KANSAS CITY – There are many internationals living in Missouri. Especially in the urban areas of the state, the population in many locations hails from all over the world. But the question for many MBC church members is “How can I get to know these people?” And then, “How can I share Christ with internationals?”
There are three festivals being planned and Missouri Baptist leaders are urging people to go to these international celebrations and meet people. The hope is that relationships can be developed and Gospel conversations will follow.
Zach Doolittle, a new staff member with the MBC Multiplying Churches group says he hopes Missourians will plan to attend a festival near them. He has developed a training session to be held just before the event to show people how to effectively interact with internationals and make new friends with the hope of sharing Christ.
“There are (at least) 3 international festivals that will be happening in the months of August and September. My hope is to use this as a time for those whom God is calling to come and experience the nations that God is bringing to us.”
Those festivals and the preceding training sessions are:
• Ethnic Enrichment Festival, Swope Park, Kansas City, Aug. 30. Meet for training and orientation at 10 AM at Palabra Viva Iglesia, 217 Benton Rd., Kansas City.
• Festival of Nations, Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, Aug. 27. Meet for a training and orientation at 10 AM at Tower Grove Baptist Church, 4257 Magnolia Ave, St Louis.
• Celebration of Nations, Downtown Rolla, Sept. 24. Meet for training and orientation at 9 AM at Missouri S & T Baptist Student Union before heading to the parade.
Doolittle said there will be a quick orientation on how to attend the festivals and be on the lookout for opportunities to interact with vendors and participants. “This is not necessarily a ‘street evangelism’ opportunity but go for it if it is there.” He said it is an “exposure event for people to experience the nations in their city.”
Doolittle grew up in Kansas City. He said, “I knew there were Somalis, Haitians, Sudanese, Iraqis.” But he said it took a bit of effort to cross over into their culture and interact with them.
In 2019, in Jackson County alone, statistics are showing there are as many as 40,000 first generation immigrants living there. Doolittle added there are estimated to be 1,000 Afghan refugees in Kansas City and 1,200 in St. Louis.
Doolittle joined the Multiplying Churches group recently after serving overseas seven years in Central Asia.
He suggested people should go to the orientation and then to the festival, walk around, pray silently for people, interact. Suggested prayers might be: “Lord, who have you sent us to meet?” And “Where should we go?” And then he said, “Interact with the people.” Ask questions like “How long have you been in the U.S?” And “What is hard about living here?” Or maybe “What do you like about the U.S.?”
He hopes to teach people about international foods they may expect to purchase in food vendor stalls and carts. It should be an exciting time to try some new foods and tastes that are not familiar to you.
And there may be some Gospel conversations and some friendships with internationals that will come about because Missouri Baptists went to the festivals and connected with people from around the world.
For more information contact Doolittle at zdoolittle@mobaptist.org.