A chat with Kim, the hotdog vendor by Steve Brannon
Try as I might, there are days when I settle into thinking that my schedule is too tight to share the gospel. Such was the case one recent afternoon. But, as I was soon to discover, my sense of urgency didn’t matter, God had other plans.
This day was more hectic than most. We (my son and I) had dental appointments, then barely had time for lunch and studies before I had to run out for my guitar lesson. Naturally, today it ran over by nearly thirty minutes, and I still had two stops to make. The last one was at a home improvement store. Because this is Loudoun County, rush hour was quickly building. I wanted to run in, grab one item, and get back on the road before all I had to look forward to were red tail lights. Still, just before jumping out of the car, I grabbed a handful of million-dollar bill gospel tracts.
As I jogged up to the store, I noticed a young woman who looked completely bored. She was standing next to a refreshment stand, trying to balance a shopping cart. Perfect! I thought, I can say something like “You look bored, here’s something for you to read and pass the time,” then head into the store. That’s just what I did, but I didn’t count on her response.
“Hey, another customer gave me one just like it.” As I kept walking toward the door, ignoring this opportunity, I said, “You should read the back.” Rather than agree and give a simple, “OK.” The vendor asked, “Where do you get these things?”
It’s amazing how God will sometimes have the lost stop YOU so you can share the gospel. Sometimes He has to smack us a couple of times on the side of the head. Realizing this, I finally stopped.
I turned and said, “A website called Living Waters dot com. Did you read what’s on the back?” She said that she didn’t recall, so I told her, it’s a gospel tract, then I asked, “Can I ask you an interesting question?” Some people love to hear interesting questions, and this was one such person. “Yeah! Go ahead.” So I asked what she thought happened when you die. She explained that she thought you would come back as something else. I noticed that one of the items for sale was a hot dog. So I asked, “You mean like a bird, or a butterfly, or a cow?” “Yeah, like that!” she answered. “So,” I continued, “who are you selling?” She got a big laugh out of that, then we had a wonderful conversation.
I explained that it doesn’t matter what you believe, it matters what’s true. I explained how, as I search scripture and compare it with science, history, prophecy, and archeology, all these other studies keep proving the Bible is true. She listened, and asked questions. She was very interested, so I shared the gospel as other customers came and went. Isn’t it amazing that the lost need the gospel so badly that they’re willing to put off other priorities, even when we’re not!?!
By the time our conversation ended, she asked me to recommend a Bible, then thanked me for stopping and talking to her. Finally, I found out her name was Kim. The last thing Kim said to me was, “The next time you come to the store, please stop by and say ‘Hi’.”As I pulled onto the highway, I prayed for Kim, and thanked God for stopping me. I didn’t mind the red tail lights at all.