SEDALIA – It’s August, and that means it’s the Missouri State Fair. It also means corn dogs, fried Twinkies, livestock, giant tents and more than 1,000 Gospel presentations.
And that’s just through the first four days. From Aug. 11-15, Missouri Baptists at the fair shared Jesus with more than 1,150 people at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) tent. Seventy-four of those prayed to accept Jesus as their Savior.
“The first day alone we presented the Gospel to 175 and saw 13 pray to receive Christ,” said Gary Taylor, MBC director of evangelism.
In past years, MBC volunteers have given out free bottled water or face painting in order to attract a crowd, but after vendors selling water and face painting asked them to stop, they’re taking a new, simple, effective approach: “Give us three minutes, and we’ll enter you into our drawing for a 55-inch TV.”
It’s working.
“People are walking by, seeing the TV and the sign and asking us what they need to do,” Taylor said. “Some people ask where the water and face painting is but they still thank us for sharing. In general, they’ve been very receptive. We get it in our head that people don’t like hearing about Jesus but when you stand there and just share, they don’t seem to mind.”
Missouri’s directors of missions have stepped up, taking on the responsibility to lining up people from their associations to witness during the fair.
“Everyone here has done a great job,” Taylor said. “When we talk to someone, we keep them standing to let them know it’s going to be brief, and we stand so their back is to the rest of the fair and there are less distractions.”
More than 300,000 people attended the State Fair last August.
BRIAN KOONCE/staff writer
bkoonce@mobaptist.org