Public Apologetics-Evangelism Ministry

In this post I am going to tell you about a ministry my wife and I have.

Our ministry is in the pedestrian mall (streets closed off to make a park lined with stores, restaurants, bars) in Iowa City. From spring to late fall, as weather permits, we are there Friday evenings with a book table giving away Christian books. A sign on our table says, “Free Christian Books.” Our books are many explaining and defending the Christian faith, a sampling being Case for Christ, Case for Faith, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist, Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, Christian Faith 101, Bibles, More Than A Carpenter, and numerous booklets from Answers in Genesis.

Being one of the most liberal university towns in America, you can imagine the people who cruise the “ped mall” - students of every variety from all over the world (often in very immodest attire), liberal professors, atheists, skeptics, and even families of every size. The seedier side of society also cruises there - homosexuals, homeless, street-walkers, drunks, and pan-handlers. Many come over with genuine interest and engage us in much conversation, while others come over to harass us. We have a lot of Mormon missionaries, because of the Mormon history of the area, and we‘ve engaged them often about their false belief system (they don‘t know what to do with me as I come equipped with my own “Triple Combination” and other material). There are other tables or blankets laid out selling new age books, giving tarot readings, selling socialist papers, and activists for every liberal cause. The Mormons tried copying us for a while with their own table. Part of the draw to the ped mall are the Friday evening free concerts which range from rock to folk to country. Families are there also for the local theatre with stage productions.

We have done this ministry since 2003. When people ask about churches we send them to local churches we know are solid doctrinally (not many!). We don’t know if many people have come to know the Lord because of our table, but we did have one young man who returned months later to tell us that he came to the Lord after reading I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist and invited us to his baptism.

One of the more interesting aspects is that the unbelieving regulars of the ped mall come to see us as a fixture they miss when we aren’t there. We have had unbelievers even come to our defense when some of the ruder, more threatening people come over. Being the presence representing light in such a spiritually dark place has given us many opportunities to help people with material needs as well.

Another type of people who come to our table are Christians. Many come over just to give us encouragement, but we also get many who are looking for ways to learn more about their faith, or for information to help lead friends to Christ. Many times we have had young people come over for counsel. In several situations we have suggested other books which would be helpful, and have sent them in the mail later.

Some evenings we will have so many “customers” that we can’t keep up with them, while other times we may sit all night with only one or two people stopping. We have been blessed this past year with a couple who also think this is a viable ministry and, although they live an hour away (compared to our 20 minutes), they come as often as possible.

I can definitely say that it is a great ministry in which to practice apologetics. We have also been thankful that we have attended conferences for Biblical Counselors, which has provided us much insight and ideas for working with these people.

Perhaps you can take encouragement from hearing of our ministry and try it out yourself at a local college town - or any other open-to-the-public venue.

UPDATE:  At the end of fall 2014, we ceased operating this ministry.  Construction in the Ped Mall, removing old buildings and constructing an apartment complex, impacted traffic flow reducing numbers of people.  In 2012 the laws changed to not allow tables except at an area where few people went, and permits were required for that.  So for 2013 and 2014 we used a large tool box on a cart.  New laws also forced out many of those who normally frequented the Ped Mall, such as homeless, drifters, panhandlers, and various groups.  While the weekly concerts at the one end continued, the genre was less desirable for many who used to frequent them.  All this along with a noticeable change in attitudes (everyone seemed to be spiritually apathetic, and even moreso the 2nd time President Obama was elected; we noticed a definite decrease in traffic beginning about 2010 as many of the locals were happy their "man" was in office and that the government was now going to give them all their needs).  We became more and more ignored and avoided that in 2014 we gave away only three books.  We felt that our ministry had served a good purpose for many years but the Lord will probably have something else for us to do now.