Recap: Paul McCartney Gospel Outreach, DSM

Last night was the much-anticipated gospel outreach at the Paul McCartney concert at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Armed with tracts stuffed in my new bag from the fair, it felt like I was delivering a ransom to kidnappers, dragging along 29 packages of million-dollar gospel money tracts.

Arrival

As we left home, it was starting to rain, which I had been anticipating with concern for over a week. Even in the morning, the weather seemed a bit gloomy for the outreach, but I prayed that the Lord would bless us with favorable conditions. When we arrived at the parking lot, the rain began to ease; and after we lifted our voices in prayer for good weather, it felt like God was truly answering our hopes right away. So much so that the moment we finished praying, the rain vanished completely, allowing us to enjoy the entire time we were out on the streets.

We waited for the other groups to arrive, but were hastened to start since the lines were so long to get in, well over an hour before the doors even opened for 7pm. A group of Christians from Davenport, IA arrived well before us, hitting the long line out front of the Casey’s Center. With all this going on, I felt rushed and wish I would have taken my time to evaluate and direct better. Several from our group came late, and missed our gathering at 6pm. Fortunately, they were veterans of the faith, and took charge of their own groups; but missed visiting with them and catching up.

Hitting the crowds

I directed a group made up of Steve, Brandt, and Wayne to head to a door I thought was another entrence, but was not; and managed to pass out tracts at the main entrence as people came into the parking lot. As people poured in more from the parking lot

Kim and Nicole did amazing with giving out over a thousand tracts, and taking two more packages at the end of the night. Kim is a machine when it comes to passing things out. People generally take them from her. The fact of the matter is people generally will take things from women over men, because they are more trusting. That’s why I have always said—women make the best evangelists, for they can easily reach people of both genders at any age—even children.

Christian, Dan, Julian and I led the charge in the skywalk securing the third entrence. As soon as we climed the stairs to the front of the line, we were met by a mob of people waiting to get in that were not hit by any other group. We distributed tracts throughout the whole line, and then were ready for those entering the long hall from the skywalk. I anticipated this to be the greatest gathering—which it was— because of the anticipated rain. But the people inside were very reluctant to take many tracts. I was actually shocked when I only gave out 150 in that spot, and my compadres didn’t do much better—not for a lack of trying. When I checked in with the other groups, they all agreed that the crowds were getting skeptical of what we were passing out. They weren’t “grabbing them like hotcakes” as Ray Comfort of Living Waters had initially predicted.

Lisa and Nik congretated at the souvenier stand outside the far entrence where the box office is. They actually had an amazing time, giving out 1,100 tracts just between the two of them, just by asking, “Did you get your free souvenir tonight?” People couldn’t wait to get them as the climbed the hill from the direction of Buzzard Billy’s right into their path. When they ran out of tracts we ran to finish the night over there with them. Kim went straight to the entrence of the building and just handed them out like a boss. I wouldn’t have expected any less.

At the end of our time, in just over two hours I believe we gave out around 4,000 tracts.

Many wins

We had many wins in our group that need to be recognized despite the busiest outreach I think I’ve ever been a part of in such a short amount of time. It was like running a marathon in two hours.

First, we had so many new people who have never given out a tract before and doing it in the most audacious way possible. Dan, Julian, Georgia, and Nicole did amazing taking instruction from those who have done it before, listening and open to feedback wanting to do it better. It was so cool as they saw the need to get to work, hitting the ground running, and just “gettin-‘er-done” because time was running short. It was as if they didn’t have time to be nervous.

Also, despite the busyness of the endeavor, Kim, Christian, and maybe others took the time out of the busy crowds to focus on some one-on-one conversations and shared the gospel caringly with those around them. That’s so important to not have tunnel-vision and take the time to thoughtfully engage with those around us who need it the most. Kim talked to a guy who was dying of cancer, and Christian to the guys who were selling t-shirts outside. It was really cool, and definitely memorable.

Last, but certainly not least, we gave out more tracts in two hours than most churches gave out in five years or more. That was no small feat, and so glad we got to do this. All of us were thrown out of our comfort zones, put our nose to the grindstone, and did it together.

End of the day

At the end of the outreach, we were all spent. Some more than others, the others being energized with enthusiasm for what we had accomplished. As I reflected on the night, I wished I would have been more organized without reacting to the size of the crowd. I felt bad for those who came late and didn’t get to do this together with us, especially for a photo at the end. But we were all on the same team and under the true leadership of the Holy Spirit. Those like Katie & her husband, along with Kasin and his crew—all veterans in evangelism—didn’t need my help. I’m very thankful to the Lord for answering our prayer and holding back the rain, which made a significant difference in what could have happened.

DATE	CITY	VENUE
October 17, 2025	Minneapolis, MN	U.S. Bank Stadium
October 22, 2025	Tulsa, OK	BOK Center
October 25, 2025	San Antonio, TX	Alamodome
October 29, 2025	New Orleans, LA	Smoothie King Center
November 2, 2025	Atlanta, GA	State Farm Arena
November 3, 2025	Atlanta, GA	State Farm Arena
November 6, 2025	Nashville, TN	Bridgestone Arena
November 8, 2025	Columbus, OH	Nationwide Arena
November 11, 2025	Pittsburgh, PA	PPG Paints Arena
November 14, 2025	Buffalo, NY	Keybank Center
November 17, 2025	Montreal, QC	Bell Centre
November 20, 2025	Hamilton, ON	First Ontario Center
November 24, 2025	Chicago, IL	United Center
November 25, 2025	Chicago, IL	United Center

I reflect positively and optimistically from this experience that I will learn to plan better and will create a form or registration to get information and changes to the team quicker. I will take any suggestion for sure to help with the next outreach. With the amount of servants and size of the crowd—I couldn’t have asked for a better team. It was a total win. Pray for the rest of the outreach and those who will be serving.