Larry's Testimony
Posted by Madison Eisaman on
For 20 years, Larry Key, of North Carolina, ministered to incarcerated youth. For twelve of those years, he also ministered to people on the street.
Today, he is three years into full-time street evangelism in North Carolina through an outreach named Crossing the Streets Ministry. The ministry focuses on homeless, runaways, and troubled youth on the nation’s streets. When once he preached to youth in prison, he said one of his main goals now is to reach them before they end up there.
Key leads teams of volunteers, armed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, onto the streets, homeless encampments, and other areas.
While many outreaches focus on feeding the homeless, Key said they often miss the opportunity to meet their even greater, deeper…and eternal…need for Jesus Christ.
“If they go to hell with a full belly or an empty one, we’ve missed the important part,” he said.
According to Key, Gospel tracts are “vital” to their outreach. In particular, he has utilized PrintMyTract.com, a publishing ministry of Moments With The Book, to design, thus far, 19 custom tracts that directly target the people groups they work with. Key purchased a plastic photo box, with divisions inside for the different tracts, and turned it into what he calls a “tract-el box” that he uses when they “fish for men”, he said.
“We use the tracts to start a conversation and leave them to reinforce our message.”
In most cases, he said people are appreciative of the tracts and are happy to take one. And in some cases, Key was even able to see immediate fruit from the message.
Through his custom tract, “25 Things God Wants Every Teenager to Know,” he has seen several youth in juvenile detention centers and youth prisons put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Another custom tract, “The Most Important Quarter in Football,” urges youth to not wait until the “last quarter” to get saved or start serving God. The first young man on the streets who received this tract gave his heart to Christ, Key said, adding, “This has been a great tool to lead young men and even cheerleaders to being saved and starting young in serving. To God be the glory!”
Key said tracts offer the chance for people to both see and hear the Word, which is a powerful combination that can lead souls to Christ. In addition, while many youth on the streets present a tough demeanor as they try to impress others, he said the tract stays with them and the message can reach their hearts when everyone has gone away.
Key held a tract-writing workshop to encourage others to write and publish their own tracts through MWTB’s PrintMyTract. While he agrees that it can be intimidating to approach strangers with the Gospel, tracts provide a “conversation starter”, and there are lots of ways to get creative, tear down barriers and encourage confidence. For example, he said his wife hands out tracts with ink pens that she crafts. They also hand out a tract that advises youth on God’s will in marriage through the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Gen. 24; they include little camel charms with the tract – and no one has ever turned them down, Key said.
While you may not always be able to include a gift with the tract, there is something else that can go just as far, he said: “Offering a smile with a tract is a gift that God has given us to share with everyone.”
To read more testimonies, visit mwtb.org/blogs/letters