Last Saturday was an incredible day filled with joy as we celebrated another successful year sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ outside of the Stepping Stones Christian Bookstore (SSCB) during the Marshalltown, IA Holiday Stroll. Just when we believed we had reached the peak of our efforts, God showered us with even more blessings than we could have imagined!
Last year as you can recall, we lost our normal nook in the entryway of the store. SSCB was given a grant to revamp the storefront due to the damage they received from the tornado that destroyed much of downtown Marshalltown. They were able to gain eight feet of space inside the store, but we had lost our cozy little spot to pass out tracts and shelter us from the weather. Because of that, we gained access to the lot next door, purchased a tent with sides, and borrowed items such as a battery pack for lights, and a propane heater for those extra-chilly nights. That was a game-changer—more room, more shelter, and a lot more heat!
MORE Laborers in the Field
This year, we experienced an amazing level of support compared to past years! My wife Lisa and I reunited with Paul, and she gladly joined an elderly couple from Paul’s church to share candy, tracts, and hot chocolate with everyone inside the store. I was excited to bring along my pastor, Brent; Nik, a man I’ve been mentoring; and our esteemed eldest elder, Kerry, who was an asset praying and bringing people to our booth who would have walked past without noticing.
Kasin, my neighbor from across the park brought from his church: Grant, Emily, and Malachi (who is new to sharing his faith). Using their youthful energy, they engaged people on the street throughout the event and were able to have many one-on-one conversations with the lost. With a total of twelve fishermen with servants hearts, we were glad we were able to spread out with the amazing weather.
Also, Jon Neifert from Tulip Gospel Outreach joined us in the fun. It’s awesome that despite our diverse Christian denominations and churches, we can effectively unite for the common purpose of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ—the ultimate bond that brings us all together.
MORE Tracts
With more hands to give out tracts, we were able to outdo all the previous Holiday Strolls in the amount of distributables offered and handed out. With that, we gave out:
- 450 chocolate tracts
- 400 candy cane tracts
- 400 Santa million dollar bills
- 50 Kids million dollar bill tracts
- 1 Gideon New Testament
- 5 “What Time is Purple” books
- 500 cups of hot chocolate
- and countless amount of other tracts people brought on their own.
All this, I estimated we gave out around 1,500 tracts in less than 4 hours! That’s crazy! Not only that, but again, we ran out of hot chocolate before the night was over. With an hour and a half left into the night, Nik and I ran (literally) to Hy-Vee to pick up 500 mini candy canes.
MORE People
The weather was fantastic during the event, and we couldn’t have asked for more out of a mid-November night. For the past ten days all of us were on edge to see what the weather was going to be like. The prediction early on was a lot of rain, wind, and cold never getting above 32 degrees. Through much prayer and God’s grace…the Lord pulled through, cleared the skies, and warmed it up a bit. The results: 72 degrees high with a low of 45 while we were working the booth! As you can see, it didn’t bother Grant much…he wore— SHORTS!
The event planning by Marshalltown was quite the spectacle, turning into a delightful circus of sorts! Thanks to the construction chaos, the parade couldn’t end with the usual fanfare. Instead, the planning committee cleverly decided to line up all the floats along the route. This little twist invited a whole new crowd to check out our area and sample our unique brand of fun—proving once again that sometimes the Lord brings blessed inconvenience!
MORE Fun
The preparations, the setup, and the teardown for an event like this is time-consuming hard work, but it is by far a more rewarding experience that we get to come alongside our Lord and lead the lost to Him.
Sharing the gospel isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely not always hard either. In fact, many people are genuinely searching for God, and they’re grateful when they meet someone who’s willing to step out in obedience to the Great Commission.
Some of my toughest outreaches have actually been some of the most meaningful—and even the most fun. There’s something about facing challenges together for the sake of the gospel that creates a deep sense of vulnerability and camaraderie. We laugh more, we joke more, and we move with a relaxed confidence because we know we’re in this together. When we drop our guard and trust one another, it becomes clear that we’re not just doing outreach—we’re living as a family on mission.
At the end of the night Brent and I were talking by the propane heater and he said, “I didn’t know sharing the gospel could be this much fun.”
I said, “Who told you it had to be a hard, painful grueling experience?”
“Game developers know that people have more fun when they’re in large groups. They feel more more fired up when the challenges are more epic.”
Jane McGonigal, Game Developer and Author
As we end this season of street evangelism on the frigid streets of Des Moines, Iowa, let us take a moment to pause and reflect on the experiences we’ve had and the lives we’ve touched throughout this year. This is not just a time for introspection, but also an opportunity to prepare ourselves spiritually and equip those in the church on how to share their faith confidently and effectively, reaching out to the lost with truth in love. As the Christmas season approaches and people are busy shopping for presents, let us seize this unique moment to engage in meaningful conversations, introducing them to the One for whom the holiday is named after.
Pens & Wrenches 
Leave a comment