Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant Outreach 2018

This year marks the 52nd consecutive Mormon Miracle Pageant, located in Manti, UT which started in 1967. This year it began June 14-16 and 19-23. It is an annual event that local and traveling Mormons go to every year to celebrate and remember their Mormon heritage, roots, and how it started. It is also an annual missionary project for various Christians who travel to this area to witness and share the true Christ to Mormons during the event.

The Pageant Itself

The Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant is comprised of three sections, which are made up of 20 scenes. The first section dealt with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The second section tells of the "history" of the people groups that are revealed from the gold plates Joseph Smith supposedly found. The third section bring us to the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and their persecution and struggle moving across the country 

to Utah. This pageant is, as you can see in the picture, is performed on the hill that the Mani Temple sits on. The event itself is very organized through a unified effort to share the Mormon faith. Many people come from all over the country to watch the performances, and every year they have anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 Mormons in attendance (as opposed to less than 100 Christians who come to witness to them).

Why I Like To Witness To Mormons

What makes an evangelistic witnessing trip to Utah special is that it is part of the 10/40 window and also part of the United States. Do you realize that only 1% of the state of Utah is Christian? If that is the case, imagine being the only Christian who knows the gospel of Christ in your job, your high school, your town, and in even some cases...your county. Imagine being the only Christian church in 100 miles? That is crazy to think about happening here in America today. With that being said, there are many LDS who will never have a conversation with a Christian or hear the true gospel of Christ. Many of the young LDS missionaries will hear the gospel from a Christian while they are on their missions. But the one reason I like to witness to LDS is that I love these people, I care about them, and want to see them saved in the true faith. 

Witnessing on the Streets of Manti

Solid Rock Bible Museum Stand at food court.

 Witnessing this year at the pageant was a little different and for the better. Two years ago the LDS church bought the street that ran along the temple and was the main strip where we would do our witnessing. Since we cannot go behind the barrier, we were forced to witness in other areas. One street will not keep those of us away. Sometime between last year and this year the house where the food court usually sits was sold, and the yard was fenced in. This put the new food court on public property and over 4 blocks away, giving us Christians a much larger area to share Christ with the LDS people. Way more area than that was taken in

 the sale of the street. Since the food court is on public property, the Solid Rock cafe took much of their bible museum from the cafe and brought it to the pageant to show LDS that they bible has tons of archaeological evidence to support the it, and the Book of Mormon does not. This was a wonderful display and much appreciated by many who attended.

Each day a few hours before pageant started we would all hit the streets and try to get into conversations. Many of us would use tracts and just hand them out as door openers to share the conversations we desperately wanted to have. Some of us held signs, some wore t-shirts in hopes to have LDS consider their message. One girl in particular, who was new to this outreach this year had a different approach, which many LDS came to talk with her. She asked people to wall-sit in their own power for as long as they could stand it before giving up. Then as they are wall-sitting she would witness to them and ask them questions as to how difficult in was to follow the LDS religion. At the end, she would then say, "Why would you wall-sit in your own strength when you can sit down in Christ Jesus", as she removes a sign on the chair that says, "Jesus". "All you need to do is by faith, trust that the chair will hold you up," she would say as she would give them the candy that was promised.

Amy from Stand To Reason Ministries

But not all people were here for the LDS. Amy, from Stand To Reason, a Christian apologetic ministry was here to ask those who left the LDS faith if atheism is true. She did have a few conversations with those who had given up on God altogether after leaving the Utah religion. She encouraged them not to, "Throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater" and to have faith in Christ, and not in what man has come up with.

This year I was excited to have Matt Slick, Founder of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry [CARM] here to join us on the pageant streets. Not only was he an extremely funny person with a great sense of humor, but also a very caring and humble Christian man. Much different than how he portrays himself on his radio shows.

The conversations that I had were typical, and yet a surprise to me as well. The second day I had a conversation for about 45 minutes with two ladies as I asked them if a diagram I had was correct, that in order to attain eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom that they had to accoplish all these works on the list. It was very apparent that I knew more about their religion than they did; including statements like, "Well my husband drinks alot of beer and it doesn't stop him from going to temple."

