It’s Finally Happening!

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Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. – Psalm 34:3

As some of you know, for a number of years now I have wanted to get a group together from our church to go to the St, Patrick’s Parade to share the gospel with some of the 10,000 attendees in a fun but clear way. Always the teacher, I had created a four-question quiz to challenge people, complete with multiple choices for answers, some that sounded right, some creative, and some weird enough they just might be right. (https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2020/03/17/who-knew/ ) I had tried it out on individuals in the waiting rooms at the doctor’s office and car repair shop and was convinced the parade goers might like it. I had seen them turned off by the man on the corner screaming at them about their sins. But maybe a game would be more in tune with the festivities and connect with more people while still getting the message across in the end.

Over the years I had gone alone, been rained out, seen Covid postpone and cancel the parade, and had volunteers cancel on me.

Last year my sweet granddaughter Charlotte joined me, along with one friend who wasn’t feeling well that day, but to her credit, she came anyway, because she had told me she would. She stood with us, presumably praying, while Charlotte and I took turns asking the questions, reading the multiple-choice answers, and giving the correct answers after our contestants gave it their best shots.

I almost stopped trying this year, but in the end, I decided to give it one last shot. I sent out an email to my church and made an announcement at the evening prayer meeting. To my surprise, I had about ten people express interest in coming. By the time work schedules and unexpected out-of-town company subtracted a few and a couple of people decided to join us at the last-minute, parade day found seven of us meeting at the church for prayer before heading over. Charlotte, my trusty granddaughter, had come again ( ❤ ). I was thrilled that the deacon of local outreach was not only supportive but was coming with us. There was a young man I had seen at the adult Sunday school class but had never gotten to know, two young ladies I also didn’t yet know, and one of my friends from China, willing to give an American outreach at an Irish parade a shot. (I admire her sense of adventure.)

After prayer and distributing materials, we headed toward the parade route about an hour before starting time, because I remembered parking had been a problem last year. But there was a much better reason to go early, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

Knowing many come early to “get a good seat,” and knowing they’re just hanging out waiting for the parade to start, this seemed the ideal time to approach them with something fun to do while they were waiting.

Sure enough, our little “contest” was met with enthusiastic participants and good-natured competition. While the two male members of our group headed off to cover more ground, the “girls” stayed together for a while, holding up the signs with the questions, making “buzzer” sounds with the incorrect answers, “high-fiving” the correct answers, congratulating the most knowledgeable (or best guessers), and offering our little booklets as “souvenirs” so they could go out and quiz their friends, co-workers, family members, etc.

At one point we passed a group of Hispanic people, and I was delightfully surprised to hear one of our young ladies speak to them in Spanish. Their faces lit up as she explained the quiz to them, and the rest of us backed off to let her take over. But then they let us know it was OK, they understood English, too. They took the quiz in English, so we could all enjoy that encounter.

After that I was on the lookout for people my Chinese friend might talk to, as well.

Once the parade started, the girls went inside to talk to people who were having refreshments, since it seemed rude to interrupt people as they were watching the parade. We spread out a bit and had some enjoyable exchanges with people sitting informally around tables. When we got to the question about the shamrock, what Patrick used to explain the Trinity, different members of the group used their own words and styles to convey the message of the gospel. To my delight, two of the girls spontaneously gave their testimonies. When we offered the booklets to the participants, I began pointing out that we had printed them out and were offering them, and all they had to do was accept them. As for salvation, Jesus did the work, He made the sacrifice to pay for our sins, and He’s offering us eternal life. We only have to respond.

We don’t have to earn it. It’s a gift.

Meanwhile, the men were far down the street, having encounters of their own. These included a long talk with a couple who had had a bad experience with church in the past, but who were considering accepting their invitation to join us some Sunday. I’m praying they’ll come and find the love and joy and truth the rest of us have found.

Only eternity will tell us what resulted from our time “planting seeds,” and that’s fine with me. As I wrote in another post recently, I don’t need to keep score. God knows it all, and He’s the One doing it all, anyway.

But I am looking forward to doing the outreach again. Maybe next year we’ll come two hours before parade time.

And maybe I’ll try to get the booklets printed professionally before the parade, instead of copying, printing, cutting, and stapling all week…

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the miracle you did in the life of Your servant Patrick, and for giving us the privilege of serving You, too, by telling his story – and our own. Help us always to be Your witnesses, whatever the occasion. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Published by seekingdivineperspective

I am a forgiven sinner and adopted child of God, seeking to see life from His perspective - as opposed to the world's flawed perspective - and living my life accordingly.

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41 thoughts on “It’s Finally Happening!”

  1. I have to hand it to you, Annie, I never would have thought of doing that witnessing in the way that you did, in a thousand years. I have done street witnessing with others years ago. I know the glory goes to God but good for you too and those who stood with you. Praise God for His grace! Blessings!

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    1. Lol, thanks, Bruce. I guess God made me the way I am. My prayer partner used to say I could take a thrice-used tea bag and turn it into a party. Not sure I could pull THAT off, but as a teacher I felt if it wasn’t fun for me, it wouldn’t be fun for the kids, and if nobody was having fun, why bother? (I did have to remind myself occasionally that I was the adult… 🙄)
      God bless!

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  10. I love this, Annie: “Only eternity will tell us what resulted from our time ‘planting seeds,’ and that’s fine with me. As I wrote in another post recently, I don’t need to keep score. God knows it all, and He’s the One doing it all, anyway.” Amen!

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  13. Love that you choose to be the light and share the gospel in such a creative fun way. Many blessings to you and everyone who joined you in extending Father God’s love. Thank you for sharing your story and being an encouragement to many.
    ☺️🔥✝️🙌🏻
    Pastor Natalie (ExamineThisMoment)
    Letstakeamoment.com

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  14. This is wonderful, Annie. I wish I could have been there with you and your granddaughter and church friends. On St. Patrick’s Day, I like to wear a shirt that I had specially made. It’s white, with a large green shamrock on the front. Above the shamrock, in green letters, it says: Yes, I Am Irish. Below the shamrock: No, You May Not Kiss Me.

    My eyes are green and I am covered in freckles. So any time I leave the house on March 17, my shirt is a necessity. 😀

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  16. That wasn’t supposed to send yet lol…anyway thank you so much for sharing, I love getting ideas on how to creatively share the gospel like this. And I also love that you have done your part in God’s calling and you have peace in leaving the rest to Him!
    I do hope you see the one couple in church though!!

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  18. A wonderful way to share the Good News!
    P.S. Did you know that I linked to your post, “Chicks, Butterflies, and Camels” last Saturday? I’ve gotten quite a few views and comments you might like to read! It was a great post! Blessings, Annie!

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  22. Hi Ann,

    you are always so creative in ways to spread the gospel. Hope you can do that at your summer home and I can join in on the fun.
    fondest regards,

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