I remember when I first went into the prison for Tijuana's kids, to teach them about God's Word; I carried the Bible. Walked into the big room. The kid's response was immediate and, well ... bad. Very bad!
I was evidently seen as another one of the many eager evangelists hot to "save" everyone following a loud and long message.
A literal "captive audience."
I thought and thought and finally decided to use the Indiana Jones approach. I have about 30 years worth of exotic artifacts hanging around ... why not use them!!
First you have to get the kids attention and respect, what better way then bring the Amazon jungle and tiger stories to them.
I remember walking into the cage full of these teenage "tigers" with a Bible, shrunken head, and a few BIG bugs. And, boy I had a following immediately! Even the guards were open.
I imagine through the years many missionaries thought I was weird collecting all of these artifacts, but they have been worth their weight in gold.
One afternoon I drove to the Tijuana dump to see some of my friends, driving around and through the trash I locate six or seven friends. These people are dirty, sweating and look tough. I forgot I had several artifacts on my back seat to use in a missionary study later that night.
Well, my friends spotted these weird objects and before long we had about twenty workers surrounding my little Volkswagen Van, they were fascinated ... the items soon disappeared going all direction, while I'm yelling "Be Careful!!"
But these big tough guys tenderly held the artifacts in their large dirty, hands'
These adults, even those I didn't know, became friendly and like children wanting to know all about the objects.
That afternoon I made many new friends at the dump. Artifacts bring a unique opportunity to share stories and the Gospel.
Oh, and I didn't lose one artifact! They brought ‘em all back.
When people believe you ... they tend to believe your message,
