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On July 12th, Walt got drunk with a friend and cried for the first time since his dad died. When his friend asked him why, Walt replied, \u201cMark, I have absolutely nothing to live for. But I\u2019m scared to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, Walt got into a fight with another student playing basketball. As he sat in his dorm room after \u2014 still covered in the other students\u2019 blood from breaking his nose \u2014 he hit a breaking point. Sending a desperate plea to God, he asked for a sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhoever You are, show me how I can be right with You,\u201d Walt prayed. \u201cShow me how I can deal with this anger, and I\u2019ll give You my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several minutes later, Walt heard a knock on his door. On the other side stood Keith Hughes, a recent graduate who was involved with The Navigators on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the evening, Keith had planned to go to a baseball game on campus. When the game was canceled due to weather, he sat at a park nearby Walt\u2019s dorm to spend some time with the Lord. During that time, he felt a calling from God \u2014 there was someone in the dorm he needed to talk to. He walked into the hall, got in the elevator, closed his eyes, and chose a random floor to visit. Two doors over, in room 402, Walt was ready for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, Keith shared the gospel with Walt, and it was a moment that forever changed the trajectory of Walt\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen God sent Keith to my door, I knew, it\u2019s time,\u201d Walt remembers. \u201cGod\u2019s done his part. Now it\u2019s time for me to bend my knee and come to the Lord. So that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Lasting Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Today, over four decades later, Walt still vividly remembers that night: the exact date, along with Keith\u2019s name, are forever inscribed inside the front cover of Walt\u2019s Bible \u2014 despite the fact that Walt and Keith lost touch a couple weeks later that summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the years since, Walt has grown in his faith and passionately pursued the Lord, serving overseas and teaching the next generation of Christian leaders how to live out their faith around the world. Thousands of lives have been touched by the gospel through Walt\u2019s faith \u2014 including his mom, whom he later led to Christ, and his three sons, who are now serving in ministry themselves. For Walt\u2019s family, Keith Hughes is a household name \u2014 the man who led their father to Christ all those years ago and impacted their family for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The funny part of the story, though? If you asked him today, Keith doesn\u2019t remember that moment in the dorm room at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Keith thinks back on that summer, he mostly recalls it as the months that he began to date his wife. At the time, he would go onto campus to practice evangelism as The Navigators had trained him to do in college, sharing the gospel with the students he met. He doesn\u2019t remember Walt specifically, or that fateful night \u2014 just that he was trying to plant seeds for Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me, it was all about obedience \u2014 God allowed me to plant a seed, and the ground was fertilized,\u201d Keith says. \u201cGod had worked in Walt\u2019s heart long before we crossed paths, and God had an impact through his life since. But for me, this was probably something I wouldn\u2019t have found out about until glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This past year, Walt and Keith were reconnected through Navigator Greg Bryan<\/a>, who coincidentally met Walt, heard his story, and helped him track down Keith. When Walt shared with Keith the impact that he had on his life back in 1978 and that he had been wanting to meet him again ever since, Keith could barely believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a surreal conversation because this was the most important day of my life,\u201d Walt says. \u201cIt changed the trajectory of my life forever. And Keith doesn\u2019t even remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor when one says, \u2018I follow Paul,\u2019 and another, \u2018I follow Apollos,\u2019 are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe \u2014 as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow\u201d<\/em><\/strong> 1 Corinthians 3:4-7 (NIV)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For Keith, 1 Corinthians 3:4-7 sums up his story with Walt: though he planted a seed, God watered it and transformed Walt into the faithful man he is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many believers, Keith may never have known the impact of the seed he planted that day. But through God\u2019s grace of reconnecting with Walt years later, he has now been able to catch a glimpse of heaven, seeing how the Lord used his obedience that one night when he was a young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me, this is a story about divine appointments and a glimpse of heaven,\u201d Greg says. \u201cKeith had no idea what happened to that broken, angry young man he led to faith that night \u2026 they might not have even met until they stepped into eternity. But now Walt can say, \u2018You touched my life, you changed my life. And because of that, I was able to go on and touch others\u2019 lives with the gospel. The seed you\u2019ve sown in my life produced fruit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can hear more of Walt and Keith\u2019s story of divine appointments on Greg\u2019s podcast <\/strong>Gospel Addict<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As disciplemakers, sometimes we don\u2019t know how God will water the seeds we plant. Like Keith, we may never know how one conversation can lead to a chain reaction of impact years later. This week, invite God into your relationships and ask Him to water the seeds that you plant.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Are you wanting to grow in your ability to strike up gospel conversations? One-Verse Evangelism\u00ae <\/sup>is a simple, interactive way to share Christ\u2019s love conversationally and visually. Using just one verse, it\u2019s easy to learn, and you can write it anywhere. Check out the resource today!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nSeeds Planted For Christ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Discipleship Tip:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nOne-Verse Evangelism<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n