Aaron open air preaching

Another time I made a wrong turn heading to the pageant from the food court winding up on a back road far from the area I needed to be in. I ran into three guys; Mike, Sam, and Carson, whom I thought were Christians, until Mike made the statement, "I'm a weird Mormon who believes in salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, but I still believe in the Book of Mormon." They all were out of the mission field for several years, but struggling with Mormonism and having faith in Christ. I talked with them for like an hour and had a great conversation but had to let it go so they can get to the pageant. I gave my card to Mike in hopes we could continue the conversation. We have emailed each other several times since. Last week I sent him a John Piper book, Desiring God. He is a big Piper fan, and has been studying Calvinism for a few years.  I'm willing to give up a book of mine for the gospel.

This year I traveled lighter and only took my LDS quad (which has all the LDS standard works) and an LDS book called True To The Faith, which shows the basics on Mormonism. Five years ago when I came the first time I took those, plus 3 more books. My back hurt so much, and I never touched the other three books the entire time I was there. Most of my conversations I never really touched on Mormonism unless I had to. The tracts I passed out were your regular million dollar bills from Tract Planet. I was also able to give out 8 Gideon New Testaments during the trip, which the last time I came I wish I had them.

Some of our conversations changed the minds of some of the people who were against us. Our leader had a conversation with the owners of a local hotel and cafe. He worked out a deal with the owner to have our group of 35 come before the lunch crowd to eat so they would know that we are only here to love them and share truth. They agreed. Since they only had their daughter, Misty, run the entire store that morning, our leader cooked most of the food on the grill, another one of our elders took the orders, and the only thing she did was scoop ice cream. We even tipped her socks off and she was really supper blessed.

Travels To Utah and Back to Iowa

For the most part the travels went well, and we were always ahead of schedule. On the way out we ran into this tornado forming in the Western part of Nebraska. The video was even better showing debris climbing into the cloud. Even though it was over 500 yards away, the winds were fierce. Found out later this same storm flipped an RV after we passed by it. 

In the end it was a great trip and made alot of headway. We only knew of one conversion from Mormonism to Christianity, but I'm sure the Lord will be working on more. If anyone has doubts about this ministry look at this picture. This was the second night of the pageant and seats are literally empty. The LDS ushers asked if we wanted to come inside and sit on the LDS property as long as we behaved. We are making strides for sure. 

If you have any questions regarding witnessing to Mormons and LDS and you want to know more, please contact me. 

Independence Day Message at the Des Moines Farmers Market: Free Indeed

Posters & Freedom In Jesus Cross Used at the Market

Saturday, June 30th, 2018
Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year, so Mary and I used this hot & humid Saturday to deliver what has become our annual Patrick Henry "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech, and to discuss what the Lord Jesus Christ says about true freedom - real freedom - that comes when we believe on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and are delivered from the bondage of sin & the fear of death and Hell.

I took my posters of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, and the "Freedom In Jesus" cross to share the message, to remind us that the freedoms we enjoy in America were purchased at great risk and great cost by our forefathers. And of course, what God did for us in sending Jesus to deliver us from our sins. I finished up with Jefferson's quote about how he trembled for our country when he remembered how that God is just, and that his justice will not sleep forever.

You can listen to the message by clicking on this LINK.

My Notes - Getting Some Wear & Tear Over The Years!

 Mary gave out all her tracts, and I was able to share everything I had prepared for this annual outreach. I find that I can give out a lot more tracts if I do so before getting up on my box and speaking publicly. When I try to do it after speaking, I don't get as many takers (I wonder why?)

But it was a good day. I don't remember exactly how I got started using the Patrick Henry speech as a springboard for sharing the gospel, I look forward to doing this every year. Kind of like seeing familiar landmarks when traveling: there is a fondness in remembering, and an anticipation leading up to them. Soon it will be the Oktemberfest outreach up here in Marshalltown, and then Thanksgiving evangelism, and Christmas & New Year's ministry. Lord willing, we hope to take every opportunity to share the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, until He comes, or we go to be with Him.


We finished up and stopped by to see our older brother in the Lord, Terry Daniel, who was out sharing with his Jesus poster, as usual. We prayed together for God to bless the tracts, conversations, and the word shared with our neighbors at the Market. Please join us in that prayer for the souls of men & women if you can. If you think of it, pray for us, and also  pray for God to send laborers in His harvest field. Thanks - Paul.

