This spring, Farmville (Va.) members participated in the Heart of Virginia Festival—an event that draws people from seven surrounding counties. “We set up four 12×12 tents for our outreach and have participated the last four years,” says Charles Derringer, deacon.
Members distributed over 400 pieces of children literature and nearly 1,000 books for adults—including literature in Spanish and about 200 Bible study guides. “One of the books we gave away was The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge,” explains Derringer. “Many people had seen or heard of the movie, but didn’t realize Doss was a Lynchburg (Va.) native or a Seventh-day Adventist until they stopped by our booth.”
“We set up our tents and tables early Sabbath morning, which allows us time to have a small prayer and worship service,” said Derringer. “We had about eight church members constantly working the booth, including two who speak Spanish. We shared information about WGFW 88.7, the local Adventist radio station and Radio 74. Children who stopped by, received literature and were also entertained by Brother D—who is well-known by students in the local school district through his work as a substitute teacher and bus driver.”
Three Kindle Fire 8s were also raffled off. “Winners needed to be present to win, so people kept coming back to our booth to check in,” said Derringer. “This gave us more opportunities to reach and interact with them.” One church member donated handmade paracord keychains to give to those who entered the raffle, but whose name was not drawn. “Now that the event is over, we are following up with everyone who entered the raffle or had taken our church survey. We want to know what they are looking for in a church and what the local churches can do to help more people. During the event, several children expressed interest in getting to know Jesus and several families expressed an interest in attending our church services. We are praying the harvest will be plentiful!”
