I was reminiscing on my experiences with Servant Evangelism and I realized I have a good story that I had never posted on my blog. It’s the Reflection Paper I wrote for my VLI evangelism class in February 2007. I describe an incident that will forever be ingrained in my head. Here is my reflection paper:

Servant Evangelism was introduced to me in Spring 2005 shortly after joining the Grove City Vineyard. Prior to taking this class, I had been on at least 30 Servant Evangelism outreaches with my home church. I was blessed to be pre-mentored by my Associate Pastor, Jason Coker, who was a graduate of VLI many years ago and a veteran Servant Evangelism leader. He ingrained all of the practical DOs and DON’Ts in my head and that impartation has been a tremendous asset.

Our project was pretty straightforward. We planned on standing in line at Starbucks, Panera Bread, and McDonalds and try to start up conversations with the customers and offer to buy their coffee, pastry, breakfast, etc. One part of our plan was to get approval from the Manager-On-Duty who will be working that Saturday morning. Another part of our plan was to buy a few gift cards per store so we wouldn’t have to fool around with money. The last part of our plan was to create a basic map of the three places along with cell phone numbers of all the team members so our volunteer servants could find their way to the facilities and contact any of us with questions. I personally did not set any measurable goals as far as the quantity of people I would contact. I make a point to see what God is doing and adapt to the situation at hand.

On the day of the project, we had 4 team members and 6 volunteer servants. Team A went to Starbucks with 4 students. Team B went to Panera Bread with 3 students. Team C went to McDonalds with 3 students. I was on Team B that went to Panera. The Manager-On-Duty was expecting us and we greeted her and thanked her for letting us come out. She seemed pretty happy that we were going to offer to pay for their customer’s food! The three of us (Staci Yoder, Joe Byler, and myself) took a table near the front of the store by the register. As a group, we decided in advance that we would try to stick with the same-sex approach. Joe and I wouldn’t approach women and Staci wouldn’t approach men. (We didn’t want to give the customers a wrong impression!) Unexpectedly, the first 6 customers or so customers that walked through the door were women! Staci was BUSY and Joe and I laughed at the situation. It was kind of interesting… if I were to guess the ratio between girl and guy customers, it was about 4:1. Yeah, Staci was REALLY busy!

It wasn’t until about 40 minutes of being there that I had my chance at the plate. I got up when I saw two guys come into the store, moved closer to the register and they walked right on by to go to the bathroom. I looked behind myself and saw a woman about the age of 50 come into the store. I got this impression from God that I really need to make the offer to her (despite the fact she is a woman). She looked about the age of my Mom, so I felt pretty comfortable starting a conversation with her. I introduced myself and said I would like to buy her breakfast this morning and she got really quiet. God was really doing something at that moment. She checked to make sure I was serious and I absolutely insisted that I buy her breakfast this morning because, “I’m here to show you God’s love today.” She began to show signs of tearing up and became flustered and couldn’t think straight. As she looked into her purse, she expressed to me that she had no clue how she was going to afford eating breakfast this morning. She accepted the offer and tried to order something from the menu, but she just couldn’t hold her concentration! After she took about a minute to decide on a small fruit cup and a coffee, I presented the gift card to cashier. In my peripheral vision, I felt her eyes probing me. I looked over at her and she said to me, “You’re an angel!” I took that as a complement and said “You’re welcome.” Then she said to me, “No no! You were never born! You’re an ANGEL!” Right then, I new she was seriously convinced that God sent down a guardian angel. She completely took me off guard and I couldn’t find anything to say. I smiled, took the receipt for the cashier, and wished her a good morning as I walked back to our table, completely stunned.

When I got back to the table to meet up with Joe and Staci, I burst out saying, “You wouldn’t believe was just happened!” I relayed the story to them and they were in awe of what just happened. About a minute later, the lady (who thought I was an angel) walked by our table with her food and she said to me, “Why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to go up to heaven?” as she enthusiastically pointed her thumb up in the air. Again, I was completely without words! I smiled and wished her a good day. About 15 minutes later, she came by one more time, placed her hand on my arm and said, “Thank you.” Then she walked out of Panera.

I’ve been on a lot of Servant Evangelism outreaches, but this is the first one where someone thought I was a literal angel. I have a feeling that by the time she came to me that last time, she realized I was a real person and she proved it to herself by touching my arm. I know God was doing something in her through that whole situation; she knows it was God, she just initially miscredited it to an angel. I really do think God sent me to Panera just for her. If I were to have done it differently, I would have invited her over to our table for breakfast to talk and introduce her to Staci. I think God wanted to do a little bit more there.

