It was a typical summer afternoon. Melody had been canvassing in Minnesota for four weeks. But today, as she was going from house to house, people were very unreceptive. Everyone seemed to be either uninterested or homes were empty. This began to wear on Melody. She recalls, “I was thinking this is not funny anymore.”
So Melody sent up a prayer to God. “God, this isn’t about me. It’s about You.” She remembered a quotation from Ellen White she read the day before. “The Savior longs to give a greater blessing than we ask, and He delays the answer so that He may show us the evil of our own hearts and our need of His grace. He wants us to turn away from the selfishness that leads us to seek Him.”
She thought to herself, “Maybe I am seeking God for my own selfish wants.” Then she prayed and said, “God allow someone to be blessed by me going to their house. Allow me to be a blessing not because I want to reach my book goal or for me to earn money but allow it to be an experience that is truly going to bless someone and it’s not just for my own selfish wants.”
By this time, it was almost noon. Melody approached her next door and knocked. A lady came out with dripping wet hands. She says, “I am cooking dinner right now, what’s up?” Melody was tempted to just leave at that moment, but she remembered her prayer and boldly said, “OK, I’ll be really quick.” She gave a brief talk about each book and flipped through them quickly.
The woman said, “OK. I will be right back with a donation!” She went inside and Melody prayed for God to impress her to give a large donation. She came back out and said, “Today is your lucky day!” And she handed Melody $80.
She had gotten $80 out of the ATM and told a friend that she needed to find somebody to donate that money to. Her friend suggested that she go online and donate it, but she said, “No. I want somebody to come to me and get it directly from me at my house.” So, she began to pray about it. The lady told Melody when she came to her house it was an answer to her prayer!
Gilead also had an interesting experience. As he was canvassing one evening, he met a young man around his age. The young man was a Lutheran. Knowing this, Gilead thought that The Great Controversy would be a great book to show him. As Gilead placed the book in his hand and began to explain, the young man said, “Wow, I swear I have seen this book before! This is like a déjà vu moment!”
Gilead was wondering what he meant. He told Gilead that he has had moments like this before. He would have dreams about personal life events before they would happen, and these events would come to pass. He explained to Gilead that he felt like this was one of those moments. “God is telling me to get the book. As you were explaining about this book, I started getting goosebumps.”
Next Gilead asked him if he ever wondered why, if God is a God of love, there so much sin and suffering. He said he had really been struggling with this, especially since his dad passed away last year. The young man was really touched by the whole conversation. They exchanged Snapchat to keep in touch as he reads the book. Gilead thought, “This shows me that God really loves His children, and He is using us to draw a fallen world back to Him.”
Stories like these reveal that we serve a miracle-working God. It shows us that door-to-door ministry is not outdated. “The canvassing work, properly conducted, is missionary work of the highest order, and it is as good and successful a method as can be employed for placing before the people the important truths for this time.” Colporteur Ministry, p. 6.
The above experiences, and other experiences like them, are a daily occurrence with Minnesota Youth Rush. Young people from all over come to Minnesota to engage in a special kind of ministry going door-to-door. They learn how to have faith, and how to trust God while having fun doing it.
SIDEBAR:
Last summer 32 young people joined the program, and we had the most financially successful program to date. Here are a few stats from 2021:
59,208 doors knocked on
2,444 people prayed for
5,338 homes received books
286 total contacts (for Bible studies, cooking school, stop smoking, etc.)
11,799 total books distributed
God is finishing His work, and we want as many as possible to be a part of this inspiring adventure! Jesus says, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.” We hope to soar even higher next summer and pray many more young people will get an opportunity to experience working with Jesus by joining Minnesota Youth Rush this coming summer!
For more information contact Darrell Conway: darrel.conway@mnsda.com
