This was our fourth year to partner with the School of Discipleship at Gospel For Asia and man the booth at the State 
Fair. I lover working with the students and had the opportunity to help several of them overcome fears and take next steps in their personal evangelism efforts. We rejoiced with one student who lead a woman to the Lord. The woman went off down Nimitz Blvd skipping after giving her life to Christ! I was able to encourage a Catholic man to start reading his Bible and provided him a plan of what to read and a schedule. When he left he said he was excited to go home and get started! I had a great conversation with a Hindu man who was there with his Christian girlfriend. He was very interested in the discussion and said he would do some reading of the Bible with his girlfriend. I noticed this year more than in the past that often people would come up to the booth in groups, but only one person in the group was really engaged in the eye test. So as one of our volunteers talked to that person who was most engaged, I started striking up the conversation with those that were standing back just a little bit. I could ask them if they took the eye test too, how they did and then segway into the Gospel. One young man really stuck out to me. After engaging him in conversation and diagnosing that he was spiritually dead in his sins, I shared the Gospel with him. He was not getting it and eventually rejected what I was saying. As his friends dragged him away he turned and walked off. On the back of his shirt was printed John 3:16 and the entire verse. It broke my heart that a young man has the Gospel on his t-shirt, but has not comprehended it in his heart. We pray for him.
Fair. I lover working with the students and had the opportunity to help several of them overcome fears and take next steps in their personal evangelism efforts. We rejoiced with one student who lead a woman to the Lord. The woman went off down Nimitz Blvd skipping after giving her life to Christ! I was able to encourage a Catholic man to start reading his Bible and provided him a plan of what to read and a schedule. When he left he said he was excited to go home and get started! I had a great conversation with a Hindu man who was there with his Christian girlfriend. He was very interested in the discussion and said he would do some reading of the Bible with his girlfriend. I noticed this year more than in the past that often people would come up to the booth in groups, but only one person in the group was really engaged in the eye test. So as one of our volunteers talked to that person who was most engaged, I started striking up the conversation with those that were standing back just a little bit. I could ask them if they took the eye test too, how they did and then segway into the Gospel. One young man really stuck out to me. After engaging him in conversation and diagnosing that he was spiritually dead in his sins, I shared the Gospel with him. He was not getting it and eventually rejected what I was saying. As his friends dragged him away he turned and walked off. On the back of his shirt was printed John 3:16 and the entire verse. It broke my heart that a young man has the Gospel on his t-shirt, but has not comprehended it in his heart. We pray for him.I hope you’ll be encouraged by what some of our other participants had to say about the outreach.
“Thank you so much to the State Fair of Texas Gospel Outreachfor the tremendous opportunity to share the Gospel with such wonderful soldiers in Christ at your booth. It was amazing seeing the message of Christ being shared and lives being changed just down from the midway at the State Fair.” Craig (Tioga, TX)
“We had a great time at the fair this year. Many people stoppedby the booth and heard the gospel message and several were saved. Looking forward to next year.” Arnold (Dallas, TX)
“This was my first year to travel to Texas State Fair for the purpose of spreading to glorious Gospel of Jesus thru tract evangelism and face to face, word of mouth sharing, just as the Great Commission commands all CHRISTians. The opportunities were many and some people were genuinely seeking life change and the great thing was allwe had to offer anyone was Jesus as the source of change and hope. My other source of encouragement was the many students from Gospel for Asia that came to assist. I asked many of them to share a brief testimony of their journey with Christ. It was such a blessing to talk to students from all over the world that were seeking to evangelize and tell others about our Lord and Savior. God is truly universal!” Gary Lively (Monroe, LA)
“It was such a blessing to be a part of the State Fair of TexasGospel Outreach again this year. I went last year for the very first time, coming back home very encouraged. This year was even better. I’ve come back with a greater zeal to reach out to the lost. It was wonderful to see several pray to be saved and others challenged to think about the condition of their soul. My friend, Gary Lively, and my oldest son were with me this year. I’m so thankful to work alongside Carl, Arnold, Craig and the students form the Gospel For Asia School of Discipleship. Thanks to Rex and everyone who makes this time of ministry possible!” Scott Thompson (Sterlington, LA)
“I talked to quite a few people that wanted to take the eye test and seemed interested in it. I talked to one girl (probably about 15 years of age or so and she was so close to praying right then and there for God to be Lord of her life but then she said that she had done that awhile back so she still might do that again. She seemed pretty genuine. I was excited to hear that and thought maybe I’ll be able to lead someone to the Lord but who knows, I planted a seed and maybe someone else will water it.” Daniel
“Another volunteer that was there named Ivonne started talking to a wife who was really convinced and believed in her heart that she would be in purgatory until she was able to make it to heaven and so the Lord allowed me to be able to explain a few things for her about what Jesus actually said and encouraged her to read her bible to not just take our word for it but to seek the scriptures about the Gospel we had shared with her. I really saw God use my days of being lost in sin to be able to bring some clarity to someone else who was walking the same path I came from before my eyes were finally opened to the truth. Praise God He ALWAYS works ALL things for good.” Melissa
“Had a blessed time engaging with all the poeple at the fair and it was equally encouraging being alongside fellow believers of different churches that were sharing the Gospel message also.!! :)” Jarius
“I was really encouraged by my time at the fair. The first year I went I was so terrified that when I got there I just cried and I wasn’t able to talk to a single person. But the Lord totally healed me from that and this year was a different story! I’m so blessed that I was given the opportunity to go to the fair again and see what the Lord can do through our lives. I was able to boldly share with several people the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I can’t even put into words how awesome that felt. I can’t wait to get to Heaven and see what kind of an impact we were able to make simply by our obedience to follow Christ despite our fears. There were so many people that we talked to that it just seemed like they were really gripped with the truth of the Gospel. Thank you all so much for letting us students join with you in obeying Jesus!” Trula
“It was a type of evangelism that I had never experienced before. It was a little scary, but the Lord gave us all grace during the time we were there. It was a blessing to able to meet and partner with other believers to talk with people about Jesus. Yep, it was a good day :)” Sharlena
“In the weeks before the fair, I had been reaching out to witness to people but many would respond saying that they were already a Christian. I don’t know if they were all speaking the truth but it made me feel like it was pointless trying to witness to people here in this country when there are millions elsewhere who are still to be reached with the gospel. I was starting to get discouraged at my efforts to witness and the day before my group went I was really praying and seeking the Lord when He put on my heart that it was a privilege to be able to speak for Him whether or not I see results. But, I still desperately wanted the Lord to really show me that our efforts were not in vain and that there were people who had a desire to turn to Him. The next day when we went to the fair, at least 3 people accepted Christ as their Savior! The Lord was faithful to answer my prayer even though He didn’t have to. So, now I’m encouraged to press on in being a faithful witness for Him :)” Damelia
