A CEF volunteer had the opportunity to help with an event with Angel Tree Ministries in Chicago. Angel Tree is a Prison Fellowship ministry that seeks to reach out and help children who have parents in prison. This event provided food, games, balloon animals, and face painting for these children with the purpose of sharing the gospel with them.
The CEF volunteer had the awesome opportunity to help face paint and share the gospel through a method called the Wordless Book. They originally came to paint children’s faces. Yet as time went on, they ended up being designated to share the gospel with children based on the colors that were being painted on the children’s faces. Honestly, at first, they were disappointed because they were hoping to work on my face painting skills. However, God used this opportunity to teach them how He is always at work.
Towards the end of this event, there were four children in line to have their faces painted. When it would come to each child’s turn, they would sit down, request what they wanted to be painted on their face, and then they shared the gospel with them. Each time, the child either did not fully comprehend their sin problem or they decided to not trust Jesus as their Savior.
Finally, the last child in line sat down. He was a little boy about seven years old who had been in line for about thirty minutes. When they asked him if he knew who God is, he responded, “Of course I do! I heard you talk about him over and over again while I stood in line”. After they told him about Jesus’s love, our sin problem, Jesus’s sacrificial death, and resurrection, they asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his life and save him from his sin. He said, “I already did! While I was standing in line I heard you telling other kids about it and I decided that I wanted to trust in Jesus on my own”.
While the volunteer was feeling that what they were sharing was not being well received, God was working in the heart of this boy even when they were not directly talking to him. God had them there that day just so that this boy could hear the gospel and we know that no matter what, when the gospel is shared, God is at work.
