Picture this, if you will: the line outside waiting to get in is longer than any amusement park line you've ever stood in. People at the back of the line are expecting to wait over 3 1/2 hours to get in, or longer. There is a DJ playing secular music to the tune of Queen, Vanilla Ice, Rick James, Michael Jackson, and many others whose very lyrics represent things that The 99 is trying to warn against (drunkeness, drug use/abuse, promiscuity, bullying, suicide and more).
Our idea was that by putting the gospel into people's hands, they would have something to read and think about before, during and after walking through the presentation. As we were getting close to wrapping it up for the night, a security person approached one of our team members and suggested that he cease from handing out tracts to the people in line. His reasoning was that there were many attending this event who were not Christians and were unaware that this was a Christian event. Their goal was to walk people through the various themes, and then at the end present them with a gospel message. (On a side note, we learned that in order to be a counselor for this event, all one had to do was walk up and ask to do so, and basically, you were given a table to sit at with some forms to fill out for those who had just finished walking through.) We were told that we could stand near the exit door and hand tracts out to people as they were leaving, but they preferred that we not engage those in line.
Naturally, we obliged and finished that work that the Lord had sent us there to do. All in all, well over 1,000 tracts were handed out over 2 nights, and our prayer is that God would save even one person. But above all, that He was glorified. Church, we must remember this: what you draw them with, you must keep them with. Preach On!
Although I am not apposed to things like The 99, I hope we do not use it as a body for our only evangelistic activity. Many will attend such an event, make a profession during a moment of emotion, and never skip a beat on their road of sin. We would call these folks "false converts". I used to be one, so I know a little about that. That is not a shot at the event, only the fact.
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