I bought a used car from a car dealership, and two weeks later it started breaking down. The sales representative said that nothing was covered under the warranty that I purchased, so I had to take my car to a garage and pay a certified mechanic to fix it.

I turned my misfortune into an evangelistic opportunity. Every month something else would break on my car and I’d have to drive it the garage. The same mechanic fixed it every time; and since I was there so much, I thought I’d witness to him.

He was a Vietnam veteran, tattooed, tall and thin, and rode a loud Harley Davidson motorcycle. He’d share his stories of the horror of war, of how his group of eight was captured. He said the other men, his dear friends, were tortured and killed, but he and one other man survived. He never knew why his life was spared when his friends’ lives were cut short. He seemed to be searching for a reason to live, besides just being a gifted auto mechanic. So, I would bring my Bible and share with him. He seemed receptive to the Bible and me, so I kept it up! I noticed that talking so much about the Scriptures and God also was making my walk with Him stronger.

I developed a fierce compassion for war veterans and what they’ve lived through. This became especially true when he told me that for years it’s been all he could do to get through the Fourth of July holiday. Every time he hears the “pop” of fireworks, he has flashbacks of guns firing all around him in the jungle.

Some time later, when he called to say my car was ready for pick-up, he also expressed the desire to go to church. I gave him the directions to church and met him at the front door. It was a very small church with a tiny parking lot; so as he pulled in, you could hear and feel the motorcycle engine rattling the church walls. Then he came in wearing a chain length wallet that jingled as it swung back and forth. Those things notwithstanding, however, when he walked forward to the altar, he gave his heart and life to Jesus!

Such a wonderful decision prompted me to gift him with his own Bible. You never know who you’ll be able to reach or whose life you will impact outside the walls of your church.

~ By Vanessa Vargo