Lessons from a barber shop in perseverance

Gavin Matthews  |  Features  |  everyday evangelism
Date posted:  15 Oct 2026
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Lessons from a barber shop in perseverance

Source: iStock

Every time he went for a haircut a Christian man invited his barber to come to church. During the course of every haircut over many years, the same invitation would be extended, but the barber would smile and say evasive and non-committal things such as “well, maybe one day, you never know!”

Then this customer died, and the barber went to his funeral, finally accepting the invitation to his church. The minister – a faithful man – preached a gospel message, which proved to be a significant turning point in that barber’s life.

How do I know this story? The answer is that while having my haircut one day, the barber in question told me why he was going to church, and talked about his newfound faith and bringing his children up in the church family. He did so quite openly in front of his queue of waiting customers.

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