Giving My Testimony

[Darrell Schapmire]

I am not certain if this is the correct place to fulfill the requirement for “giving testimony” for the Street Evangelism course. But I will post this anyway and hope that I am in the right place. My wife and I are converts, having converted in 2014, me at the age of 64 and my wife at the age of 62. I have long admired those who evangelize, but before I retired I worked in a very contentious litigious field that required giving legal testimony fairly often. That required a “killer shark” mentality because lawfare is warfare with words. I had to be prepared to defend my opinions and back them up with verifiable scientific facts that had to be supported by citing sources and dealing with attorneys who can be very pushy when a lot of money is at stake on a case. I knew I could never evangelize until I shed that skin. In the first few months of this year, I realized that two people who I had been very judiciously giving them information had actually begun reading Catholic content (Early Church Fathers) … and even making positive things about the Catholic faith. Around the same time our priest, an amazing homilist, made a statement that roused me to action. He said, “If you love something, you will talk about it.” I love God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I love reading scripture. The best part of my day is my holy hour. So here I am to give my report on giving my testimony.

The first time I gave my testimony, it was to an Exodus 90 group that was formed this year. Our group still meets every week. I had already shared with the group my intention to take the class that is offered by St. Paul Evangelism School three weeks before. They all wanted to hear my testimony. I knew when I mapped it out that it was too long, but I gave it anyway to get their feedback. I believe they were all sincere when they said that it was a very good testimony. However, one of the guys said, “That was really good. Is there any way that you can get it down to two or three minutes?” I asked them if they would like to hear a shorter version, one that I had never practiced. They were interested. I knew it was now not really in my hands at all, but I also knew the Spirit would be my guide. The revised version was approximately 3 minutes long … and that is when the most helpful comments were given. The most helpful were along the lines of, “That was just the right amount of details,” and “You gave just enough of the right information to set the stage for a few questions.”

After the Exodus 90 group, I gave my testimony to my wife. Of course, none of what I said was new to her. But one of our Deacons is going to hear it. Next week when we go on vacation with two of our children and their families, I will have more opportunities. I am not blowing through these classes quickly. I am taking my time and to read the texts, watch the videos, and study. I will be taking other courses on this site as well. It is a great site and a great service. God bless this organization.

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