Super Bowl 2009 - The True Gospel to 1000's

Superbowl Outreach '09

A group of us went to Tampa for a Super Bowl Evangelism Training and Outreach. Donnie, Wes, Danny, Justin, Rusty and I rented a van (graciously paid for by a local church) and headed west. The event was organized by Sports Fan Outreach, Int’l (www.sfoi.org). There were some great speakers there including Tony Miano from Ambassador Academy. The days were long but the Lord blessed us with the stamina to get through it physically and spiritually. About 120 evangelists attended and we teamed with Robert and Edwin to go out to the masses.

We started at 6am for prayer meeting, then heard some great messages and off at noon to go to our assigned locations in and around the Super Bowl events.

Day 1 – we went to the Media Center and the central part of downtown Tampa where the restaurants are, etc. We quickly found out that this was not going to be about how many tracts got handed out or how many people prayed for salvation. This was about getting the True Gospel message out to as many of the 80,000 people estimated to attend as possible. We spoke to Mormons, Muslims, false converts, JW’s, “It’s all about me believers”, Hindus who converted to Christianity and many more.



After a few hours of one 2 one and ‘on the box’ preaching, we broke for dinner. While trying to figure out where to go next, Donnie suggested a spot and we set up the box and started preaching. We did not know (the Holy Spirit sure did though) that where we set up was the beginning of the line of the Snoop Dog concert. Within 30 minutes there were hundreds of people getting in line to get into the concert. They were there for an hour or more before the line moved – letting in a few hundred, then stopping – what an opportunity. We split up about every few hundred feet and preached up and down the line. Then a few of the other evangelists showed up. Everyone in the 10-block-long line was offered a tract (we had Super Bowl Trivia, MDB’s, Big 100’s, etc.). The hecklers were out in full force but no one threw anything.

Day 2 – We went to a park area which turned out to not work for us. We were told we could not hand out anything because it was deemed a private event. We went to the stadium instead. Had to walk about 2 miles from where we parked and on the way, we handed out tracts and talked to folks. Some great conversations were had and many seeds planted. A Scientologist said she would really consider and read what she received from us. I talked to a girl who labeled herself a Christian- she was bitter against God. She did ask several questions and seemed to understand more after we talked. I spoke to her brother earlier and saw he was reading the Gospel of John I had given him.

Then onto an intersection for some stoplight preaching! We got a new 'captive audience' every 3 minutes or so.
Day 3 – Super Bowl day and we were at the stadium at a choice spot. Hundreds of people walking by and we rotated every few minutes so there was hardly a time when the Gospel was not getting preached.

Too many stories to put into this post but we were covered by the St Pete Tribune and Baptist Press as well. Check it out: http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/article972213.ece

Everyone should consider taking part in these events-we may not always have the opportunity to do this type of evangelism.

The 500: Vanessa

Last weekend we participated in an event called The 500. A huge group of us converged on the downtown area of Atlanta. We gave out many, many tracts and had many interesting conversations but I want to share one especially. My heart cries out for this girl-LORD PLEASE SAVE VANESSA!!

I met Shannon on the street. She was holding the hand of a rambunctious three-and-a-half-year-old boy, Tyler. Standing to the side was a very quiet girl, with her head down. Shannon wanted to know what the four of us were doing in this neighborhood. We clearly didn’t fit into this very dangerous place. I began to talk to her about her life. She told me that she lived on the streets. She said her little boy Tyler would be leaving next week to live with his father who was in the military.

We talked about sin and Hell and she listened intently. I noticed that the girl with her was also listening very carefully, with her head down. I asked Shannon if she was willing to pay for her crimes with her own soul. She thought a minute and said, “No.” I asked her if she ever thought about it before. She told me, “Many times…all the time.” I told her about the provision that God made for her. She knew about Jesus but when she realized that the demons also believe, she grew quiet. The young girl continued to listen keenly as I explained the difference between believing and trusting fully.

I told them both that to repent you had to walk in the opposite direction from your sin. You could not come to your husband with your arm around your boyfriend. Shannon wanted to pray with me right on the street. I told her that I didn’t want to talk her into it. She assured me that it was something that she wanted to do. She told me that she had tried to get another woman to pray with her earlier in the day, but the woman had refused her.

