A Fishing Trip With Mike

Ministry report by dear brother Eric Kabler from Johnstown, PA. Google says it should take 8 minutes to read. Enjoy! Thank you Eric!

Mike asked me to share for an upcoming newsletter. The first part is background and introduction, but you can move down to the paragraph entitled, "Let's go to Ocean City" for the more exciting part, our fishing trip.

Since July 2019, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to “go fishing” with Mike Barko. Yes, fishing! As it says in Matthew 4:19, Jesus stated to Simon and Andrew, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mike heads out with his fishing rod, tackle box, and lures. I will address that later on.

First, allow me to introduce myself . . . and then start from the beginning when I first met Mike. I’m married with six children. My oldest, just got married in July. Our kids have attended a private Christian school, but in the last few years, we have home schooled them. I’m bi-vocational as I own a financial service business, helping folks with investing and retirement planning, specializing in screening out “sin” stocks from clients portfolios. I’m also a pastor. I’m usually a pulpit fill when pastors are on vacation or at conference, but for five different churches, I filled in for 1-2 years as interim pastor when the church was searching for a permanent pastor.

I’ve always had an interest in watching folks do “street ministry”. Whether I’m at the boardwalk of Ocean City, the Quincy market in Boston, the historical sites of Washington DC or any other popular place for a ministry, I try to stop and learn and take notes of their presentation, their method, and even their success. Sure, I understand that we can’t always determine success and know the seeds that are planted, but I try to learn things that could be helpful if I was sharing the Gospel.

How Mike and I met . . . I met Mike on the boardwalk of Ocean City a few years back and noticed how young folks were attracted to hearing him share. These folks were giving him the time to share and very often, I saw, after the sharing time, bow their heads to pray. They would leave and within in a minute, another group sat and was ready for Mike to share with them. At that time, Mike allowed me to listen. I was so surprised that the Gospel message was presented so simply, so clearly, and so easy to be understood. I thought to myself . . this is a wonderful way to share the Gospel and I need to learn this. Mike gave me his number and I promised to connect.

After numerous phone calls and emails over the last 2-3 years (and getting through the pandemic) we finally were able to meet together, to hit the Ocean City boardwalk, to share the Gospel. However I think it’s important that I admit that although Mike was helping me be able to share the Gospel, I actually was learning the true message of the Gospel, and learning the person of Jesus and His work. I, too, like many folks, who attend church regularly, proclaim Jesus as Savior, can miss the true message, a true understanding of God’s redemption of sin. During those phone calls, Mike spent time helping me understand his Gospel sharing method, but it occurred to me, I haven’t fully trusted Him, and wasn’t 100% sure . . . Now I am, and ready to share with others.

Let’s go to Ocean City . . . My first day with Mike was in June 2022. I had an Ocean City family vacation planned, so I could only connect with Mike for one day, but it was enough for me to work out my schedule to connect again. We were able to coordinate (actually God did the coordinating) schedules and were able to go on a 3 day “fishing trip” in August.

Prep for “Fishing trip” . . . Like any other fishing trip, you need to be prepared for a big catch, lots of fish. We loaded up Mike’s tackle box (see photo) with plenty of tracts, Daily Breads, brochures, and of course, the best lure in the box, the wordless bracelets. But most important, we confirmed that we had our fishing pole (see picture—I think it’s actually a mug holder, but Mike uses it to hold the bracelets). The night before our fishing trip, Mike also made a huge batch of his “smoothies”. The recipe included every fruit and vegetable in the produce section, (no kidding) plus some scoops of whey protein and “muscle milk”. From his many years of experience, Mike seldom breaks from fishing, so the smoothie satisfies his hunger while fishing.

Tackle Box..

Fishing Pole...

Let’s go fishing . . .so we’re heading off to Ocean City, which is a 45 minute drive from where we were staying. After confirming we have everything for our trip, Mike breaks out in prayer (Phil 4:6-7) . . . . about 30 minutes later, he finishes, after lifting up to God to provide and bring favor, we discuss location (fishing hole), set up and parking. Immediately our prayers were answered as we got an excellent spot on the boardwalk, and set up went easily and quickly. And I found a free off-street parking spot just two blocks away. This happened pretty much all three days. Thank you God. It’s 2:00pm, let’s go fishing!

Fishing Hole...

Catching lots of fish . . .as I’m walking back to the boardwalk after parking my car, I see Mike already has two young folks, sitting in front of him. It only took me two minutes to park the car! And it was practically non stop sharing with folks for the entire day . . . actually for all three days. All in all, I counted over 130 folks who heard the Gospel and are putting their trust in God over those three days. Mike tells me to not get caught up in the numbers and if I’m reading between the lines, it’s a thing “rookie” fishermen do. I couldn’t help myself, I’m a numbers/results guy.

Numbers . . . Mike shared that he doesn’t get caught up in the numbers. It’s my nature and my profession to keep track of numbers, results, and averages. Mike, please forgive me, but maybe someday I will be better and not be such a “rookie” but allow me to share the numbers for the newsletter. Maybe next time I will ignore the numbers LOL. Over those three days, we (see below for Michael Jordan) had over 130 people trust God for their salvation. We sat on the boardwalk for about 26 hours, and Mike spends almost 30 minutes with each group. So we were sharing the gospel to better than 5 people every hour. God continued to bring folks in front of us, giving us just enough time in between to stretch, sip our smoothies, and prep for the next presentation. It was amazing how God used Mike (and me).