Pella Tulip Time 2018

Three weeks ago, May 1st through 3rd was the 2018 Pella Tulip Time Festival in Pella, Iowa. It was an awesome event passing out tracts and witnessing to the locals, and people that traveled far to attend this annual gathering. This year was quite different and with Jon Niefert, our fearless Captain and new friend at the helm, he made it a year we will not forget.

Jon did an impressive job not only supplying the tracts, but also writing, designing, and printing tracts specific to the Pella Tulip Time Festival. One in particular talked about the founding of the town and the first church which was started by persecuted Christians from Holland seeking refuge in the new world. We also had a plethora of other tools to use like million dollar bills, DVD's, booklets, and CD's to share Christ with the people of Pella.

Our Guests and Friends

But Jon didn't stop there! He invited some very special guests to teach at the start of each day and give lessons on how to witness and share our faith. Not only did they speak, but they also went out with us at the festival to share Christ along side us, which was really awesome.

Tony Ramsek  

Tony has worked for Answers In Genesis since 1999 and leads numerous gospel outreaches for the ministry. This includes the annual evangelism outreach to the NEA convention for public school teachers. He is also the Information Technology (IT) Manager for the ministry. It is Tony's heart's desire to exalt Christ, equip the saints, and evangelize the lost. He also brought with him an assistant, Brandon Bailey to aid in the gospel efforts and was a key figure in helping us reach the lost at Pella. 

Allen Atzbi 

Allen in the General Manager at Living Waters as well as the Director of the Ambassador's Academy. He holds a Master of Theology Degree from International Seminary and served as a Youth Pastor for a decade. Allen has trained churches in evangelism and led weekly street witnessing teams for years.

Grace Mally

Grace is the Author of the book, Will Our Generation Speak? A Call To Be Bold with the Gospel, and is the Co-Author to Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. Her and her family have a ministry called, Tomorrow's Forefathers, which equips families to be strong in the Lord. Grace also enjoys arranging witnessing events in her home town, which has led to a ministry called, Bright Lights, focusng on encouaging young girls to be radiant in godliness, holiness, and their testimony. She also gave her newest book out to us that attended the training and witnessing event.

On The Streets

Without going into specifics, it was a fantastic couple of days. After the teaching every day we paired into teams of two and hit the streets to share Christ with people at the festival. We also were out passing out tracts to those who waited for the morning and afternoon parades. Since Pella was founded by persecuted Christians, you would think that it would be a huge waste of time to share with those who were possibly Christians. But we ran into MANY people from all over surrounding states to come and enjoy the day. I personally witnessed to those from Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, and even Illinois.

We all carried tracts that Jon had specifically made for the event, and they were great tools to help start conversations. The crazy thing is that we gave out so much, that most of us were overlapping each other and offering tracts to the same persons.

While I was coming back from lunch, I ran into a Latter Day Saint (LDS) Mormon family who was there wearing badges.  I didn't know they were LDS until I gave them one of the Pella informational tracts and saw the name tag. I asked the older gentleman, "So what is the best thing about being an LDS Mormon? I have been studying it for years and was curious to what you thought." We had a nice long talk about grace, forgiveness of sin, and how no matter how many works they do, they will never be worthy enough to attain heaven on their own. We exchanged info and I was able to give them all a Joseph Smith million dollar bill I had purchased from a Utah ministry when I went to Utah for the Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant. They agreed to read the tract if I agreed to watch one a video by one of their BYU Professors about grace. I kept my end of the bargain, but pray they keep theirs.

One of the best things about this trip was meeting new Evangelists, talking shop with them, and sharing ideas on reaching the lost for Christ. We talked to each other in our two-by-two pair-ups, and then when we got together at lunch and during the parades, we shared our testimonies in larger groups on how the Lord opened our hearts. The fellowship between us all was amazing and how we worked together even through our different backgrounds, denominations, and styles.

Even though I am an introvert, and don't like the crowds, I know that my unique gifts are required elsewhere, and not excusing me either to do extroverted evangelism like this. I would much rather do one on ones. But in reality, we all need to pass out tracts and open those doors so that we can. The entire event went well, and by the end all our energy was spent on gardening, tilling, and planting those seeds of the gospel. 

