Arthur "Appleseed"?

I preached at Lenoir Community Church in Lenoir, NC, this morning. After lunch, I asked the pastor where some poor and needy people might be found. He showed me a bridge where they tend to congregate, so I went and looked but didn’t find anyone there. As I was traveling on I-40 to return home, I was disappointed and wondering where I might find someone with whom I could share the gospel. I thought I would go through the downtown area of Winston-Salem or Greensboro and ask the Lord to lead me to someone. Before I knew it, I was passing a man sitting by the interstate with his duffle bag, sleeping bag, and a cooler. It’s like the Lord said, "That’s him!" and I quickly pulled over and backed up to where he was. I got out and met Arthur. He was a gentle Native American from Arizona.
Arthur and I began to talk about a whole range of things from wildlife to Indian culture to astronomy. By this time we were approaching Greensboro and I told him I had arranged to stop and have something to eat with my sister, Sarah, and then we would continue on to Hillsborough. Arthur said, "I’ll just wait out here for you to visit with your sister." But I said, "No, you will have dinner with us." So we share meal at Panera Bread and talked about the origin of the universe, the earth, and mankind. It was amazing how God was opening the door for the gospel! That’s when I put out the call for prayer and could feel the prayers of my fb friends as we shared God’s love with Arthur.

As we got back in the car and headed east on I-40, the Holy Spirit continued to work in Arthur’s heart. By the time we got to Hillsborough, I asked him if I could pray with him, and he said, "I was just about to ask you if you would." We prayed beside the road and Arthur tearfully surrendered his life to the Lord. After I prayed, Arthur said, "I’d like to try and pray." And did he ever! He said, "God, this is a historic day in my life. I will never forget it and I will thank the Good Lord until the day I die that David picked me up today." He said, "Lord, now I know that you love me and you will be with me 24/7 for the rest of my life." We hugged and rejoiced on the side of the road and Arthur’s parting words to me were, "I’m going to tell people about this. I’m going to spread this like Johnny Appleseed spread them apple seeds!"