Overall, I think this project was a huge success! The manager’s were accommodating, we touched the lives of several strangers in a powerful way, Jesus’ name was glorified with every encounter, and we had fun doing it. What more could we ask for?

Paul Bradshaw, our middle school pastor, asked me to think of a scavenger hunt idea that would work well with a blended middle/high school group. I began brainstorming with Tanya and the Servant Evangelism Scavenger Hunt was born!! This event is currently being planned for the Vineyard Family Reunion in July. But, I just found out it’s only going to be for the middle school (I suppose the high school group has something else in mind). That’s a bummer because I was a high school youth leader last year and I was hoping we could get back together for this FUN activity!

Servant Evangelism Scavenger Hunt

SUMMARY
We’re going to unleash dozens of students all over Grove City to spread the love of Jesus Christ in a practical way. Students will be doing different servant evangelism activities that will give them exposure to sharing Jesus with strangers in an exciting way.

OBJECTIVE
This is not your typical scavenger hunt where you get through the stations as quickly as possible at any cost. The students are representing our church and our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though the goal is to complete the entire course in the least possible time, there will be time penalties and time bonuses given at the discretion of a youth leader or driver (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”).

RULES
1. RESPECT Jesus.
2. RESPECT all people you serve.
3. RESPECT your leaders.
4. RESPECT your drivers.
5. RESPECT your peers/friends.
6. RESPECT all property.

Here is an example of breaking the rules with a person you are serving… Let’s say it’s a pop giveaway and the person says they don’t want a pop, but you toss one through their open window so that way you can meet the quantitative objective of that station. You’ve just disrespected a person you’re serving and disrespected Jesus. There’s a qualitative objective that must always be kept! If any rules are broken, a team is subject to the penalty (See “PENALTY”).

SETUP
Drivers, vehicles, and youth leaders will need to be recruited to proportionally fill the spots needed based on the number of students participating and the number of stations we setup. We will setup a minimum of 7 stations all over Grove City. Stations will be run by a least one youth leader and possibly two if the station requires more supervision or assistance. Drivers will be either a responsible parent or an adult.

Stations may need to be setup in advance. If a station requires advanced permission from a business to use their premise, permission will be secured at least a week before the scavenger hunt.

Station routes will need to be designed in advance because we want to avoid sending more than one team to the same place at the same time. We will design unique routes for each participating team. (See “ROUTES”)

Station clues will need to be creatively written so a team will have to work together to figure out where the station is located.

ROUTES
An entire route will not be known to a team in advance. The only way they will get the clue to the next station on their route is by successfully completing each Servant Evangelism activity in the correct order. Shortcuts will not be permitted because they will need to show proof they completed the previous activity before starting the next activity. If a Youth Leader has determined a team is taking a shortcut, they will not be permitted to do that activity until they meet all route prerequisites.

YOUTH LEADER
Youth Leaders must be experienced with Servant Evangelism so they can demonstrate how to complete the task. Youth Leaders must inspire and encourage the students as they may be new to Servant Evangelism. Youth Leaders will also be responsible for issuing penalties and bonuses. (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”)

DRIVERS
All drivers must be responsible adults or parents over the age of 21. They have authority to issue penalties and bonuses. (See “PENALTY” and “BONUS”)

GAMEPLAY
The students will select their own teams with a total of 4 people per team. If there are one, two, or three leftover players, they will be moved to another team so it totals 5 people. Those 5-player teams will be transported in a minivan.

Each team will be given a map of Grove City and a clue to find their first station. Teams will not be sent to the same station in their first clue because each team will have a unique route. (See “ROUTES”) In order to do a station, the team must show proof they completed the previous station on their unique route. The goal is to complete all stations, in the correct order, in the least amount of time. If a student does not follow the rules, a Youth Leader or driver has the authority to issue a penalty (See “PENALTY”).

After all teams have crossed the finish line, bonuses will be totaled and applied to each team’s total time. (See “BONUS”) The team with the lowest adjusted time is the winner.

