Hi! My Name is Mitch!

[Today’s article is by one of my best friends and collaborators in ministry.  Christine Labrosse is married to Charles.  They have been in ministry both individually and together for many years.  Christine is an editor, spiritual director and author of I Have Decided to Follow Jesus . . . now what?: Keys to Discipleship.  I’m thrilled to have these guest submissions because I really believe that ‘seeing conversions’ is mostly likely to happen out of missionary communities.  I’ll give a little postscript at the end.]

Recently, a few friends went to Prince Edward County to enjoy a few days relaxing, enjoying some wine and great food in a pretty area of the country. We drank good wine, played games, talked and sat around a campfire in the evening.

On the last night we were there, we were sitting around the campfire. It was late, the stars were out, it was a beautiful night with great conversation.  All of a sudden I felt, rather than heard, someone behind me.  I turned around and to my great surprise there was a young man standing there with a bottle of rum in his hand, saying Hi and asking if we wanted to have a drink with him.

Once he saw us more closely he said, “I came over to see if there was a party here and if you wanted to have a drink with me, but I see you are all old!” Mitch had started the party, long before he joined us.

We laughed and invited him to join us – not sure if he would, given that he was looking for a party of much younger people.  But he joined our circle . . . and started relating his story.

Mitch came from a rough background.  He related how he had just finished a stint in rehab for gambling . . . he laughed and said, “But yes, I’m drinking!” His girlfriend had left him and because of the gambling he had to move back in with his family, which wasn’t a good situation for him.

We asked him if he was involved in a 12-step program and what his higher power was.  He said he had been raised a Catholic and knew all the prayers but had never experienced God. He said he would say the prayers but never “felt” anything.

He asked what we had felt or were like before we knew God existed.  He was having a hard time believing that God was real.  He was questioning if God was really all that interested in him.  I asked him if he thought that perhaps God had led him to our campfire! He said he had never thought of that, but maybe …

A couple of us shared what our lives were like before we came to know God in a personal way – and how our lives had been changed.  He seemed to understand that.  That there could be a before and after and that life could change.

He wanted to stay . . . and stay … and stay… but we told him that we were old and had to get up early in the morning to leave.  He wanted to stay longer and have a drink with us.

I asked him if he would like us to pray with him before he left. He agreed.  I prayed asking God to show Mitch that he was real – that he loved him – and had a plan for his life.  It was a wondrous moment.  A time when God descended in peace. 

Mitch took his bottle and made his way across the lawn. 

When we woke up in the morning I half expected to see him passed out on the lawn somewhere, but he was nowhere to be seen. Did Mitch remember anything that had happened the night before?  Did any of the conversation or the prayer reach his heart?  I believe that when we witness to God’s love and invite his presence into a moment, something happens whether we can see or feel it, or not.  We all agreed that we would never forget Mitch and continue to pray for him to this day.

Perhaps that encounter with us old folks was a moment when God touched his heart even though we will never see or know about it.  We continue to pray that God would move in his life, heal him and set him free.

[The goal of ‘seeing conversions’ is a very high one.  Indeed it can only be accomplished by the power of God.  In the last two articles we are not yet seeing conversions but we are witnessing disciples who are seeking the conversion of others and we are seeing the types of human encounters that are at the heart of personal evangelization.  In Christine’s article, although there wasn’t yet an opportunity to present the kerygma (the heart of the Gospel), the kerygma was introduced in the prayer offered for Mitch.  With those Mitch met that night, let us pray that other encounters will lead him to conversion and discipleship.

On another note, Christine and I are hoping to record a podcast for this Substack.  Please pray for us.  All of this is new to us.  We’ll be joined by a co-host who we will reveal on that podcast.  In all of this we are asking for the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We will vigorously pursue what he is asking of us and quickly terminate what isn’t from him.]