Michael Jordan . . . I shared that “we” went fishing and over 130 folks heard the Gospel and are trusting in God. Let me explain the “we”. I recall an interview with Stacey King, the rookie teammate of Michael Jordan, being interviewed after a game when MJ scored 69 points. Stacey scored just one point. In the interview Stacey said this . “I will never forget the game when Micheal and I combined for 70 points”. That pretty much explains the “we” in our fishing trip. I observed Mike at work and it was such a blessing, to be along side of him and watch his patience, boldness, and determination. Oh, by the way, Mike laughed when I shared this Jordan story, and shrugged it off. He’s so humble . . . I did score some points (see Final Hour)

Teamwork...

Take a shot . . . after the first day of watching Mike, we reviewed our “fishing” and Mike felt that I might be able to share during our second day. He gave me a couple opportunities, but I found myself fumbling and passing it back to Mike. He gave me more opportunities on our third day, in which I was better and more confident in sharing. I was getting better and better every opportunity. However, it was 10:00pm and I was ready to pack up. Mike was tired, exhausted. After all, we put in 8 hours, and Mike never moved from our fishing hole. He only stood once in a while to stretch his aching back. But Mike, led by the Spirit, felt that we should stay longer. Sure enough, two young girls wanted a wordless bracelet and Mike says . “Go ahead”.

Two Young Girls...

Final hour of our fishing trip . . . I shared the gospel with these two young girls, leading them to wanting to trust God “right now”. Mike led in prayer. AMEN. And then four more folks stopped over. Mike looked at me, without a word, and again, I shared. They too, accepted and trusted God. It’s now 11:15, and I’m thinking . . .I’m sure glad Mike decided to stay an extra hour. I’m leaving Ocean City with lots of training, learned a lot, and have confidence that, with the Spirit helping, I can share too.

Four More...

My experience with sharing. . .after sharing the Gospel twice, back to back, in our last hour, I discussed with Mike a few things. One, I felt the Spirit moving as I truly grasped a concern for these folks Eternal Life. I got a sense of loving them, caring for them, wanting them to have 100% assurance. Secondly, I shared with Mike that I barely recall what I said. The Spirit spoke through me. And lastly, trust God for the outcome. In early opportunities, I put the pressure on me and made it about me. Finally, I surrendered to Him and said, we’re tired, it’s late, speak through us.

What I observed and learned during the fishing trip . . . I learned so much watching Mike in action. I observed his boldness, his patience, his determination, and how he allows the Spirit to move in the midst of the conversations. Mike takes his time to be sure they get the truth, and he’s not satisfied until they get it. We had a couple of folks who, after spending 15-20 minutes explaining, say, “yeah, I’m pretty sure now that I’m going to heaven”, and Mike would go back, review it again. In fact, that’s another observation that Mike reviews and summarizes 2-3 times to have the Gospel story locked in. I know that what we’re sharing is the most important thing in these folks lives, but I found myself feeling awkward as some folks wanted to leave. They would look around the boardwalk, check their cellphones, etc. I felt like they no longer wanted to stay, or they had somewhere to be. Whatever it was, it wasn’t as important as what Mike was sharing. Mike knows that and continues on. Even when they say that they need to go, he asks for just 5 minutes. In those next 5 minutes, I’m praying for them to stay and the Spirit to move in their hearts, and for them to see how important this talk is over anything else. God answers prayers many times as folks went from, “I got to go . . Wow, I need to stay and hear the rest of this”

What impressed me most . . . was the demeanor of folks from the time they sat down to the time they left. Usually they will sit down in a skeptical manner or goofy/nervous demeanor, but then their demeanor changes three times during the talk. First, when they realize that they are not good. It hits them hard, admitting that they are not good. And when they realize that God knows they are not good (Luke 18:19). Secondly, when they connect that Jesus is God, God the Son. That floors most people. And lastly, when they understand the work of Jesus. . . Wow! When the light bulb goes on in their head, it’s amazing to see. They get it now and I held back a bunch of times from reaching out and giving them a fist pump.

My favorite moments . . .although I had a lot of moments when I’m praising God for His work as we shared, I got two that I’d like to share with you. First, two guys sat down with us, somewhat cocky. After hearing the gospel, he said (at least 8 times), “I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been going to church with my grandma for the past four years and no one ever explained it like this. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t know this. Every sentence started with ‘I’m not gonna lie’. The second one was when a group of young men sat down with us. After 10 minutes, one got up and said, “we got to go.” Another joined him and stood up, but Nick said, “Dude, I need to hear this, I’m not going anywhere”. His friends replied, “but they’re waiting for us.” Nick then replied, “let them wait, I need to hear this, the whole thing.” His friends left, but Nick stayed. Nick left trusting God for his salvation.

Conclusion . . . Although I have lots of great moments, memories, teachable moments, and enjoyed the time with Mike . . I can’t help but sharing this last one item. I was amazed by so many people not knowing the Gospel, not understanding Jesus, not knowing what God did for them. Even those that called themselves Christian’s stumbled and found that they were trusting themselves by going to church, doing good things, etc. SHOCKING! So many folks sat in front of us, with cross necklaces, cross earrings, tattoos of the cross, and they don’t know or understand the cross.

My biggest takeaway from our fishing trip is that . . . we need to tell the world. So many lost folks, but even the ones who think they are followers of Christ are missing it. Let’s go fishing!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Thank you Eric!

Love to all!