Nine thousand six hundred and fifty people is a good-sized town ... and that's how many people have attended Lutheran Hour Ministries' Equipping To Share training workshops. At 9,650, that's 230 new people trained each month to share the Gospel with their family, their friends, the high-school student next door, or the weekend sportsman.

"Between September 2004 (U.S. inception) and March 2008, 250 total EtS workshops have taken place across the United States," says Sarah Guldalian, coordinator of the program. "Now, an EtS has been scheduled or occurred in each and every LCMS District across the U.S. as well as in Canada!"

Across America, EtS attendees make a difference - sometimes in unexpected ways. A recent note to our offices puts it beautifully. Following practice at a Midwestern gun club, a gentleman of about age 60 came up and talked to Alan, a recent EtS attendee. The man, a Vietnam veteran and retired Arizona highway patrolman, hadn't seen the inside of a church in 40 years.

The vet had a lot on his mind. "'You see, my wife of thirty years left me last night. I have no friends. I have no family. I need someone. I need some help,' and he started to cry," Alan wrote. "At that time, I looked down on the floorboard of the truck and saw the Equipping to Share folder between this man's feet. I said to myself, "If you choose flight here, you will surely spend at least three days in the belly of a whale," Alan told the man.

He chose to fight. "So I listened to this man for an hour and told him how much God loved him and cared for him. I told him about Jesus and how Jesus had carried me through the toughest times of my life. When we talked later that evening, I suggested that he go to bed with the Bible and begin reading the Book of John," Alan wrote.

According to Alan, the man has become involved in a divorce-care program at a Lutheran church in Blue Springs, Missouri. "He has told me, as have a couple of others in this mix, that had God not put someone there for him Sunday evening, he likely would have ended his life that night. He is now talking about joining the church, getting baptized, and looking into adult confirmation," Alan wrote.

People desperately need the Gospel. Led by the Holy Spirit to speak, Alan was there for this gentleman when he was desperately needed. We thank God for Alan's work in spreading the Good News.

You can learn more about EtS and find out what has empowered thousands of Christians nationwide by contacting EtS Coordinator Sarah Guldalian at sarah.guldalian@lhm.org, or by calling her at 1-800-944-3450, ext. 4144.