Treasure Hunting

Evangelism...When I used to think of this word, I thought door-to-door salesman, handing out tracks, reminding people that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.

Anytime opportunities to go evangelize presented themselves to me, I usually declined, reminding myself that I consider my gift sets to be one-on-one discipleship, leading Bible studies, and developing relationships long-term. That is until Allison and I discovered Treasure Hunting.

Treasure Hunting? Yes, searching for God's treasures, people. We are discovering that God's treasures are everywhere. They are in malls, workplaces, street corners, grocery stores. Everywhere, these "treasures" are inwardly crying out for an encounter with God, waiting for God to come to the rescue. And just as the Word became flesh 2000 years ago, we too have the opportunity today to re-present the Word as flesh and give these people an experience with the love of God.

So how does one begin Treasure Hunting? It's actually quite simple. Ask God who He wants you to search for and He will tell you. Well, when I first heard this, I thought, "You mean God speaks? To me?" Yes, we are the sheep in His pasture and we know the shepherds voice. We have all have been driving along and impressed to call a friend. Upon calling the friend, we learn that the phone call was a huge encouragement to them because of their current situation. That was God's still small voice impressing us. So when you are searching for God's treasure, ask Him to tell you where to look for them. Then write down the impressions God gives you.

Do you remember Ananais? He was the "Ultimate Treasure Hunter". While praying God told Ananais to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and look for a man named Saul from Tarsus. Ananais response was that God must be crazy. Does God not know that Saul is killing Christians? But God knew that Saul was the "Treasure" to be found and was primed to be one of the greatest Apostles. Had Ananais not listened to God and instead gone by his impression of Saul, Saul might not have become an apostle.

Allison and I have now been Treasure Hunting for 6 months. During this process we have discovered the love of God. We are amazed at the number of Believers God sends us to because He wants to encourage His people. We are amazed at the number of people God sends us too that reject us, which so reminds us of how much God loves them and continues to pursue after them by sending people like ourselves to attempt to minister to them.

One of my favorite stories of us Treasure Hunting is ministering to a Pastor's wife on a rainy day at a local park. We had on our Treasure map a lady with a baby in a stroller, glasses, and the local park. It was raining outside that day and we thought there would be no one at the park. We drive up to see a minivan with a lady putting her baby in the stroller. Allison gets out of the car to tell the lady that we are Christians and believe God has highlighted her to us to encourage her and bless her. She immediately started crying, telling us she is a Pastor's wife that has been struggling in her church. She told the Lord she was frustrated and despite the rain had to get out of the house and go for a walk. We drove up, ministered to her, and left. She knew that day that God loved her, and she was God's treasure.

We have now had many such stories. For more information on Treasure Hunting, read "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt" by Kevin Dedmon.