Done! The 2026 Iowa State Fair Outreach

We’re proud to wrap up another successful state fair with the Tulip Gospel Outreach IowaGO! booth. It was an interesting time of seeing old faces, and new ones from Testify Camp joining us again to help spread the good news.

The very first day I encountered some nausea for some reason, only to come down with a cold, which took me out one day and feeling miserable the rest. It was difficult to keep my spirits up, and used all kinds of essential oils and hand sanitizer to prevent it from spreading.

At first I struggled to get into conversation. Not for a lack of trying, but found myself only sharing the bad news, and my “opponent” not sticking around to hear the good news. I have to remember that sometimes it’s what they really need to know and understand. To let that soak in so that a Christian can share the good news as they fully understand the bad.

But as the week progressed I found myself sharing the gospel to different types on a given day. On a particular day when the campers were not even in the booth, three of us were sharing Christ with seven different people at the same time! It was absolutely glorious.

Hungry 14 Year-old Boys

On one particular day, I discovered that all the people I shared the full gospel to were 14 year-old boys that were hungry to hear the gospel and stuck around to hear more.

Mack, a boy who doesn’t live in a Christian home, told me that it was the first time he’s ever heard the gospel and wanted to really ponder what we were saying and talked about before making any decision for Christ. Knowing he has Christian friends who go to church and read the Bible, knows he needs to ask them about Jesus and to open a door for conversation with them. Imagine one of your heathen friends turning to you and saying, “I want to learn about Jesus and the Bible. Can you show me what I need to know?” How cool would that be?

Dylan, who noticed the banners and the ark, came into the booth eager to hear the gospel and showed genuine interest when I shared it with him. After I explained the gospel in full detail, he expressed, “I’ve never heard this before, and I go to Revive Church every week with my friends. It’s all about music and being social. I want to understand the Bible better, but I try to read it and find it challenging.” We had a wonderful conversation about how the Holy Spirit could transform his life, but since he had not yet received Him as a helper and a seal of his inheritance, reading the Scriptures would be difficult. After praying for him, I handed him the full gospel tract, Are You Good Enough to Go to Heaven, with my website information on the back, encouraging him to read each of the Ten Commandments and reflect on them in his life. Then, I urged him to call out to God in repentance and turn to His Son in faith and full confidence. He expressed deep gratitude for our conversation. I feel hopeful about the journey ahead for Dylan, trusting that God will guide him as he seeks Him with an open heart.

Josiah also heard the gospel for the first time and at the end of our conversation wanted to know more. Like Dylan, he tried to read the Scriptures but couldn’t understand a word and was frustrated. I gave him the same tract as I did Dylan and we talked through it together, hitting the important parts. I could see hope in his eyes after our conversation.

I urged all three boys to repent and get right with God today; now even, but none took me up on that offer. Sometimes people need to really ponder and count the cost of coming to Christ. But hopefully not procrastinate it.

Roman Catholics

Another group of people I witnessed to who stuck around to hear the full gospel were Roman Catholics. I love talking with those of the Catholic faith by asking questions and sharing why I left. It’s not that I want them to leave the faith all together, but be united in the one true mediator — Jesus Christ.

Greg

Greg, a kind and gentle man reminiscent of John Candy’s character Chet Ripley from The Great Outdoors, spoke with my wife for half an hour and mentioned as he left that he was a Roman Catholic who liked talking to his “separated brethren.” Her heart sunk as he walked away, wishing she could have pressed a little more, turned to me and said, “I honestly thought he was a Christian. He said all the right things and agreed with everything I said. How did I miss this?” But, we prayed for another opportunity and got one later that day.

When he came back I seized the opportunity to talk with him and welcomed him back. He said what a wonderful conversation he had with “the tall girl with the mullet,” and came back to look at some of the material we were giving away. After revealing it was my wife, he wanted to get my views of some things about the differences between our faiths and why I left his.

The first thing I mentioned was how the Roman Catholic Church views Mary as co-redeemer and worthy of veneration. He said, “You guys think we worship her and we don’t. That would be wrong.”

“At what point does veneration look more like worship?” I said as I pulled out my phone looking for a particular photo. He looked puzzled, till I showed him the following:

“Greg, please explain how this is not worship? Mary is sitting in the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. A place where only God sits. I know this is the Ark because of the angels on either side, the poles to carry it, and the obvious Ten Commandments, bowl of manna, and Aarons rod inscribed on the side. Not only that, but the monstrance is placed on her chest?”

Upon looking at it he had a visceral reaction and said, “Well, it’s obviously AI.”

“No,” I said, showing him the actual website. “It’s it’s in the Adoration (Latira) Chapel St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Parish in Chicago.”

“Oh, that’s so wrong on so many levels,” Greg said with disgust on his face.

“No, that’s true Roman Catholicism. That’s one of many reasons I left.”

He tried to find the words to say and excuses for what they did, but couldn’t find any. He offered many, but the more he talked, the more hopeless and ridiculous it sounded. He stumbled over his words, started sweating, and his left eye twitched uncontrollably. He promised to look it up and also read the Book of Hebrews in the Bible. At the end of our talk he was clearly bothered by our conversation and now had more questions than answers.

Haden

Haden is an 18 year-old Roman Catholic who originally said he was a good person and good enough to go to heaven. It took a while to stew in the “bad news” for a while, but I had to go through each of the Ten Commandments one at a time, while he failed nearly every one. I showed him this verse to solidify his bankruptcy compared to the holiness God requires:

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” – James 2:10-11 NKJV

It’s by the law that no flesh will be justified in His sight, and by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). But we need to know that it is only by the law of God that the world is guilty and shuts down the excuses every time (Romans 3:19). Even if you have to go through all ten commandments in Exodus 20. I could tell he fully understood what I was saying and was visibly shaken at what I said. By this, I was able to share the good news that Jesus Christ alone offers and give him hope. I prayed for Haden and asked if he wanted to repent and put all his trust in Christ alone. He said he had to seriously think about it. So I gave him some booklets to read and implored him to read John, Romans, and Hebrews.

Pray for All Those Who Heard and Read

Please pray for the hundreds of thousands that walked past our booth, received a tract, talked with us, heard the gospel or we prayed over.

One gentleman came back to discuss some things he is learning about the Bible and in the process wanted to thank me for our conversation a few years ago. He said I was really kind to him, even though he came into the booth to argue. But it was how I responded that prompted him to come back. I remembered him and he was shocked I even remembered his name and what we talked about. It was Nathan from this post!

You just never know who will show up at the fair, and the ones you think are hopeless are actually the ones searching. That’s why we are there: to rescue sinners and equip the saints. So please, keep praying.