Mississippi Baptist volunteers will be working with their state Baptist evangelism tent at the 2023 Mississippi State Fair to “share Christ … surrounded by a supportive team.”
Last year, around 600,000 people from all walks of life, backgrounds, classes, cultures and ethnicities passed through the fairgrounds. Volunteers at the evangelism tent ask fairgoers for three minutes of their time for a presentation of the gospel.
Last year, Mississippi Baptist church teams —153 individuals — shared the gospel with 2,585 people, of whom 209 made a profession of faith that week.
The MBCB evangelism department has signed up volunteers for shifts beginning Oct. 5–15. No specific strategy is required. Individuals are encouraged to utilize witnessing methods they know and feel comfortable with sharing (for example, The Romans Road or personal testimony).
Surrounded by support
No experience is necessary, said Don Lum, MBCB director of evangelism. He noted it’s a unique way to learn how to witness. “The evangelism tent is a great environment to share Christ,” he noted. “You’re surrounded by a supportive team.”
Volunteers in the past, Lum noted, have left the fairgrounds strongly encouraged and more aware of the work God is doing in and through them. Individuals realized they could do what they didn’t know they could do — share Jesus with the strangers God places in their path, he said.
‘Go where the people are’
Some fairgoers choose to initially enter the tent because of a heavy burden on their hearts, like one mother who steered a stroller into the shade of the tent and asked for prayer for her sick child.
The evangelism team gathered around the two, to lift them up in prayer.
The MBCB evangelism tent is also utilized for sharing the gospel at the Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Fairgrounds in February of each year.
“The goal of evangelism is to share Christ with everyone,” Lum pointed out, “How do we do that? We go where the people are.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lindsey Williams and originally published by the Baptist Record.
