How to Serve: Iowa State Fair IowaGo! Booth

From August 8-18 at the Iowa State Fair, a group of volunteers gathers to share the gospel message through a booth in the Varied Industries Building. With over 1.2 million people visiting the Iowa State Fair each year, this is a great opportunity to reach unbelievers with the gospel and encourage fellow Christians from all over Iowa and the world. The 20-foot square booth is located inside the air-conditioned Varied Industries Building with open to aisles on both sides. The booth highlights a 10-foot scale-model of Noah’s Ark with two O-scale trains running underneath to highlight the immense size of the ark. On each side of the booth there are tables and videos showing Creation Evangelism content and the gospel message. Three tables display tracts and other gospel materials to give away free to all visitors. Many kids come every year to get their dinosaur tattoo and learn more about God, Jesus, the Ark, and creation. To find us, we are located between the two large banners (100 and 200) near the main entrance on the North side of the building.

Three Ways to Serve

Depending upon your ability and goals, there are three different ways to serve the IowaGo! creation booth.

Share the gospel at the booth and/or parade

Working at the booth is an amazing experience sharing the gospel with people who don’t know Christ, as well as equipping saints for the work of the ministry. When you watch the spiritual eyes of people open right before you — you witness miracles happen and you become an answer to prayers.

Check out the article — The Creation Evangelism Booth: Through the Eyes of Our Volunteers and read why many of us take part in this ministry every year.

To sign up for this experience, register at: www.iowago.org and click the 2024 REGISTRATION FORM button. Here you answer some questions about your beliefs, and sign up for times and days you are available to serve.

Upon registration, you will be given a free Answers in Genesis Creation Apologetics online course ($29 value). When you show up for the event, you will also be given a free biblical evangelism book by Grace Mally ($14 value). These resources are indispensible when it comes to sharing your faith during and after the event.

Inside the booth, there will always be tracts and extra help from those who have done this before, so you will never be alone. This is a fantastic way to get your feet wet sharing the gospel. But, if you would like extra evangelism training during this time, the Testify Training Camp with Tomorrow’s Forefathers, runs in conjunction with the IowaGo! booth and equips you to share your faith with anyone you meet. To register for these sessions, register here. Cost ranges between $115 for those who live locally and don’t need housing. $250 with housing registering before July 15th, and $275 registering after. Space is limited, so if you are interested in this extra training, sign up promptly.

On August 7, the day before the fair starts, a parade takes place down Grand Avenue into downtown Des Moines. Hundreds if not thousands line up the streets to watch the parade go by. Several groups of us will walk down the streets and hand out million-dollar gospel tracts and other giveaway items to those waiting. It’s so easy and everyone is sitting down waiting, bored, and in a good mood at the same time. Parade evangelism is great for whole Christian families of all ages to take part as a group. Check out the following video about parade evangelism:

Setup and teardown

Maybe sharing the gospel is not your thing, but you like to build things and are mechanically inclined. Well, you can still serve in this way by helping with the setup and teardown of the booth. It takes a good crew to put this all together to make this happen. If you are interested in doing this, contact Jon Neifert at: https://www.tulipgospeloutreach.org/contact for more information.

Giving to support the booth

Maybe none of these things interest you or you don’t have the time to spend at the fair. Well, you can still give to this ministry monetarily. Each year it costs the ministry well over $25,000 for the 11-day event. With State Fair booth space rental, as well as insurance, purchase of all tracts, books, and other giveaway material, not to mention maintenance of the booth, ark, and their storage — it all adds up.

2023 was the final year for Answers in Genesis financially sponsored the Creation Booth. This year, Jon Neifert of Tulip Gospel Outreach and the IowaGo! project, he takes on that burden himself. But he cannot do it alone. He needs help, and you can do that by visiting the donation page and designating your funds for IowaGo!

So, check out the website: www.iowago.org. Watch the videos, and read the articles to get a feel as to what it’s like. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jon Neifert at: https://www.tulipgospeloutreach.org/contact or email me at Frank@PensAndWrenches.com and I will try to answer your questions. We would love to see you there!