This week we executed a plan that I had been brewing since last year at this time.

You may already have read about our “Black Friday” Hot Chocolate Giveaway. On that day, we gave out nearly 500 mugs of hot chocolate or coffee to shoppers braving the local Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving. Well, this week, we gave out flying discs to families at the fireworks show on Purdue’s campus on July 4. It was a blast, and it was a big success too.

The setup

At the top of this post, you can see the final design for the flying discs that we bought through <www.dollarimprint.com> for around 70 cents each once shipping was included. The design on the top is a gradual spiral (which looks really cool when the discs are flying) surrounded by the words “stop spinning, find your center, reach higher | southside church” our phone number, web address, and core value verbs are also printed on the top.

We ordered T-Shirts with a tye dyed look and a very similar logo design on the front and the back. Here’s a picture of what they look like.

The elements of the plan were simple and very much like the hot chocolate giveaway:

• Give a free flying disc to every family out there until we ran out or it got dark.
• Have two tables set up to take registrations for a free drawing to win an iPod shuffle or other prizes.
• Have all our volunteers wearing matching T-Shirts.

I should soon have a picture of what the setup looked like.

How it went

In all, it was a very successful event. The volunteers had a lot of fun, the people who received the flying discs were very appreciative, and a large number of people signed our entry forms. I don’t have a final count yet of those who were willing to be added to our mailing list. It was so cool to look across the field of families waiting for the fireworks to start and to see hundreds of purple flying discs whizzing through the air all over the place. It was really exciting.

On top of it all, I personally was able to get in some good conversations with at least 4 different families who were very interested in checking out one of our Sunday Gatherings. Who knows if they will actually make it this week, but I believe we really put our name out into the community in a positive way.

I’m really eager to hear more feedback from our volunteers and also from people who may visit our church because of this outreach. If I hear some good things (or criticisms) I’ll post them here. If you would like to chime in with your opinions please add your comment. I want to know what other people think about this kind of outreach. I especially hope that events like these let people in Lafayette know that there is a church around here that cares about them and is willing to invest in their lives in a way that makes their lives a little bit better (and a little more fun too).

Last Friday, we experienced a great success in ministry. We served people free mugs of hot chocolate and coffee in front of Wal-Mart. It was a great experience.

It came to me on Black Friday

The whole idea came to me last year on the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday” as it has been called) while I was standing in line at a Best Buy store in the bitter cold of November in Chicago. I don’t even remember what was on sale that I thought was so important that I should wake up at 3:30 am and stand in line from 4 am until 5 am. I don’t remember what I was waiting for, but I remember how cold it was.

As I was standing there, I saw some people holding cups of coffee or hot chocolate, and I saw some ambitious types passing out flyers to the people standing in line, and I got the idea for a servant evangelism campaign. Servant evangelism, by the way, refers to a ministry where believers simply serve other people because the good news really is good news. It is nothing like traditional types of evangelism. It’s sharing the good news by doing something good for someone.

My idea was to go to the stores on Black Friday next year and give people a cup of hot chocolate with a little note saying that it was a free gift from our church. I thought about it because I was cold, and I really wish someone else had been walking down that row offering people free hot drinks!

Reality Is Sweeter than Dreams

This year, since I’m in the middle of a church planting venture and my level of freedom to take big risks has been expanded quite a bit, I determined that I wanted to put my plan into action. I shared the idea with our launch team, and even though we were all concerned about the possible expense of it all, the idea shifted from a me idea to an us idea.

The final idea was to purchase travel mugs with our name on them so that we were giving people something of value they could keep with them as they shopped rather than something they would look to dispose of quickly. We decided to set up a station in front of the newly opened Wal-Mart on Lafayette’s southside and to begin not at the “Black Friday” stampede time, but to go at 9 am when the shoppers would be less obsessed and might actually be able to stop and talk with us for a few minutes. We also decided to give away a $25 gift card to Wal-Mart so that we could entice people to fill out a registration card. Finally, we decided to have both hot chocolate and coffee available for people.

From that point on God worked all the pieces out perfectly:

• The older Wal-Mart in town rejected our proposal, but Kris at the prime target new Wal-Mart told us that it was the coolest idea she had ever heard and thought it would be a great blessing to their customers that day.
• Angie, the owner of the nearby coffee shop that donated coffee to our information meeting, agreed to also provide coffee for our giveaway. As we later discovered, she gave us her best coffee that day—coffee which retails for over $27 per pound!
• DiscountMugs.com ended up providing the best price for our mugs. We got them for under $3 each including a rush order, printing on both sides, and shipping! In fact, the mugs arrived two days early! About 5% of the mugs were damaged, missing or unusable, but we are still waiting to hear from the company if they will do anything about it. Nonetheless, the mugs we received looked great!
• Jen and Katie (yes that Katie) washed nearly 550 mugs by hand to make sure that they were clean before we gave them to people filled with hot chocolate.
• overnightprints.com printed 1000 beautiful postcards for us at an awesome price so we could have some informational piece to hand out. Those came early too.
• Laura and Kyle joined Jen and me at Wal-Mart while Jen’s mom came down to watch the kids.
• Jen and her mom boiled maybe 30-40 gallons of water throughout the day, and both Jen and Laura took turns shuttling coffee and carafes back and forth to the Euro Cafe across the street.