STATIONS
Almost any Servant Evangelism activity could be used in this scavenger hunt. Here are some ideas worth discussing:
Pop Giveaway – A team would need to pass out 8 cans of pop at a busy intersection. Estimated cost per team: $4.00

Laundromat Quarter Giveaway – A team would need to give away 2 half-rolls of quarters at a Laundromat. Estimated cost per team: $10.00

Ice Cream Coupons – A team would need to give away 2 free ice cream coupons in a public place. Estimated cost per team: $6.00

Doggie Treats – A team would need to give away 2 doggie treat care packages in a public park where people are walking their dogs. Estimated cost per team: $5.00

Business Blast – A team would need to go into a business and give away 4 bags of assorted candy to at least 4 workers in that business. Estimated cost per team: $3.00

Trash Cleanup – A team would need to fill 1 plastic grocery bag with trash they find in a designated area. Estimated cost per team: Free

Starbucks – Approach one person at Starbucks while they are purchasing their drink and pay for it. Estimated cost per team: $4.00

Drive Thru – At a fast food joint, buy your driver a drink and while you’re in the drive thru, pay for the meals in the car immediately behind you. Estimated cost per team: $9.00

Gas Station – Buy your driver $8.00 in gas, clean your driver’s windows, and the windows of at least 2 cars. Estimated cost per team: $8.00.

Shopping Cart Return – Go to the Wal-mart parking lot and offer to return the customer’s shopping cart. Return 4 shopping carts. Estimated cost per team: Free.

Helium balloon giveaway – Go to a place where there will be a lot of children to giveaway balloons. Approach the parents first! Give away 4 balloons. Estimate cost per team: $4.00

PENALTY
Breaking the rules will not be tolerated! If a rule is disrespectfully broken, a team will be penalized with an immediate 4 minute time penalty. The team will be informed why they are being penalized and they will not be able to move to the next station until they have completely served the 4 minute penalty.

BONUS
The concept of a bonus is to balance the rush of a race with the heart of being a good servant. One of the risks of creating a race out of Servant Evangelism is the highly competitive students could loose sight of the heart of Servant Evangelism. Ultimately, is not about rushing or ignoring what God is doing; it’s about being a good servant.

Youth Leaders and drivers are given authority to issue secret time bonuses in situations where a bonus is warranted. The bonus time will essentially counter balance a serving situation that could have possibly eliminated them from the competition.

For example, a situation that would warrant a bonus is if an entire team is delayed because of a “God Moment” with a stranger. At times, Servant Evangelism will have such a positive impact that the person who was touched by the love of God will sometimes need extra special attention or even prayer. These interactions are highly encouraged and we will fully compensate a team for the time they spend ministering to that person plus a little extra!

Here is an example of how a bonus could affect the final results. Let’s say the total times for the teams were: Team A… 85 minutes, Team B… 88 minutes, and Team C… 90 minutes. Team C, however, had accumulated 7 minutes of bonus time. Team C would become the winner with an adjusted total of 83 minutes. It’s entirely possible that a team crossing the finish line last could end up being number one. Truly the motto for the winning team will be Mark 9:35 “…Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’”

We just had a Servant Evangelism planning meeting for the 40 Days of Mercy. I’m really excited to take an active role with a great team of people who take joy in showing God’s Love. The 40 Days of Mercy take place Wednesday, March 8th through Easter Sunday, April 16th. The Servant Evangelism projects will be on these dates 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/8, and 4/15. It’s really going to be sweet! I’ll let you know more details as they become available!

“Sweetarts for Sweethearts”

This outreach was organized by the Vineyards Students (woo hoo!). In keeping with the Valentine’s Day spirit, we took a red heart shaped sucker and slid the stick of the sucker into two punched holes in a miniature Valentine Day card. The cards had cartoon animals with cute phrases like, “Be my Valentine, Doggone it!” (with a cartoon dog, of course). On the back of the card it read, “To: You; From: Grove City Vineyard.” We planned on giving the suckers to each Wal-Mart employee that we could find.

We had three teams, each team with approximately 30 suckers.
Team 1 – Angie Osborne, Rachel Mori, Brittany Galloway
Team 2 – Brian Stevenson & Tanya Stevenson
Team 3 – Brandi Shrader & Grace DerMott

Team 1 took the center of the store where the clothes and cashiers were.
Team 2 took the produce, bakery, meat, and grocery section
Team 3 took the general merchandise, home & garden, and tools section

This outreach was short and sweet (pun intended). It didn’t take long for us to hit all the Wal-Mart employees with a few suckers left over for the customers. One of my favorite reactions were from the bakery ladies:

Me: I reached out with the sucker and card, “Hello. Would you like a sucker? Were showing God’s love”
Bakery Ladies: AWWWWWWWWW! That’s so sweeeeeeeeeeet!

Those ladies were nice!

Another memorable experience with a child:
Me: *I held out a sucker a couple feet away from a 2-year old in the shopping cart seat* “Hi! Would you like one?”
Little boy: Suck-eeeer!
Me: “Here you go.” *I turn to the parent* “We’re just showing God’s love today.”

