Man finds Jesus through online chat service

“Get ready to be blessed. Enjoy!”

This simple message introduced a recent evangelism report from Chair of Fire Matt Queen. What followed was a testimony from master’s student Laurence Foster,* who led someone to faith in Christ through an online chat service. 

Throughout this semester, Foster has been sharing the Gospel using “Need Him,” an online evangelism platform whereby people can reach out 24 hours a day and speak with a volunteer about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ. Recently, Foster was “chatting” with several people online, and he and another man began to talk about Jesus. 

The man’s friends had encouraged him to read the Bible, so he was curious to know more about Christianity. Foster eventually learned that the man was a Muslim from a Middle Eastern country. 

Having served as an overseas missionary for 10 years, Foster felt “stouthearted” in speaking to the man. Their conversation lasted roughly 30 minutes, and Foster was able to share the Gospel and invite a response. 

“He said he needed time to think about this,” Foster says. “I encouraged him for sure to consider this deeply, as this would be the most important decision he would ever make.” 

“We chatted some more,” Foster continues. “And then he paused and came back and stated that he had decided to follow Jesus and had done it!”

A bit shocked by this turn of events, Foster asked how he did it. The man repeated back to Foster verbatim what Foster had told him—the Gospel as well as the biblical response of repentance, confession and faith. The man added, “I believe it and am choosing to follow Jesus.” Foster told him that if he were there with him, he “would hug him and celebrate with him.” 

“He then replied that he was not sure why, but he was crying,” Foster says. “I told him that tears are often our response when we realize what Jesus has done for us and the debt of gratitude we have.”

The two spoke a bit more, covering the basics of how to live the Christian life, whether he should go to church, etc., before the man had to leave. The man had reached out to learn more about Christianity, but he signed off as a born-again believer whose testimony can now be “enjoyed” by fellow members of the family of God. 

*Name changed to protect future mission work.