Peggy Lucht, Garden Valley Adventist Church personal ministries leader, suggested setting up a booth in their little mountain town of Crouch on the Fourth of July and handing out literature. She knew that on holiday weekends Crouch is generally teeming with tourists. The Fourth of July holiday, celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial, would certainly be packed with people, and it also fell on Sabbath. Church board members enthusiastically agreed.
“We’re told that Jesus mingled with people, desiring their good, and that if we spent more time in personal ministry, we would see greater results,” said Lemuel Niere, Garden Valley Church pastor, quoting Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 363. “We were doing something significant for our community through this outreach.”
Lucht’s plan, though, involved more than simply distributing literature. “We wanted people to be attracted to our booth,” Lucht said.
Long hours of prayerful planning and preparation resulted in 100 FREEdom bags containing fun items such as a small American flag, a pen inscribed with the name of the church, a bottle of water and mints.
Most important, however, the bags also held a copy of the America in Bible Prophecy magazine by Amazing Facts International; Ellen G. White’s book Steps to Christ with the revised title Footsteps: A Closer Walk With Jesus, also published by Amazing Facts; and a bookmark with a QR Code to either read The Desire of Ages online or listen to an audio version.
Also available at the booth were free copies of the special edition of The Great Controversy to mark the U.S.'s 250th year as a nation, published by Remnant Publications with the title Lessons From History: The Great Controversy That Made Us Free; as well as additional flags, cold bottles of water and Bible-focused stickers for children.
“Everything was free,” explained Cheri Casey, Garden Valley Church secretary. “Some people wanted to give us a donation, but we said no. We just wanted to do something special for everyone.”
Any doubts that people would be interested in the FREEdom bags soon vanished as all 100 bags — one per family — were gone in less than two hours. By the end of the afternoon, 40 copies of The Great Controversy were also in the hands of event attendees.
“We had an amazing high Sabbath,” said Mike Van Dyk, Garden Valley Church head deacon and long-time community resident. “The outreach to the community was very welcomed and appreciated by everyone who came to our booth. It was pure joy.”
Lucht recounts a special encounter with a woman who accepted a copy of The Great Controversy.
“The woman said, ‘My husband has a terminal illness, and he will be very interested in this book — although we will have to read it to him.’ She also requested a ‘Jesus Loves Me’ sticker to encourage him,” Lucht said. “I believe it was a God-ordained connection.”
“What a blessing to see the body of Christ working together to bring this outreach effort together,” Lucht added. “It was a team effort, and now we’re praying for the seeds that have been planted.”
Larry Blackmer, Garden Valley Church head elder, jump-starts the church’s holiday weekend with a message titled “America in Prophecy.”
Garden Valley Church members praise God for His blessings following the event.
Garden Valley Church hands out all 100 FREEdom bags in less than two hours.
Garden Valley Church members connect with their community through a holiday outreach booth offering free water, literature and family-friendly giveaways.