Opening Day 2018

Saturday, May 5th was the opening day for the 2018 season of the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market. Mary and I were able to make it down there around 10 AM, and we got to see our friend Terry Daniel faithfully at his corner on Court Avenue and 3rd, holding his "Jesus" sign and witnessing to the crowds.

Hard to believe, but 2018 marks 10 years of the Lord allowing us to go down to the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market to share the gospel and proclaim Jesus Christ to all of our friends and neighbors down there.

There were a lot of people at the market, and it was really quite noisy at Court and 3rd where we usually set up, across the north side of 3rd Avenue from where Terry is in the picture above. The music was just too loud for public speaking, so I dropped my box off next to Terry, and spent an hour or so passing out tracks and talking to people as they walked by. The musician took a break a little after 11:00, so I grabbed my box and got about half hour sharing about Jesus and the gospel of grace. Mary was on the south side of the street, and she shared a ton of tracts with passing people, as usual.

It has been quite the experience, these 10 years of ministry in this location. I've learned a lot, and I hope I have grown in my compassion and love for my fellow man, as well as my love and devotion to my Savior. That's why we go down there; that's what motivates me keep on going, that, and the knowledge that one of these Saturdays it will be the last time.

Life is short. Use it for something that will honor God and last for eternity.

Gideon's Des Moines Bible Blitz

 This past week marked the Des Moines Gideon's International Bible Blitz where Professional Christian men and their spouses lovingly, graciously, and bravely distributed God's Word throughout the Des Moines, IA area. I was so blessed to be a part of this awesome en devour.

Throughout the different camps that attended we were met with alot of opposition, prayed, and the Lord helped us through. The opposition I am referring to was weather, and sickness. We were to experience a ton of snow in the Des Moines area at the start of the distribution. But looking at the weather report, even though it was cold, the snow went AROUND Des Moines, and not over top of us. Praise God for His mercy on us. Even though it did hinder those coming in from Minnesota area, we still were able to get the job done. Crunch time came at the end of our distribution and it was a beautiful 70 degree weather. Many of us, myself included, were faced with sickness throughout the time we spent together. Most of us pressed on and were able to get the job done.

The entire event was extremely successful. We set a goal of 30,000 scriptures to be distributed and I was told we overshot that goal by a few thousand! How awesome is God. Why is this number so important?  Gideon International spokesman Woody Murray said: 

"[Gideon Bibles] are spiritual staples of nearly every hotel room and the only item guests are invited to take. Our statistics show one-quarter of all travelers will read the bible in the hotel rooms and each bible has the potential to reach 2,300 people over its six-year life expectancy."

That number is quite amazing. The average amount of rooms for a limited amenity hotel in the USA is 114 rooms. That means in a 6 year period, just one hotel can have the potential to reach 262,200 people. According to an article from business travel news, in 2015 the hotel industry in the U.S. broke the 5 million room mark at 5,001,163 rooms. That is alot of people who have the potential to experience God's Holy Scriptures just in the U.S. alone and why this project is so important to reaching the lost and fulfilling the great commission.

But make no mistake...a bible can easily outlive its 6 year life expectancy. Once a bible gets decommissioned from a hotel room after its 6 years, if it is in good condition, it will be sent out to prisons, shelters, and other places it is needed. This is why programs like the Gideon Card Program is a great way to honor a loved one who has passed on, and a joy, investment, and a legacy in a living soul can be formed.

Though I am not allowed to include the specifics of this blitz, I will say that the men and women of Gideon's International are some of the most bravest, loving, caring, and especially focused people I know, fulfilling the great commission of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel. In each and every one of our minds, as Gideon's, we know we have a job to do, and to distribute God's word to every person we are able to. It is, and always will be, and incredible sight, to see Gideon's come from all over and to walk hand-in-hand together as brothers, to distribute God's word. We may not do it fearlessly, but we overcome that fear because of love of the other person receiving it, and love for our God and creator. 

Please consider becoming a member, a "Friend of the Gideon's", or even giving through the Gideon Card Program so that more scriptures can be given out freely to those who need them.