God blew the doors wide open at Pasco Farmers Market
When playing places like the Pasco Farmers Market in Washington State, we have to be very careful not to “preach”. Obviously in today’s culture most public venues are very cautious about this so we need to pray and be sensitive as well, especially if we want to be welcomed back. Our goal is to share the message of Jesus by using methods that are not commonly associated with “preaching”.
After an hour or so of music, I took a break and pulled out the bag of salvation bead bracelets that Kayla made for this year’s Great Circle Tour. (Read more by following the link below to our April 3, 2010 post). Bev, our trusty area coordinator and promoter, along with Pastor Dan, a former hippie from Southern California, joined me in sitting on the curb next to Howie’s music.
Our goal was to sort through the bracelets and divide them by lengths. Little did we know that this activity would become a platform to share the Gospel message with most everyone at the market that had children.
It started as one couple walked up and asked “What are you doing?” The door opened and we shared the meaning of the beads and gave them each one. One after another came up and before we knew it, we had shared the message over 50 times.
An elderly woman, Mary, was particularly touched by the music and the beads. With a big smile she began to point children our way to get their “free” bracelet and hear the message.
My concluding thought is this: many places, like the Historic Downtown Mall of Charlottesville, VA, have an ordinance that forbids approaching a person to hand something out. But, if they come to you, that gives you freedom to share what you wish. Having supplies on hand, gathering in a public place and making the bracelets is a great way to open doors.
Debbie
PS: We were invited back!
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Great story. I’ve been wondering how we can share the gospel in the historic downtown mall of Charlottesville. Many play the guitar and take up offerings. Maybe we could play Jesus music and give something away!