Picnic in the Park

As advertised, we teamed up with S.H.A.L.O.M. Ministries to host an outreach at Nixon Park from 3:00 to nearly 9:00 PM on Saturday, August 1. It was a lot of work, but it sure was worth it! Before I cover what happened, just the fact that we were able to hold the event was a blessing. You see, from the time the 7 day weather forecasts were given for that date, the meterologists were predicting rain. The report stayed that way all week, so we really had little natural reason to expect anything else. But thank God for His authority! From the moment I saw the first weather reports calling for rain on Saturday, I prayed about the news. However, instead of telling God to prevent it from raining, I felt that the Lord simply wanted me to trust Him, so that's what I did. I just told Him, "Father, You have total control over heaven and earth and You are trustworthy, so I know that the weather is in Your hands. Give us what we need and we know that things will work out exactly the way You want them to!" Instead of me dictating my wishes to God, the Spirit gave me peace in my heart to leave the matter to Jesus and He blessed us! Yes, it rained on Saturday morning, but most of the day, it was merely cloudy or partly cloudy. Furthermore, the temperature was amazing; the high only reached 75 degrees, so nobody roasted out there. Actually, it got a little chilly at sundown, but that was OK with me!

Well, enough about the weather. I estimate that we fed about 200 people and approximately 10 people responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a great joy to lead someone to the Lord! We also had about 60 people fill out entry sheets for the prize drawings, so we'll follow up with them to thank them for coming. Regarding these prizes, we were able to give away some really neat items, including two bicycles, an iPod Shuffle, Starbucks coffee, and other things. We're grateful to the businesses in the area that made the donations and the prize winners seemed might grateful, too! It was also a lot of fun to interact with the residents of the area. You learn about the different challenges people are facing and through it all, I realize how much we all need Jesus. He can take care of any problem we have.

Handing out 25 posters and 2500 flyers to advertise the event was worth all the effort. I'm so convinced that the Lord equips His people with the resources to spread His gospel and when we mobilize to do so, He supports our endeavors. I pray we never lose sight of the joy of serving Him and making Him known. Jesus is worth it all!