One of the best conversations I had at the IowaGO! Gospel Booth was with a very short 11 year-old boy we’ll just call Dewey, because he reminded me of the skeptical cynical younger brother in the family sitcom: Malcom in the Middle.
He wandered in one afternoon after one of our team members gave him a dino-million dollar bill. I could see them talking back and forth for a few minutes and our team member approached me and asked if I could talk with him one-on-one. I agreed and was glad that I did. He told me his name and said his parents were in Sheep Barn showing their collection of sheep for exhibition. “So, your parents believe in ‘free-range-parenting’?” I asked. His eyes widened and shook his head “no” quickly. I laughed, but realized since this kid is walking around here alone among the human traffikers and other nefarious people, that helping him stay at our booth would be benneficial. So, I just talked to him like an adult.
"Did you check out Noah's Ark? Do you know what it is?" I asked. He nodded. "God created everything good. But Adam and Eve, the first humans He created, disobeyed God; and because of their sin, caused death and transformed creation. That's why we have death, disease, weeds, and other very bad things. When sin was really bad, God judged the earth by a flood and killed all life on land with the exception of 8 people (Noah and his family) and two of every kind of animal to repopulate the world. So, God's grace and mercy for humanity is that large boat. Like that boat, there is only one way to be saved from the global flood, and like Jesus, there is only one way to be saved from God's judgment in hell for those who disobey God. Does that make sense?"
"It does," he nodded, but I could tell there was some skepticism on his face.
I asked, "Do you go to church?" He told me the name of it and I looked it up. It's a Lutheran Church that is led by women elders and pastors. I responded, "Can I be real with you? Here's why I think you're not 100% on board with the idea that God told Noah to build a boat to save people from His judgment. You go to school every day and hear the teacher say, 'Evolution is true, and the Bible is false' Monday through Friday. Then you hear the same thing on Saturday from Bill Nye the Science Guy, and then when you go to church on Sunday, your teacher says, 'I'm going to tell you a story about Noah and the flood,' and she shows you cartoons of a happy tug boat with animals sticking their heads out of windows and everyone is getting along. You think that the 'happy tug boat' is a fairytale, and what you learn in school is actually real. Right?"
His eyes were wide and the whole time I talked to him, Dewey never broke eye-contact. He was starting to understand, and after I showed him why we were there, he asked if he could hang out and read some stuff. So he spent about two hours in the booth that afternoon.
Later on that evening he came back and asked for more dino-millions and ark-millions. When I asked him why he wanted them, he said, “I gave the others to my friends and family and want to give more out. They need to read the message on the back!” Praise the Lord. It wasn’t anything I said, but God was speaking to his heart.
Before he left, I gave him a Ten Commandments Coin and we went through each commandment and said this was God’s standard of goodness. It’s like a mirror to show us how dirty we are, and how much we need God’s forgiveness found in Jesus. I also gave him a Gospel of John and told him to read the whole thing; that it is about who Jesus is and what He did for us. I asked him if he could bring his parents by before they left the fair, but they never came.
Looking back, I’m glad I spoke to him like an adult. When we treat kids that way, it shows them their thoughts matter—they have something to contribute. It builds respect and trust, and it models the kind of behavior we hope they’ll extend to others. It reinforces the idea that feelings and ideas are important, and that we can learn from one another. I also believe it encourages critical thinking, independence, and confidence in the young person. Maybe I sensed some of that already in him—perhaps because he was alone at the fair, and his parents trusted him to be there on his own.
Pray for “Dewey” that God would keep a hold on him and the Holy Spirit would guide him through the books and Gospel of John he received at the fair. I hope to see him again next year and hopefully as a brother in Christ.
Pens & Wrenches 
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