“I began to meet once a week after work with colleagues and friends at a bar in Cambridge. At this time there is one other believer who joins in, a woman named Wendy who has a heart for carrying Christ to friends.
The rest of the fifteen or so in the group (5 or 10 on any given night) are as-yet unbelievers.
Conversation is open and varied. I like the fact that people can be real and honest. In fact, this is one of the best relational things I have ever done. Some of us have also gotten together at other times or on weekends to hang out, visit, go to movies, do stuff. One woman who was a regular moved to a new job and had to say goodbye. Two months later she was in Boston for business so she stopped in to see us. When she arrived the group greeted her as though she had never left. It felt good.
Actually some of the conversations we have are great, some are just interesting, and some of it is just silly. But the fact that we are talking with one another creates the environment to connect on a deeper level. This fall a half dozen of us began to meet every other Thursday to have a discussion about deeper topics. I started it off by selecting several passages from Leo Tolstoy’s A Confession for the group to read and discuss. It has gone really well. People are amazingly open.”
Two years later
“The Tuesday meeting gave way to a Thursday night gathering of people from work. This gradually got so big it significantly changed the nature of the conversations. Many were complaints about work, etc. So I began to meet with some of the folks in different settings. This was partly because the people were so culturally divergent. Three of these began (all in separate groups and settings) to read and discuss the Bible with me.
Mary and Mohammed were two of these. Mary is now following Christ. Mohammed was taken with the book of Matthew and he and I had many conversations about the parables of the kingdom.
One fellow, Alan, began to read the Bible with me every two weeks. We would meet in a bar to read and discuss. Even at it’s best (the discussions), I knew I was only doing so much for Alan. What surprised me was what started to happen in Alan’s life. He became a close friend. The story began to unfold of a terrible childhood. The message Alan received from his parents was that he was a hated child. Over the months, Alan learned about God’s love. What ensued was a remarkable love affair with God. The Holy Spirit was working in Alan’s heart overtime. I planted a little seed, but it has become a crop 100x as large. Earlier this year I was Alan’s best man in his wedding in Rome.”
by Tim, Boston
