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Rose Parade Outreach
God At Work In California
01-05-09
The Rose Parade Outreach
Is A Yearly Event
PASADENA,
Calif. (BP)--Abi, a young Hispanic woman, was one of thousands of people camped
out on East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year's Eve, waiting
to see the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade. She was unaware that the best news
she would hear that day would have nothing to do with the parade.
Loren Phippen, an Intentional Community Evangelism (ICE) team member and
evangelism director for the Heart of Kansas Southern Baptist Association in
Wichita, approached Abi and began to share the Gospel with her.
As Phippen used an illustration tool called an EvangeCube to tell Abi about
Jesus, he noticed that she was receptive. As he was about to invite her to pray,
Abi asked him to sit down in a chair beside her because she wanted to ask him a
serious question.
"What does the Bible say about homosexuality, Loren?" Abi asked.
"The Bible has a lot to say about homosexuality," he answered.
Abi admitted to being in a homosexual relationship and said she wanted a way
out. Phippen knew the conversation was a divine appointment, and he shared with
her what God says about homosexuality in His Word.
With tears streaming down her face, Abi said she wanted to leave her life of
homosexuality behind and trust Christ as her Savior.
Phippen was one of eight ICE team members and 152 volunteers from California and
churches across the country that converged in Pasadena for the annual Rose
Parade outreach.
Martin Davis, a San Diego businessman and a member of the SBC Executive
Committee, has organized the outreach for 13 years. He said this year brought
the highest number of volunteers ever.
Each year between
750,000 and 1 million people line up along the 5 mile parade route to see the
famous floats covered in flowers, to hear the marching bands and to watch the
equestrian teams. Some parade goers claim their parade viewing spots on the
sidewalk as early as 8:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve.
 
The Gospel is shared with parade goers through a variety of methods including
mime teams, tract distribution, face painting, balloon animals, popcorn and
cotton candy giveaways, as well as "What's in a Name" certificates that tell
people what their name means.
Several volunteers man the base camp at Calvary Chapel on the corner of East
Colorado Boulevard and Roosevelt Street. From there, they engage passersby and
give out free food, paint faces and print name certificates. They encounter many
opportunities to engage in spiritual conversations. One teenager asked,
"What's the catch?" after a volunteer offered him free popcorn. The volunteer
assured him that there was no catch and then shared the Good News of salvation
with him.
The centerpiece
of the Rose Parade outreach is a souvenir parade program, designed by Davis,
which has the marching order for the parade and a Gospel presentation inside. It
also lists local Southern Baptist churches where people can go for follow-up.
This year volunteers distributed about 17,000 brochures to the crowd. Many
people asked for extra copies as keepsakes. In addition, ICE team members and
other volunteers gave out an estimated 5,000 Gospel tracts.
Mark and Gwynette Yoho of Fourth Watch Ministry in Sugar Valley, Ga., were
distributing Gospel tracts and programs along the parade route when they found
three 12-year-old boys playing cards on the sidewalk. Gabriel, Gabriel and
Joseph listened closely to a Gospel presentation.
Both boys named Gabriel prayed to receive Christ as Savior. As Mark began the
follow-up process with them, a college-aged man approached the group and began
to question the boys. He wanted to know where their parents were and why they
were talking to Mark. One of the boys replied, "Because we are interested in
what he has to say." At that, the college-aged man walked off and said no more.
On Tuesday before the outreach began, ICE team members spent the day prayer
walking the parade route. While prayer walking, Hiram Acree from Duluth, Ga.,
and Dan Christian from Denver decided to pause and pray for direction. About 10
minutes later, the wife of a local Hispanic pastor came along and shared with
Acree and Christian how discouraged she and her husband were in trying to reach
the city.
She told them that she didn't usually walk down that street but felt like she
wanted to walk that day. She was encouraged to see other people who had a heart
for lost people in Pasadena. Her husband Alfonzo arrived and shared some of the
same frustrations with Acree and Christian. The volunteers shared some Scripture
and prayed with them, and they both went away encouraged.
As the crowds were gathered for the parade, a mime team composed of middle and
high school students from San Diego carried portable sound equipment with them
and presented the Gospel visually on the street by performing routines
choreographed to contemporary Christian songs. Many people remembered them from
previous years and requested that they stop and perform.
After one of
the presentations, a woman asked for prayer for her brother who was in prison
and was sick, and a volunteer prayed with her that the Lord would heal her
brother and would send someone to share the Gospel with him. Others asked for
prayer for a sister who was suffering from lung cancer, and a volunteer was able
to pray with them too.
Davis said the volunteers recorded 27 decisions to accept Christ through the
Rose Parade outreach.
Darrel Davis is an evangelist with Foundation Ministries in Garner, N.C., and he
participated in the Rose Parade outreach in Pasadena, Calif. the last 2 years.
Posted on Jan 5, 2009 | by Darrel Davis
For More Information Contact:
Lynn Webb Ministries
Morganton, North Carolina
Tel: 828-443-8396
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