Invite someone to church!!

A pastor's blog that I read included the following story that he recieved in an email. Who have you been putting off inviting to church?

Almost 30 years ago, I was a pastor’s wife, living in a small town in NC.Every day a man would walk past our house with his small Pomeranian dog. Astime went by, I would have occasion to talk with him when I would be outsidewith my young children. After some time, I came to realize that Fred was analcoholic. Sometimes it was very obvious that he had been drinking, othertimes not so obvious.
One morning the word spread through the community that Fred had been foundin the park not far from our house, passed out, and having spent the night(a cold one) on the ground there. In my “protected little world,” I hadjust never known anyone “up close and personal” who lived in that world.
Several weeks later, Easter was approaching. One day, I saw Fred walkingdown the street, and as I watched him, I clearly felt, heard, or whatever .. . I knew God was telling me to invite Fred to church. My first thought .. . “He’ll never come to church.”
But I went out the door and stopped him and began to talk to him, somethingwe had been doing for a couple of years now. I finally asked him if he’dlike to come to church with me on Easter. He asked what time I would beleaving and said that if he was going, he’d be waiting on my front steps.
Easter Sunday morning,as I was getting the children ready to go out thedoor, I saw Fred walking across the yard and then sitting down on the steps.I was amazed!
Now my concern was, “What in the world will the folks at church think?”(This was not a NewSpring environment, if you know what I mean.) This was asmall town, everyone knew Fred was the neighborhood drunk, and I becamereally worried that this was going to be awkward.
We got to church and when we walked in . . . the miracle began! I wasright, just about everyone did know Fred . . . and they were thrilled to seehim! He was warmly greeted, given hugs, and I just stood there . . .amazed!
Fred came to church every Sunday after that, and just a few weeks later, heaccepted Jesus Christ into his heart!!! The transformation began! Later, Icame to learn that during the week leading up to that Easter Sunday, Fredhad begun attending AA. I was just one link in a chain that God had begunputting together to rescue this man.
Fred was a fixture at the church, doing anything he could to help. Hebecame one of our most effective greeters. What a testimony to the grace ofGod! He was absolutely devoted to me, inviting every new person thatattended to come to the Sunday School class I taught. The class grew tomore than 60 people (in a church of less than 300).
And here’s the rest of the story . . .A few years later, my husband and I moved away to plant a church inOklahoma. There was some ongoing contact with the church there in NC . . .enough to know that Fred was continuing to serve Christ there in thatchurch. What I didn’t realize, until his death a few years later, was theimpact he had beyond the walls of that church.
At his funeral, it was revealed that Fred had, through the ministry of AA,been responsible for leading more than 160 people into a relationship withJesus Christ, and getting them plugged into the “church of their choice.”Baptist deacons, Methodist elders, and numerous others had been impacted bythe transformed life of Fred.
Perry, I can’t tell you how many times I think about that “nudge” from God.Don’t stop telling your NewSpring’ers to invite, invite, invite. There arelots of “Freds” out there.