I looked at the girl and asked her if what I was telling them made sense to her. For the first time she looked up enough to meet my eyes then she nodded. I asked her name. She lowered her face toward the ground and told me it was Vanessa. I estimated her to be about 12-years-old. She was very dirty and looked very sad. Shannon prayed silently. When she was finished I looked at Vanessa and asked if she wanted to pray. She smiled and said, “I already did.” Hallelujah! Shannon gave me a big hug and Vanessa just sort of stood there. I asked her for a hug and she stood still while I hugged her. My heart broke. This area behind the civic center was not place for a little girl to be, much less spend the night. I asked Shannon if Vanessa was her daughter. She told me that Vanessa was a ‘friend’.

When we got home the next morning, I called the Atlanta Police department and asked if they could go find this little girl. The officer told me that there is a homeless shelter in the area. I told the officer that this was no place for this little girl to be and she agreed to try to find her.

May God give directions to these officers and may He provide a wonderful Christian home for this beautiful little lamb. May she grow to love Him and be a strong voice for Him!

Psalms 82:3 Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Open Door in the Netherlands

Before leaving for the Netherlands last week on business, I made contact with the pastor at CC Netherlands to see if I could introduce him to the Way of the Master teaching course during my free time. When Pastor Stan Marinussen emailed me back he invited me to come and speak for a couple of minutes at the service on Sunday. I prepared some notes and a video to take with me. When I arrived the pastor graciously turned the service over to me! Since the service was in Dutch a translator was required. God put a girl in place named Serayah, who had seen some of the videos and was familiar with the Biblical basis and some of the scripture. This made the translation process much easier.


Afterwards, we had time for questions from the group of about 50. One lady, who is suffering with cancer, was very concerned about her daughter, an avowed lesbian. She cried as she expressed her frustration at not being able to reach her. Another person wanted to know how to handle it when you are pushed away and rejected. Everyone there seemed to enjoy the message and many look forward to learning more. Since the Lord knows what we need before we do, He had recently moved a couple to the Netherlands from Dublin. Thomas and his wife have been thru the Basic Course and expressed an interest in teaching it!! Matthew 6:8 …for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Pastor Stan and his wife Marnie have 3 daughters. They are doing a great work there in the Netherlands. We left him with a copy of the Crash Course and I am praying that they will offer this course to their congregation and watch God work!

When I can do some of this it sure makes the trip worthwhile.

Evangelism in Central Florida

This week Wed-Saturday (14-17 May), my local church – Calvary Chapel-Melbourne was scheduled to teach the Way of the Master Crash Course and assist with some community outreaches at a sister church – Calvary Chapel, Leesburg FL. The week before, our communities were ravaged by brush fires that also destroyed several dozen homes in the Palm Bay FL area. As a result about ½ of our team needed to stay behind to handle those fires.
God’s work needed to go on and in the WOTM class only 6-8 people showed for the 2 nights. We were disappointed but then reminded that it was 6-8 people more than before who are now prepping to get out of their comfort zone.

We had a planned outreach at a local park with food, popcorn, face painting and games to bring in the community. A few showed and it was obvious that the few folks who showed up, really needed to be there. We had a trivia game and the gal selected to answer the questions about being a “Good Person” said she was a Christian. Angelica said that she had broken God’s Laws but then her expression showed something a little different than what she was saying. She affirmed her faith by proclaiming her repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then on Saturday we had a car wash. God was bringing the people in. We probably washed 40+ cars but what really got cleaned up were people’s consciences. One lady I spoke to, Debbie said that she always prayed but was not sure what was enough. We put all that aside and went through the Law. Then it started to make sense to her (Actually the Holy Spirit opened her eyes), She began to understand that believing in Jesus was not enough- she had to put Him on like a parachute. She said now she was ready for turning her life over to the Lord. We prayed right there and she left fully assured in her salvation.

There are many stories and many people were greatly affected and left with consciences awakened. This included a lady who was employed as a public relations person for a local purpose driven church. Another was a young girl who said she prayed in front of her friends yet never told them they are going to Hell unless they change. She knows differently now – we will see how her friends react now if she really follows through about what happens when you die – Heaven or Hell?

After all that, we went back to the area where our hotel was. The area is called the The Villages. This place is several thousand acres of senior homes, golf courses, some pretty cool shopping areas and public squares. The people are like 70 year old high school seniors left un-chaperoned by the their parents. That night was a car show of hot rods and some really cool cars.
People were very receptive and we gave out over 1500 + tracts. Yes 1500…..
Watch the slide show and see His work.