Shane Thayer

It was Sunday, Valentines day and it was was bitter cold. The church was busy by the time I arrived.  Where our chairs are usually set up facing the pulpit we had the tables out with bags of candy and people stuffing the bags.  Some tables had poster board on them with markers and crayons.  I took all the kids over to the smaller kid table and we began to make posters.  “Free Candy.” “God Loves You.”

Pastor Charity gave a brief message.  Christina is in charge of the Servant Evangelism that we are starting, so she got up and told a bit about what we were doing.  The goal was simple.  Show God’s love to people up here in northeast Kansas City.  We had little baggies of candy with a little card containing a simple message “This is a Free Gift, Just as God’s Love is Free.” The back had directions to the church and meeting times.  We grabbed The signs we made, some valentines balloons, and bags of candy and headed to independence.  We split up into two groups.  One went to Independence and Hardesty and I went with a group to Independence and Prospect.

When we got there the cold wind was kicking in.  There was a man waiting there at the bus stop on the side I was standing.  He was bundled up with a little EGA on his hat.  I talked to him for a moment.  He was a USMC vet like myself.  I gave him a bag of candy for himself and his father who he was going to meet down at the McDonalds on Independence and Hardesty.  He was a good guy and was with us most of the time waiting and talking to us.  I started giving bags of candy to people as they stopped at the red light.

Across the street was a larger bus stop with a shelter.  Sean was over there with his wife.  He told us that as he went up to the bus stop and started giving candy to the people waiting.  He held a bag out to a man and said “would you like some candy” the man said no.  Then he pulled out a bag of his own and asked Sean “Would you like some weed?” I can’t help but think if we were passing out little bags of pot, maybe more people would show up to church.  But I don’t think that’s the message we are trying to get out there.

A couple came walking across the street to where I was.  I gave them some of the chocolates.  They asked if they could have some of the balloons I was carrying, so I gave them both one so they could give them to each other from valentines day.  My new Vet friend asked if he could have one.  That’s when I realized how wonderful a thing these balloons were.  I think people were much more excited to receive a balloon than chocolates.  I was liberal with passing out the balloons I had.  They went quick, and seemed to get bigger smiles and a warmer reception.

I ran out of balloons quick and bags of chocolate shortly after.  I believe we had over 300 bags.  We gathered on the other side with Sean and Cisse (his wife) as they passed out the last few chocolates they had.  We were left with one balloon that made someone’s day before we headed back to the church to eat lunch and discuss the experience we both had and figure out what worked and what didn’t.

I think we learned a good deal and next time we go out it will be that much better because of our experience out there in the cold.

To learn more about servant evangelism go to Servant Evangelism .com