State Fair Of Texas Gospel Outreach - Oct. 19, 2013

We had a great time of evangelism at the Texas State fair this past Saturday. The Texas State Fair ran from September 27 to October 20.  This is the largest state fair in the country, attracting 3.5 million people annually. The Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship In America sponsors the State Fair Of Texas Gospel Outreach booth. It is manned every day that the fair is open, with witnessing going on 12 hours a day. Rex Whitton is the manager of this outreach. He trains those who are not familiar with the Gospel presentation portion of the booth. Carl Kalbfleisch of Bezeugen Ministries (the As You Go Blog and the Bezeugen Tract Club) invited me to join him for this day several months ago. He was the day leader. Rosie, Craig, and Arnold were there witnessing and giving out tracts. We also had about 30 students from the Gospel Of Asia School of Discipleship take turns in two hour intervals. It was great meeting all of these who were at the booth. We gave out the "Name 10 Things Fried At The Fair" and "The Ten Commandment" tracts from Bezeugen. We also had the million, the trillion, and the Ten Commandments coin from Living Waters that were supplied at the booth. 

Pictured: Rex Whitton, Carl Kalbfleisch, and Scott Thompson 

The Million Dollar Eye Test

We would invite people to come and take "The Million Dollar Eye Test". Here is an example (taken from the Bezeugen blog) of what would take place once someone would want to take the test: 

"Would you like to take the million dollar eye test?"

them: "Sure, what do I do"

We would keep the conversation really light hearted by saying things like "the use of your eyes is not required" or "it's fun, it's easy, no coupons required!" This was funny because at the fair you trade in your hard earned cash for coupons and then use the coupons to buy food from the vendors, ride rides, etc.

me: "For one million dollars would you give us your right eye? Before you answer let me explain that in this hypothetical example we have a surgical center right behind the booth. We can painlessly remove your eye and replace it with a glass eye. You'll look the same in all your family photo's. You just won't look the same."

them: "No way!"

me: "Oh, ok. Well, let's sweeten the pot just a bit. You see, actually we are looking for a matched pair of eyeballs. And therefore we are able to offer you one trillion dollars for both of your eyes. You could travel the world!"

them: "Yeah, but I'd be blind. so no."

At this point we could quote Jesus' words to them "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world (or a trillion dollars) yet loose his very own soul?" We have established that their eyes are valuable and that their soul is worth even more.

Then, we would ask "If God would require your soul tonight, where would you go? We would proceed to take them through the Ten Commandments to get them to think about their soul. Then, we would tell them what Jesus did so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. We had so many different responses. My highlights were talking with a young man named Richard and another named Arturo. A young woman named Blair said that she had a Jewish heritage. One of the Gospel For Asia students had a man leave when they got to the part about the soul. He said that the soul didn't exist. Jason, who had worked at the booth one year, gave me a test by seeing how knowledgeable I was. Then, he told me who he was. Some said that they were saved.  

It was estimated that about 200,000 people came through the fair that day. We probably gave out about 7,500 tracts. 

This was about 11:00 AM.

This was around 1:00 PM. It was like this most of the day! At one point when we were handing out the tracts, we were pinned against the front of the booth! 

It was a great day! I was glad to be part of what took place on Saturday! I am so thankful to Carl and Rex for letting me be a part of this outreach. Only eternity will tell what was accomplished throughout the State Fair Of Texas Gospel Outreach!