NOEL — On the corners of a public easement near the scenic Elk River here, Joshua Wagner, Paul Campbell, Calvin Idell and others stand with a quiet demeanor while holding 10-foot-tall wooden crosses.
Their purpose is the same now as it was when they first started coming to the river years ago: to share the message of Jesus Christ.
“We don’t come out here to get in anyone’s face or tell them how wrong they are,” said Wagner, who is a member of Splitlog Baptist Church in nearby Goodman. “We come out here just to say that God loves them, that He has a plan for their lives, and that He desires a relationship with them. That’s the only hope we have to offer. That’s the message we bring.”
Still, it’s no coincidence that the public easement where they choose to stand is also located near the Shadow Lake Dance Hall and Bar, a place where local “drinking crowds” congregate. Some of the men have been doing this type of street evangelism for more than 10 years, and it never bothered anyone. That is, until last summer.
On June 29 and July 6, Wagner, Campbell and Idell were charged with harassment and failure to obey police
officers. Owners of The Snak Shack, another nearby business, made the original complaint to police. They claimed the men were blocking pedestrian traffic, as well as the Snak Shack’s newly placed A-framed signs that were likely set up in an attempt to keep the men off the easement.
“They stand there peaceably and respectfully and witness to people,” said Dee Wampler, a trial attorney and member of Second Baptist Church, Springfield, who represented the men pro bono in cooperation with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a nationwide Christian advocacy group of attorneys. “They don’t have a bullhorn and they don’t block pedestrian traffic. They are well within their rights.”
City prosecutors agreed. On Aug. 6 a bench trial was held at the Noel City Hall and all three men were found not
guilty after the testimony of two police officers and after Joseph Passanise, Wampler’s fellow defense attorney,
made a motion.
“I didn’t lose any sleep over it from the beginning,” Wagner said. “I mean, yes, it was a flesh and blood fight that needed to be fought. And Dee Wampler … I mean, wow. What an amazing blessing he was. God had it fought for us through him. He looked at us three street preachers and he was angry … angry that this could happen in America. He said with all that’s been lost in order to pay for our freedoms, it just seems crazy that here in little Noel it could come to something like this.”
And though they are glad that the charges were dropped, the dedicated street ministers know the mission in Noel is still the same.
“Immediately after they were found not guilty the guys went out into the foyer and prayed,” Wampler said. “They prayed for the lawyers, for the people of Noel and they especially prayed for their persecutors. It was an outstanding victory for the Kingdom that ended on a positive note for all involved.”