Iowa State Fair Outreach 2021 - 8.15.21 Atheist Teen + Dating Christian Girl = Questions Answered

 

A junior in High School named, John, walked up to Brandon -- an evangelist from Kentucky, and stated that he was an atheist. Not just any atheist, but one dating a Christian girl who bought him a bible, prays for him daily, and told him that he needed to come down to the Answers In Genesis (AiG) booth to talk to us. Wow. Even though she is unequally yoked to this guy, God is using her in a big way. 

John was really engaged and asked many good questions. So Brandon gave him two tracts to read: "Why Christianity" and "Big Problems With The Big Bang." I looked over and Brandon was sitting next to him while he read both tracts in their entirety right at the booth. After reading them both, he had even more questions. Brandon then called me over and asked me to jump in. After hearing his story, I pulled up a chair and we formed a triangle in the middle of the booth. I opened my bible and asked John what his three biggest hang-ups were about the bible, or God. 

First, he said that God was not loving, especially towards the Egyptians with the plagues and murdering the first born. I turned my bible to Ephesians 2 and asked him to read it while I answered a question from a customer at the booth. I shortly came back to John and asked him the synopsis of what he read. He said that we were sinners and walked according to the devil and this world and did what we wanted. But God who loved us had mercy and gave His Son, Jesus, to save us. So I asked him to read verse 4 again. 

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us." 

 Brandon and I were blown away that he understood that. 

I asked him, "Do you know one of the most terrifying chapters in all the bible?" 

"No." 

"Romans chapter 9. Because God didn't have to lift a finger to save any of us and He would still be God, still be holy, still be just, and still be righteous."

"Oh."

"Do you know one of the most awesome amazing chapters of the entire bible?"

"No."

"Romans chapter 9. Because He did." 

I took one of my tracts and said, "Suppose I created this. I own it. Can I do anything I want with it?" He nodded. "Can I do this?" And I crumpled it up in my hand. He nodded. "Can I do this?" And I tore it up in little pieces and threw it in the trash. He nodded again. "So if God created everything and all of us in this world, then why is He called evil for judging His creation?" The light came on a bit. 

So he asked, "So if God created hell for the devil and His angels, then why doesn't He create a hell for people?" 

I answered and said, "So, do you separate your garbage?" John looked puzzled. "Do you throw your building materials in a different can from your food or separate your dust from dryer lint?" He shook his head. "So, why should God separate His garbage?" 

"But what about recyclables? I separate my pop cans from garbage," John stated. 

"Recycles are different. Recycles are the Christians. After you collect pop cans you go to Hy-Vee and put them in the machine to recycle. After you're done, you get a slip of paper and take it inside where you give it to the customer service desk and they give you money. You are redeeming the useless empty cans for money which is useful. That's what Jesus did. God redeemed useless people through the blood of Christ and made us useful. Redeemed garbage and made us valuable." Throughout our conversation Brandon added to it, so I don't want anyone to think that I kicked him out of the conversation. 

John nodded the whole time I talked. He got up and asked if he could take stuff. We told him everything was free. He went to each table and took one of everything: DVD's, tracts, books, etc. I walked over to the Animal Rescue League (ARL) booth and got him a bag. I gave him my card from GotQuestions.org and also my email if he had any questions. Brandon gave his. 

This wasn't the only conversation I had that day. We had many more, but this was the most memorable. 

Iowa State Fair Outreach 2021 - 8.14.21 The Woman at the Well.

If you've ever had a "woman at the well" conversation with someone, you know what I mean when I say those conversations are a special moment between evangelist and potential convert. They are rare, but when they happen, you know that it was a divine encounter. They are touching and usually leave you and the other person crying. Today was one of those conversations. 

Lisa, who works at the fair in another booth of the Varied Industries Building, came over to our booth because her coworker received one of our Ark million dollar bills and was laughing about it. She was curious and needed to talk with someone here. I happened to be that someone. She was looking around like she was lost, or amazed -- I really couldn't tell. Sheepishly, she looked through our DVD's, pamphlets, and such. I walked over to her and started a conversation. 

Lisa revealed that she came from a bad background, and made many mistakes along the way. She got saved, and had been a Christian for over twenty years. But with tears in her eyes she shamefully said, "I never shared my faith. Not like this. Maybe to friends and family once or twice, but never with strangers. I've always been afraid, and overcome with fear. I wish I was bold like you." 