At the end of the day

We arrived at Wal-Mart just before 9 am, and were passing out mugs of hot chocolate and coffee within minutes. By 5 pm, we had handed out over 500 southside church travel mugs, received 195 registrations for the gift card contest, and took $0 in donations despite a number of people who really wanted to give us money! We also got to meet a number of people who were really astounded that we were doing what we were doing, and a few of those people are currently looking for a church.

All in all, it was an incredible day. God kept us safe, gave us favor with Wal-Mart and Euro Cafe II, led people to our table, and even made sure we had all the mugs, postcards, hot chocolate mix and everything else that we needed to have a great day.

Oh, one more thing. I know I already mentioned it, but it really should be mentioned again. Jen washed 550 mugs, and boiled nearly 40 gallons of water in addition to shopping for the best hot chocolate mix, getting the tablecloths, getting huge insulated containers, and much more. Send her a note of appreciation if you can.

See my Tabblo>

This site was started to encourage people to share their testimony about how they came to have faith in Christ. It is also meant to inspire people to grow in their relationship with God, by seeing how God has worked in the lives of people across the world. My hope is that every Christian who visits this site will share their testimony, because everyone who accepts Christ as their savior has an incredible story to share with the world.

What do you think?

• If I really want this book to affect me, I need to ponder it through my day.
• If I want to ponder it, I need to have it condensed into ponderable form.
• I really appreciate the small ponderable devotions in books like that of Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest.
• Why should that way of life change be limited to devotionals?
• Why not create an evangelism tract that is designed like 28 days of Utmost?

I’m thinking it might be a really worthwhile project. Just give people a verse or passage of the Bible and a little thought to ponder for a day, spend some time with them personally to work through any questions, and let God speak to them on His own schedule. Honestly, why would we think that major life transformation would really come about in 5-15 minutes with a gospel tract? Isn’t that why statistically, it takes a person 7 times hearing a gospel presentation before it really sinks in. What if we had an evangelistic tract that was simple, ponderable, and created to sink in over time?

I think I’m going to do it!

Ephesians 4:15 MSG

I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:9-10

God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Corinthians 1:9

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may par- ticipate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3-4

And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

Philippians 1:6 NLT

The thief comes only to steal and kill and de- stroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

John 17:3

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:12

receive it

GOD, I have sensed my need for you, and I have sensed you at work in me, but I have sought fulfillment apart from you. I have served myself instead of you. I have sinned. I believe you sent Jesus to die in my place, to make peace with you for me, and I believe he is alive today with you. Please forgive me. Do your work in me. Fill me with your Spirit. I surrender my life to you today in Jesus’ name. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17, 20

[Jesus said,] I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12

For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

1 Peter 1:23 NLT

Isaiah 65:17-25

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and re- joice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusa- lem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hun- dred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my peo- ple; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy moun- tain,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7

[Jesus was] tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

[Jesus said,] “I and the Father are one.”

John 10:30

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

John 14:6, 11

“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied…. Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Mark 15:2, 15

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was cruci- fied. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Matthew 28:5-6

After his suffering, he showed him- self to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Acts 1:3

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:3-6

He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!

1 Peter 2:24 NLT

He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

Romans 4:25 NLT

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.”

Genesis 1:26 NLT

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

[Jesus said,] “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…”

John 15:16

[Jesus said,] “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Matthew 6:26

For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23 NLT

Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful bless- ings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

Jeremiah 5:25 NLT

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

Isaiah 59:1-3

…there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…

Daniel 2:28

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:4

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 43:10-13

Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Isaiah 46:9-10

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and pro- claimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to an- ger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty un- punished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:5-7

In light of that, I’ve determined to not focus on programs that aim to “get people to come” and instead, focus on meeting people one-to-one to key in on evangelism and discipleship. In light of that, I’ve decided to put some time into producing a new evangelistic tract.

I’ll go ahead and post the content here, so you can comment if you wish.

Here is my initial design goal for the project:

• GOD is real (and everything you have heard about him–well, almost everything–is true.)

  • he is perfect
  • he is good
  • he is loving

• YOU are important (but most of what you believe about yourself isn’t true.)

  • you are loved
  • you have a purpose
  • you are wounded
  • you are distant

• JESUS died for you

  • Jesus is real
  • Jesus is perfect
  • Jesus is alive — many convincing proofs (acts 1, 1 cor 11? 15?)
  • Jesus is King

• GOD restores

  • to wholeness
  • to relationship
  • to your purpose
  • to your future

God’s work in your life looks like this…

• Awareness of emptiness
• Pursuit of fulfillment
• Recognition of God
• Acceptance of His Will
• Surrender to Love
• Living in Love

If you want to follow this project, be sure to subscribe to my new evangelism category.