This weekend some of our community groups are serving the city of Louisville's Splash n Dash event. It's a large race event that will draw all kinds of families downtown, and Highview has been invited to have a presence there volunteering. I wrote some simple ideas for those volunteering to be intentional about making disciples while there. Whether or not you are volunteering for this event some of these ideas may spark something for you to engage with people at a similar event in the future.
As you will see each of these possible encounters with people are very short, and meant simply to get you to exchange contact information for a later connection. If God opens the door for a full gospel conversation that's fantastic, take it! But most of these people will be on the move and it will be hard to get the attention and time you would need for a lengthy talk. Contact info allows you to schedule another time to meet with them for lunch, coffee, or dinner in your home to build an ongoing relationship and talk about the gospel.
1. If someone asks you about Highview church because of t-shirt or wagon, tell them where we are located and ask if they go to church anywhere.If no, Be quick to say we have 3 places our church gathers. If you want, to we can exchange contact info and I can get you details about the services.
2. If someone acknowledges/thanks you for handing out water and cheering people on, be quick to say, "It's because Jesus has served us, so we want to serve our community and show his love." Say, "Another thing we love doing is praying for people, is there anything I can pray for you about?"
After they share prayer request, let them know you will pray and if the chemistry is right, ask them if they have a church home and if you can exchange contact info for details about services and further prayer support.
3. While serving in the shuttle drop off or just mingling with people, try to make a personal connection with individuals who linger for any amount of time. Ask questions about how they did in the race or what their experience was like running. If they will dialogue with you at all, tell them your name and that you are there with your church to support and show love. Ask if they have kids who are also active in sports. If so, tell them our church offers a lot of good sports leagues for kids. See if they are willing to exchange contact info for further details.
4. While serving before the race, be intentional to notice clothing, apparel, accessories that may tell you something about where that person is from. Examples are sports teams, high schools, local businesses or companies. Comment on the shirt, and ask their connection to it. Ask what part of the city they live in. Ask if they would be interested in information about the church campus that may be closest to them. If so, exchange contact info for further details.
Be prayerful the entire week leading up to the race that God would cross your path with someone who would be interested in exchanging contact info and connecting at another time. Be intentional, trust God.
Prayer and Disciple Making
Dr. Kennon Vaughn calls us to prayer as the number one priority in the life of a disciple maker. He leaves us with the tag line, "We have to pray until what is on Jesus' heart, gets on our heart." I hope this short clip inspires you to pray more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pm2WU2dzuY