I shared with her my testimony, and how just a few feet from where we were standing was where I heard the gospel for the first time. When I got saved several months later, I was given the opportunity to be discipled by someone mature in the Lord, to take me out and share my faith with strangers. That led me to study fear and how Satan uses fear to keep us in one spot, tired and afraid to move. She needed a mature Christian woman to come alongside her and help her become the soul-winner she desired to be. She teared up again and said, "I have no one to show me." 

I looked under the train cabinet to see if we had any books on the topic that we were giving away. We had at least two cases of  "Begin: A Journey Through Scriptures for Seekers and New Believers", but that wasn't really what she was needing.  Then I noticed in the corner some orange books, and pulled them out. It was exactly what she needed. It was a copy of "Will Our Generation Speak?" handbook and the Study Guide. Will Our Generation Speak? is filled with dialog—recounting witnessing conversations and giving practical ideas for beginning conversations with unbelievers about the Lord. It teaches how to ask good questions and answer objections, while illustrating points with humorous cartoons and stories. From a young person to other young people, it addresses the fears we face and excuses we make, and provides vision for being strong for the Lord in our youth. It communicates how exciting it is to be working alongside the God of the universe in the mission of saving souls. I pulled them out showed her the books, and before she could even ask how much they were, I just said, "These are my gift to you; I want you to have them." She started to tear up, I started to tear up. It was a beautiful moment. 

Even though this post is short, we spent at least 45 minutes talking. She said she only intended to visit for five minutes and needed to get back to work. It's amazing how the Lord works things out. Like the woman at the well, Lisa had a plan to come to the booth looking for something. But what she received was way better than she could have possibly imagined. 

Iowa State Fair Outreach 2021 - Friday the 13th.

 I arrived at the  Answers In Genesis (AiG) booth at the fair about a few minutes late. The crew already had things out, prepared, the televisions on, and trains running around the model of the ark. Chatted with the workers for a few minutes before starting, and noticed that the glass on the ark was dirty, so I cleaned it free of fingerprints and snot from little kids.

The morning went well, and even got my hands dirty giving kids dinosaur tattoos. I really love giving kids tattoos because it's about the only time I can talk with kids on a one-on-one basis. But in putting the tattoos on, I have about a minute to share something with them. Even the adults get at least a dinosaur million dollar bill. But I usually talk about the Ark, that it's 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, and 7 stories high. That you can fit over 500 shipping containers inside -- that there was more than enough room for people, animals, food, and supplies. In fact, only one-third of the ship was dedicated to the animals. I enjoy talking with the teens as well while giving tattoos. I show them that the ark is a picture of Jesus Christ -- that just like there is one door of the ark for people to walk through to find salvation from the flood, that Jesus is the only Door to find salvation from eternal damnation. Most kids, teens, and adults have at least heard of the story -- but to put it in the context of the New Testament, most never understand the relationship. 

That afternoon I had a strange conversation with a man who I thought was interested in the things of God. He came in and looked around. Nodded several times, and even took some tracts and pamphlets. I asked him how he was doing and gave him an Ark million dollar bill. I said it had the "million dollar question" on the back: "In the days of Noah, God judged guilty men with a global flood. When you face God on Judgment Day, would you be innocent or guilty?" He looked at it for a minute looked up and said, no. So I probed a little. 

"The Ten Commandments are God's standard of goodness; as a mirror to see how dirty we really are. Like when you wake up in the morning you look in the mirror to see what damage happened during the night. Do you think you've kept the Ten Commandments?"

"Sure I have."

"All the time?"

"Yes." 

"OK, let's look at a few and see. Have you ever told a lie?"

"Like Republicans? Sure. I've lied like Republicans."

Looking surprised and afraid to ask I said, "Well, what does that make you if you lie?"

"Republican. Or more specifically, a liar."

"Have you ever stolen anything. Even if it's small?"

"Like Republicans? Sure, I've stolen lots of things. Maybe not as much as Republicans, but, yes."

Rubbing my forehead I said, "Sir, let's try to leave the politics out of this, ok? Many people lie and steal on both sides of the isle and..." 

"Well, maybe you can answer a question for me! Why did God murder my two kids, let me become an alcoholic, and damage my marriage. If God is so awesome, forgiving, and loving -- then why did He do that to me! Huh!?" 

