Never Alone

Seth Van Noord, member at New Hope OPC, Green Bay, WI, was greatly encouraged by his time at the Boardwalk Chapel. Though he was challenged by the proposition of evangelizing in a public space, he was comforted by and thankful for the community of believers by his side all along the way. Read his testimony below.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Boardwalk Chapel and can really see how God worked through my time there to grow and strengthen me personally. One thing that I especially appreciated about the Boardwalk Chapel’s structure is that you are given every opportunity to be bold for the Gospel, and are trained and encouraged to do so, but you are not left by yourself. When you are out evangelizing, you are not fooling anybody into thinking that you are out there to do anything but share Christ with them. That can be intimidating. Many times, I stood out on the boardwalk, passed out tracts, and administered the “Heaven or Hell” test, but I was never alone. I was always out there evangelizing with fellow believers, so that if I got in over my head during a conversation, there were always other people with different strengths that can step in and assist the individual to come to a fuller understanding of the Gospel. Personally, this method of evangelism aided me to grow from nervously stuttering through the tract at the beginning of the week to answering questions with confidence by the end.

    Another aspect that stuck out to me was the Chapel’s total dependence on prayer. There were morning prayer times, prayer times before going out to evangelize, prayer after evangelism, and at every time in between. The entire week served as a reminder that just as we cannot save our own souls, we are totally dependent on God for the salvation of the souls on the Boardwalk. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1 ESV)

    Praise to God for the work that He is doing on the Boardwalk Chapel!