The Birth of a Ministry
By Tracy Tennant
We had just recently moved and gotten our new phone number when the phone rang. The chipper female voice on the line greeted, "Hello, is this the Thompson family?"
"No, it isn't. This isn't their number any more," I replied.
"Oh.....well, this is Sister 'Smith' from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Would you be interested in having us visit?"
"I would love that," I replied, trying to sound calm. Inside I was bursting with glee. What are the chances that I, an ex-Mormon, would get the missionaries calling by mistake?
"What day would be good for you?" Sister Smith sweetly asked.
"Hold on and I'll check with my husband." I bounded up the stairs exclaiming, "Honey! You'll never guess who's on the phone! The Mormon missionaries got the wrong number and they want to come visit! Can I invite them for dinner?"
"Of course. I don't have a problem with that. This weekend is good." My husband was a Christian. We had only been married a couple months and I was his first exposure to what Mormonism was really about. I raced downstairs and picked up the phone.
"Does this Saturday sound good, about five o'clock?"
"That sounds wonderful. My companion and I will see you then." I leapt into the air thanking God for this opportunity to witness for Him.
The rest of the week I prayed and prepared, looking forward to Saturday's meeting. I would be warm and friendly, as usual, and when they asked me what I knew about their church, I would tell them that I was once a member. As a matter of fact, I was serving as Relief Society president when I left the Church. I would then tell them of the joy I found in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Bible. I knew it would probably not have a huge impact then, but perhaps it would plant seeds and one day, when they were ready to receive truth, they would remember our conversation.
Sadly, the chance to talk with them and share the truth in love never came.
Saturday morning Sister Smith called to cancel the appointment because of a tragedy in the ward (LDS congregation). A family had perished in a fire the night before and a memorial service was being held that night. She asked if they could drop by some information about the Church on Monday and just say hello. We rescheduled dinner for the following Friday.
Monday the sister missionaries rang the door bell. We visited a few minutes. I told them I already knew about the LDS Church and have relatives who are Mormon. They asked me if that was my car in the driveway. I told them it was. They wished me a pleasant day and said they would be back on Friday for dinner with my family.
My car is not unusual, but the license plate and frame are. My frame reads, "Ex-Mormon: Because Truth Matters!" My customized plate reads, "XLDS4JC." So it wasn't too surprising when the missionaries called Friday morning to cancel the appointment for good.
"We think there might be some anti-Mormon sentiment and just feel it wouldn't be a good idea to come over." Sister Smith was polite, but brisk.
"I'm not planning on Mormon-bashing," I answered, "I just thought you could share your testimony with us, and we could share our testimony about Jesus with you. I have a son who is LDS who just returned from a mission, so I have a heart for the missionaries, to be friendly and kind to them."
"Well, we just don't think it is a good idea to come," she reaffirmed.
After hanging up the phone I stood there for a moment, greatly disappointed. Tears began to well up in my eyes in sadness over not getting to share the truth with them. As the day went on my sadness turned to anger; anger at Satan for deceiving so many people; anger at the LDS Church for instilling fear in its members. The members are so afraid to examine their Church and its teachings, especially when the evidence points toward Mormonism not being true. Don't they care about truth? Don't they see that their eternal destiny depends on it? It was just like the apostle Peter said, that in the last days, scoffers would come who would be willingly ignorant.
Frustrated, I cried out to my God, "Father, why did you have the missionaries call my house if I wasn't going to get to tell them about You? What purpose did it serve?"
That evening I had to get away by myself for a couple of hours to think. As I sat in a Mexican restaurant brooding over chips and salsa, an idea began to form.
Maybe there wasn't a lot I could do to pull people out of Mormonism---I was just too close to the situation---but I could do everything possible to keep people from joining!
Since many converts to Mormonism come from nominal Christian backgrounds, I could educate Christians on the dangers of Mormonism and warn them that it is not just another Christian denomination. Once Christians were equipped with the truth about the Mormon Church (and cults in general), they could begin to reach out to their LDS friends, neighbors, and the missionaries who came to their doors. I might not be able to reach Mormons personally because of my status as an "apostate," but other Christians could make a difference in bringing these lost souls to a saving knowledge of Jesus of the Bible.
I grabbed my pen and began taking notes on a napkin as the Holy Spirit began to dictate the words behind the acronym E.Q.U.I.P. (Evangelize, Question, Understand, Instruct, Protect).
I had my answer as to why God had the missionaries call, knowing they would cancel. It was to motivate me to begin educating Christians; warning them of spiritual danger and strengthening their knowledge of scripture. This is how the Equipping Christians Ministry was born.
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Copyright © 2005 Equipping Christians Ministries