I started to have pity on him, and realized that this was a sensitive issue. I started to explain that God didn't create sin, and that God doesn't murder anyone. But before I could explain deeper he yelled an obscenity at me and walked off, grabbing two more tracts as he left. 

One of the new Testify students were there and looked horrified. I told him, "Sometimes you can't give the good news to people, if they don't see their need for it." That's a hard lesson to learn sometimes. But giving someone the good news when they are clearly not wanting it, would do more damage than good. It would make them into an inoculated sinner -- people who know they are a sinner and that God will forgive them anyway. 

It reminds me of the time I was sent to a hospital to pray for a man who got throat cancer. Upon arriving he asked me, "Why would God do this to me?" I asked him, "Did you smoke?" 

"Yes," he replied

"Do you have cigarettes here?"

"Yeah, in the drawer." 

I walked over to the drawer and pulled them out. I held them up to his face and said, "What does that say on the side of the box?"

He read it out loud, "Surgeons General Warning: Smoking causes lung cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, emphysema and may complicate pregnancy." 

I paused for a minute. "So you were warned every time you bought a pack. God didn't do this to you. You ignored the warnings. The bible warns us of many bad things to come, and how we are sinners in the hands of God, that we broke His law, and are deserving of judgment. But God also shows us in the bible how to escape from that as well. Would you like to know how to escape God's wrath?"

"Get out." 

And so, I left. There's a saying where I'm from, "Self-infliction gets no sympathy." I do have pity on them both. I'm no monster. But until people see that they have a disease, they will not receive the cure. They will laugh and mock it like the Greeks in Acts 17. If either of them would have stayed, or not told me to leave, I would have shared the gospel till I was blue in the face. But that wasn't the case. 

Iowa State Fair Outreach 2021 - Arrival

It was Thursday morning, August 12th. The bustling crowd, people laughing, kids running around; the smell of deep fried food, animals, and corndogs cooking in the fryers; the sound of classic rock and talk radio walking past the WHO radio booth. All these sounds, smells, and senses hitting me as I walked into the Iowa State Fair for the first time since 2019. My heart started beating harder -- not from nervousness as I headed to the Answers In Genesis (AiG) booth, but from excitement -- excitement in catching up with my evangelist friends, engaging the people who come into the booth, and to meet the new people who come and want to be a part of this amazing ministry. 

I first started sharing my faith at the AiG booth in 2018. It was an amazing experience; also joined up with them in 2019. In 2020, the Iowa State Fair was cancelled because of the worldwide plandemic. But this wasn't the first time I was at the booth. The booth holds a very special memory for me, and one that literally changed my life forever. 

The first time I came to the booth was in 2003. I was new to Iowa, engaged to my now wife, and living with my friend and his family starting a new life in Iowa. The prior year we all went to the fair, and had a blast, but missed much of it and couldn't see everything in one day. This certain time, I decided to start in places that I didn't see. My first stop was indoors at the Varied Industries Building. At this time the both was run by the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC). AiG would later take it over in 2016. But it was at this booth in 2003 that I heard the gospel for the first time. 

I remember him as a man about 35-45 years old. There wasn't anything special about him, but he really took the time to show me things in the bible. For some reason I couldn't understand him -- like someone put their fingers in my ears. He was very patient with me and shared the gospel, some bible verses with me, but no matter what, I couldn't get it. He even gave me this tract, which I have to this day. 

I wish I could have gotten his name and phone number. The stories I could tell of how my life changed over the years with that one conversation I had 18 years ago. 

But when I got to the fair this year, I was talking with a new booth-worker who told me he was talking with a man who ran the booth the same time I heard the gospel in 2003; that he works just a few booths down the day I arrived this year. So I took my tract I received all those years later and went to talk with him. 

I introduced myself and told him my story. I recognized him right away, and thanked him for working all those years and leading the booth. Even though he was not the man I talked to, he took my information down and said he would at least try to find who it could have been. It was a touching moment for both of us; we even shed tears, and the other guys working his booth got choked up as well. It was a great reminder to the both of us that you just never know who you will impact when sharing your faith. We may never even get the entire gospel out, or go as planned. But God can use even our faithfulness of getting His Word in the hands of lost sinners. 

This was the exact encouragement I needed to fire me up to start my ten days sharing Jesus at the AiG booth. I was more motivated than ever, and looked forward to see what the Lord has in store.