This past week I took part in a unique activity. Every year here in south Georgia there is a three-day farm expo called the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. It is the largest farmer's tradeshow in the southeast, drawing about 200,000 visitors and about $14 million in trade to the small town of Moultrie over the three-day period each October. I had been to this event almost every year it was held, and had focused my time on the items that interested me, primarily the wildlife, forestry, and livestock exhibits. With over 1,680 acres on the show ground, it is impossible to see every exhibit, even if you were to attend all three days.
On the outer fringe of the showgrounds, there were always a couple of tents put up by local church groups or associations. The Georgia Baptist Convention always had people manning a tent each year, and there were always one or two others. These sites generally gave away tracts, free water, and offered free Bibles or New Testaments to people who came by. But, one-on-one evangelism was not conducted.
This year, a new group moved into the area and asked for volunteers from the Valdosta District of the Methodist Church. This group, The Fellowship of Christian Farmers Internation (FCFI), sponsored a tent at the expo for the first time. I, along with my mother and a couple from the Naylor Methodist Church, went over and helped on Thursday morning. It was truly a blessed event, and I was blown away by their ministry and by the results that they are having.
The FCFI gives out what they call, "wordless walking sticks." These are nothing more than hoe handles with a loop of leather with salvation beads on them. We had put together these leather salvation bracelets as part of Vacation Bible Schools for years for the kids, but I had never thought of using them for direct evangelism as the FCFI does. They had arranged chairs in the tents in several small circles, with about 8-9 chairs per circle. The volunteer would take one chair, and then people visiting the tent would come in and fill the others. The volunteer would then offer each adult a walking stick (those under 18 got yardsticks with the leather loop or bracelets). Then, the volunteer would give a short (<5 minute) presentation of the gospel using the beads on the leather loop to explain the key points. Then, each person was asked if they were sure of their salvation and whether they had accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior or not. If not, they were asked if they had any questions and if they would like to pray for salvation at that time.
The majority of the people who visited the tent came to get one of the free walking sticks. But, in order to do so, they had to first hear the gospel. Most of those who came into the tent while we were there were already Christians. But quite a few, especially among the teens, were not. During the 3-1/2 hours that we were volunteering, our little team of 4 had 21 professions of faith (not including several we didn't count because it was obvious they weren't sincere). Over the three-day week, over 300 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior.
Now, I know that every single one of those prayers did not result in salvation, but I do know that quite a few people were sincerely touched by the gospel message and did receive Christ as their Savior. For those who didn't pray to receive Christ or who prayed but were not sincere, one thing is certain, they did hear a clear presentation of the gospel, perhaps for the first time.
I probably talked with and shared the gospel with about 150 people that morning. Out of that group, I had about 10 people steadfastly refuse to receive Christ or to have anything to do with a church of any kind. They came in for a free walking stick, and that's all they wanted. And that's what they got. But, in addition to that, they did get to hear the gospel, and I pray that God's message might continue to work on their hearts in the days and weeks ahead.
I don't know how effective this type of evangelism is -- only Christ does -- but I think the ministry accomplished two important tasks. First, it offered a clear presentation of the gospel to thousands of people over the course of those three days. And, secondly, it offered members of my church the opportunity to directly share their faith and share the gospel of Christ with others in a one-on-one situation. When we went there, everyone was a little apprehensive about sharing their faith in public with strangers. But, by the end of our shift, everyone was confident in their ability to share the gospel and tell others about Christ. Everyone on our team was able to pray with someone to receive Christ -- something none of them had done before. And that may have been the most important thing to come out of this weekend for our little group. I am looking forward to see how God is going to use this experience to touch the lives of those who went to the expo and how He is going to work in our church as a result.
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