She asked, “They each get 72 virgins if they wage jihad, where do all those virgins come from?” Again no answer.