Medina County Fair, day 3

I’m really enjoying this whole fair project.  We’ve gotten a lot of good chances to talk with people about why we’re doing this.  There seem to be a lot of people who say they would like to understand the Bible and learn more about God, but something about the church has been a turn-off (formality, hypocrisy, etc.).  I’m always careful to tell people that they will find just as many hypocrites in this church we’re starting as anywhere else, but that we’re trying to create a place where people can be honest and open about where they’re truly at – not having to pretend, or to reach a certain standard before they’re accepted.

We’ve had 5 or 6 people tell us that they’ve gotten a door-hanger from us in the last couple days, which is pretty amazing since we’ve only done 8 neighborhoods so far, out of the 42 we’re aiming for.  Hopefully the multiple touches will pay off.  Here’s the door-hanger we’re using (click to enlarge):

Medina County Fair, day 2

Day 2 was a little slower, but still very positive.  Lots of good conversations.  It’s still funny to me how many “doctrinal watchdogs” there are – people who have no intention of looking into the church b/c they already have their own (usually it’s not even anywhere nearby), but they want to know if we use the KJV, teach certain things, etc. 

Our ticket/invitations still seem to be right on the mark – those we’re trying to reach are often very interested, while the long-time “church people” occasionally give us scowls and frowns.  Just for fun, here’s the tickets we’re handing out (click image to see full-size):

One of the highlights of the day was the young lady who came up to the booth holding a ticket, saying that she’d found it on the ground and had been looking for us because she was very interested in coming to the picnic and wanted to see more of what we were all about.

Praying that God will continue to connect us with people who need Him…

Medina County Fair, day 1

ikon had a great day at the fair yesterday.  We handed out a ton of freeze-pops (or popsicles, if you’re not familiar with “freeze-pops,” “icy pops,” “ice-pops, “pop-ice,” etc. – can you tell we had a running discussion about this yesterday?)  We also handed out a ton of picnic invitations for our upcoming picnic.

Lots of good conversations, too.  Many people seemed interested in a church that plans to put things in plain language, where people who have tattoos, who drink, who don’t believe in God, etc. can come and find acceptance.  That seemed to be a welcome idea to many, while we got a good number of scowls from church people.  That just makes me think we’re in the right place, as I reflect on the reactions Jesus got during his ministry.

Our combination of corn hole games, give-away drawings, and freeze-pops seems to be a big hit.  (We’ve been ranked by at least one person as the most fun booth there).  Lots of people can’t believe we’re not selling anything – a good reminder of how many of us are skeptical when it comes to religion or life in general.

Well, I’m off to the fair again right now.  Praying that God uses all of this to give us some significant connections with people who are far from Him…

2 months?

I knew it had been at least a month since I posted, and I was going to get to it soon, but…

…2 months since my last post?  I’m worse at this than I realized!

So here’s the bullet point summary of what’s up:

• today begins the Medina County Fair, where ikon has a booth set up.  We’re handing out freeze-pops and invitations to a picnic on Aug. 10.  (BTW, do you have any idea how complicated it is to get 30,000+ freeze-pops frozen all at once?)
• We’re planning for the picnic on Sunday, August 10.  The goal is to take 15 minutes to introduce people to ikon and what our dreams are for this new church in Medina.  Between 25,000 invitations at the fair, and 5,000 door-hangers around town, we hope to have a decent crowd at the picnic.  check out the website for more info:  www.ikonmedina.com
• Caden and Luke begin swimming lessons today, as well.  They’re very excited, to say the least!
• We’ve experienced a lot of support and encouragement from outside our group in the last couple months, particularly from friends in Columbus, and from Trinity EFC in Amherst, OH (where I serve 2 days each week).
• More to come soon (as in, less than 2 months from now.  I’ve really got to stay in the habit of posting here…)