During the recent Hancock County Fair, Calvary Baptist Church of Findlay, Ohio explored some creative ways to present The Exchange Gospel presentation to the public. Many people were praying, and we sensed such openness to the Good News as we shared it with hungry people! To create curiosity, we took The Exchange apart so that we could walk into it in a number of different ways. Our signs and banners inquired:
What are the Words that God never wants you to hear?
What are the 3 things that God cannot do?
What are you trusting in? (under a picture of Charles Blondin)
Can you solve the mystery of “The Two Chairs?”
How would you describe your relationship with God?
Those who have been trained in The Exchange will recognize many of the answers, such as those terrible words in Matthew 25:41. We explained “the 3 Things,” this way: 1. God is Holy and cannot tolerate our sin; 2. God is Just and cannot overlook our sin; and 3. God is faithful and cannot fail to fulfill His promises. Would you like to know what He has promised you?
We set up “The Two Chairs” with a flip chart to explain the heart of The Exchange. The centerpiece for the booth was a Civil War era picture of Charles Blondin on the tightrope with his wheelbarrow. Most of the Gospel presentations in the booth started with this story. The backdrop was a large banner featuring the question, “How would you describe your relationship with God?” As you can see, we built the booth around The Exchange presentation tract, so that our workers could refer to it at any point in their conversations.
At the fair, the Calvary Baptist Church booth was buzzing with activity. Our booth workers fashioned animal balloons, did face painting and made “wordless bracelets” as they shared the Gospel with the children. They prepared popcorn, and distributed bottles of water with special “water of life” labels. Our members had prepared “This Is My Story” tracts (http://www.glimpsesofcalvary.com/this-is-my-story ) featuring their personal stories. When our booth visitors realized that these had been written by local people, they received them gladly.
We followed up “the Fair” with “the Feast.” We held “The Good Food with Good News Feast” about six days after the fair concluded, to provide yet another opportunity to present the Gospel. This activity was so successful that we will undoubtedly make this an annual event. It went so well that we are now looking for other local venues to make this presentation of The Exchange to the public!
Pastor Gordon Dickson
