I just wanted to share something I did last week that may spur others to promote Jesus in any way possible.
I live about an hour from Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Last Friday night there was a big Christian concert being held there with multiple big name bands playing. The arena holds 15,000 people. I had heard about the show for about a month on the radio, and thought that it would be a good place to promote Jesus as the Savior of the world. I knew God was nudging me to do this.
I wasn’t sure if I would make it in time because it was a work night. I worked later than I wanted to, but decided to go anyway when I got home. I asked my wife to go with me, but she didn’t want to stand outside and hand out cards. I told her she could go shopping for an hour or so and come pick me up later (plus we could save on parking). No go. So I went by myself. That’s OK. I was on a mission. The concert was scheduled for 7pm. I arrived at the arena at 6:30 after searching hard for parking and finally finding a lot for $8. I still had to walk quite a distance to get there.
The joint was jumping and people were streaming into the show. The first set of doors I came to weren’t nearly as busy as the entrance up the hill. So I walked up there and surveyed the situation. I wasn’t really sure what to do, since I had never done this before. I was nervous, but determined. God had already told me what to say, so that gave me some peace.
I was surprised that no one else was outside the arena preaching, or handing out tracts, which is what I’ve seen at other shows. But I did this because I believed God told me to go. You never know who is going tho be at these shows. Sure, there will be Christians there. But there will also be a lot of unbelievers that have been invited by friends. Maybe some backsliders, too.
I watched the stream of people roll by, and with a handful of cards I attacked them. Well, not really, I approached them. I simply said the words that God gave me and held out my hand with a card - “Enjoy the show.” Everyone I offered to took the card. Usually if it was a group, I would hand a card to the first person, and the rest of the group would stand there with a hand out wanting their own card. I think some of them thought I was with the arena or the bands. I felt guilty when I handed a card to one lady who gave me an overjoyed “Thank you!” I seriously think she thought I was giving her a free ticket into the show.
I talked to a few people, but nothing deep or theological. The last thing I wanted was to get into a debate. I just wanted to hand out cards. Overall I handed out about 100 cards in 30 minutes. For the most part, I was happy with how it went. I think I’ll do more things like this in the future. And I hope this has encouraged you to promote our amazing Savior any way possible.
The Cards
The cards I handed out were business card size. I got them through Vistaprint at a very good price. Full color, two sided. On one side is a graphic like a blue sunburst. The title says About Him, and is followed by an explanation of Jesus being the Savior of the world in very small type. The second side has a graphic of a man standing with arms raised to heaven. The title is TheBiggestJesus, followed by a slogan, followed by my website, then an introduction to my book and where they can get it.
I wanted to use a business card for this because people could easily put it in their pocket if they were in a hurry (which most of them were). I envisioned people after the concert going out to eat and discussing the information on the card. The fact that I was the only one handing out information is a plus - no competition for attention. My prayer is that Gos blesses the seeds that were planted, and I believe He will.
