“What do you think of Christ?” The same question kept ringing out. What do you think of Christ? Where will you spend eternity? Contrary to popular opinion, I had never preached in the open-air on a campus before. I had been roped into it. I had been thinking, I’m going to go down there with a bunch of seasoned professionals and add my little preaching into the mix.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a public speaking area on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
I was not alone, however. Our team consisted of six to eight of the most fearless believers I have ever had the privilege of laboring with in the gospel. Every day our group would change slightly, but at the core of this group were four people whom the Lord used mightily to stir up the entire campus for His glory.
If you were going to pick a team to go and do battle with, you probably would not have picked this one. Yet the Lord was pleased to use these willing servants of His choosing.
Joyce Barinowski is one of the most precious folks on the team. Her southern charm won over even the most stern. She would just slip in beside the students, put her arm around them, and before they knew it, they had heard the gospel clearly–while they were getting a hug.
One of the people on the campus was a very withdrawn lesbian who didn’t want anyone around her; she wanted no one to speak to her. Joyce shared the gospel with her and when she was through, she told the young lady that she was going to give her a hug. She tried every excuse in the book to avoid it (she had gone to extremes to make herself so unattractive that she thought no one would want to touch her). But that didn’t stop Joyce from showing her the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the end of the week, when the young lady knew that we were leaving, she came looking for Joyce to get one last hug.
Vickie Gaynier is a transplanted Texan who, over the course of the days spent on the campus, became a shoulder to cry on for many of the students there.
One afternoon, Vickie stopped a young woman and asked simply, “How are you doing?” The reply came back drenched in tears, “Not very well.” The woman had just been told she couldn’t be a student there anymore because she had run out of money. She heard the good news about Someone whose goodness never runs out, and how the Lord can take the circumstance of life to bring us to the place He wants us to be.
Jerry Barnes, a young black man from Yonkers, NY, came to the outreach not knowing what to expect. The Lord knew we needed his energy and zeal for the gospel–and his color. We can never discount what it means to be accepting of all people. The Lord certainly is. Jerry’s ability to walk alongside someone on their way to class, get them laughing, and put them at ease was a blessing from the Lord that opened many doors.
Ruth Schwertfeger, the wee Irish woman that looked so innocent and reserved, had the energy of ten men and the wit of twenty. Ruth had an advantage that the rest of us did not have, in that she is a university professor. She knew just how to get to the heart of the matter, not only with the students but with some of the faculty as well. Ruth proved to be very valuable in dealing with the trials that we were about to encounter.
I have named names of servants of the Lord, not to bring them glory but because others need to know that the Lord uses normal, everyday people to do great things for Him.
Whenever the preaching of the gospel goes forth and lives are being changed, there is a battle line drawn, and you had better be ready for a fight. Preaching the gospel is an invasion of enemy territory, and you can be sure hell will know about it.
I had been preaching in the open air all day. I noticed that, over and over, one man, obviously a faculty member, kept coming out to see what we were up to. Every time this fellow came out the door, I would spin around to face him and ask the question, “What do you think of Christ?” I didn’t realize this infuriated him.
Our permit was checked by the police three times that day. At last, the faculty member came out once more and approached me. There was venom in his voice as he said, “I’m the dean who signed your permit. You are going to have to tone it down.”
Dean Jimmy Greer turned out to be our greatest enemy on the campus. Other faculty members aligned themselves with the enemy, but none with the fervor of this poor man. It reminded us of Saul of Tarsus breathing out hatred for the Christians of his day. So we began to pray for this poor soul that he might come to Christ and find relief from his heavy load.
Our permit had run out Thursday afternoon, but we wanted one more day on the campus. It seemed Dean Greer was determined to make us leave the campus as he had threatened several times during the week, but we felt that the Lord wanted us there as a testimony. So I asked for the permit to be extended. It literally sent the campus deans into a panic. Dean Greer almost had an attack as he stammered and stuttered, trying to let us know exactly how he felt about our being on campus.
A meeting was called with all the six deans of the university. We began to pray. They had already made their decision–this meeting was obviously no more than a mere formality, but we wanted to try anyway.
You couldn’t have picked two more unlikely candidates to face this group of six deans than Ruth Schwertfeger and me, but the Lord went before us. Their arguments were paper thin, the accusations weak. In the words of dear sister Ruth, “This is all hyperbolic!” At last the truth came out: they felt intimidated because, in their words, “we could articulate our position so well, it was too much for them to deal with.” Was there ever a more simple message than that of the cross–or one more defensible? We went into the lion’s den and there was an ambush of divine victory over the enemy. The great minds of this world did not know what hit them. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (1 Cor. 1:26-27). The Lord is delighted to use willing servants, whoever they may be…that no flesh should glory in His presence.
What impacted me personally from the week in Little Rock was seeing the plans we made change before our eyes. We heard the Lord saying, “I have other plans.” This was the Lord’s doing and it was marvelous in our eyes!
I have never experienced before the intense spiritual battle that took place over Little Rock. The Lord Jesus worked mightily and we were privileged to see it with our own eyes. Nor will I forget all those willing servants with whom we had the opportunity to labor in the gospel. What a privilege to serve such a great God!