My wife wrote about her experiences too on her blog. If you went on this outreach, feel free to leave your experiences in the comments!

On a cold Friday evening, five guys hit the streets of Broadway (Downtown Grove City) with incredible acts of love. At 7:15PM, we geared up two Ghostbuster-style backpacks with hot chocolate and broke into “Team A” and “Team B”. Team A was Wes Black and myself (Brian). Team B was Steve McCormick, Vince Gaietto, and Sam Smith. Team A positioned themselves in front of the Little Theatre on Broadway. Team B originally positioned themselves in front of Graeter’s Ice Cream and Plank’s (the local pub).

TEAM A
At 7:25PM, we offered hot chocolate to the elderly ticket sales guy, however, he had coffee so he didn’t accept the offer. By 7:30PM, the people started trickling into the theatre to buy their tickets and seat themselves for the 8PM showing of The Foreigner. We’d say, “Good evening! Would you like a FREE cup of hot chocolate on this cold evening?” We’d hear, “No thank you. We just had a big dinner.” Then we heard that reason again… And again… And again… And again! By the time we heard it for the 5th time I began feeling REALLY BAD. We chose the right place, but not the best means of expressing God’s love. It’s not like they didn’t understand the concept of FREE; they genuinely were not in the mood to have hot chocolate. In total, we asked about 70 people on their way into the theatre and only 7 accepted the hot chocolate. That’s roughly 10%. Wes Black had the genius idea just giving out the million dollar Gospel tracts regardless of their acceptance of the hot chocolate. That encouraged us because we saw people read the tracts as they walked away.

At 8:05PM, we noticed the elderly tickets sales guy had finished his coffee, so we approached him again with the offer of free hot chocolate. He refused the hot chocolate, so Wes gave him a million-dollar tract. He chuckled and said thank you. We stood back and watched for a few minutes. He read the ENTIRE TRACT as he was finishing his shift. That was very encouraging. When his shift was over, he walked passed and said goodnight to us.

By 8:15PM, Team A moved from the Little Theatre on Broadway to the Plank’s area. Like expected, we had tons of people coming in and out of Plank’s. We met up with 4 guys taking a smoke break and had a good conversation with them. We handed out three million-dollar Gospel tracts and accidentally left one guy out. We heard him say a few seconds later, “What! I don’t get one?” We quickly fixed that situation!

By 8:25PM, we had made dozens of offers for free hot chocolate in just 15 minutes (without a single yes). A guy came out for a smoke break and was drinking a cold beer. We offered him hot chocolate but he didn’t think it would taste good with his beer (he was probably right). We struck up a conversation with him about church and where he’s from. He gave us a lot of really good information about Plank’s that we’ll be sure to use in the future!

By 8:30PM, word that we were giving away free hot chocolate had made its way to the bartender. She ran outside and exclaimed, “Are you guys really giving out free hot chocolate?” We thought she was going to throw out, but instead she handed us a big foam cup and asked us to fill it up. She tried giving us a one-dollar bill and she insisted that we take it as a ‘tithe’. I explained to her that we were out here showing God’s love and we were not accepting money. I think she understood, but not really.

By 8:35PM, a woman came outside for a smoke break and she looked really broken. She lights up a cigarette and leaned back slightly in her chair. We walked up to her and offered her some free hot chocolate. She skeptically asked us, “Is it really free?” “Yes,” we said. “Really?” she asked. “Absolutely free,” we replied. “Yeah, I’ll have some.” We filled up a cup and she eagerly accepted it. We also gave her a million-dollar gospel tract. She sat and read her tract while smoking a cigarette and drinking her hot chocolate.

TEAM B
Since I was not on Team B, I cannot provide the exact details on their experiences. Steve tells me it was a good experience and they had the same difficulties with people rejecting the hot chocolate because:
1) They had just eaten
2) They were going in to eat

I think after receiving those responses, they changed their strategy and frequently moved up and down Broadway rather than staying it a single spot. I don’t believe they found many people during their trek because most every shop was closed. Later in the evening (around 8:20), they positioned themselves in front of Graeter’s and approached several people.

Hey, Team B, write your experiences in the comments section when you have a chance!

/// edit 2-13-2006
SUMMARY
I think we came in contact with a little over 200 people that night. If I were to estimate the acceptance of the hot chocolate, a conservative guess would be 10-15%. I will be praying about additional ways we can reach the folks who like to spend their Friday nights at Plank’s, Graeter’s, and The Little Theatre on Broadway (especially in the winter season). I have no doubt those locations will be easier in the summertime.