Colorado Outreach
CITY OUTREACH: DENVER - SPRING 2024 REPORT
Without a doubt, parks are one of the best locations for engaging in conversation. In parks people are relaxed, strolling, walking the dog, or sitting on a bench. ‘Can I ask you a quick question? – who or what do you believe brings true peace / shalom?’
Acacia Park Colorado Springs is a downtown area with reasonable foot traffic, dependent upon time of day. We engaged in many conversations there as we assisted the pastor Ed Blackwood and members of local congregation Springs Reformed Church, in its street outreach. Wearing our new Shalom3131.com T-shirts, it soon became apparent that these were a thing to catch the eye and even draw in Jewish people. It even brought a believer over to commend us and wish us God’s blessing.
Parks also are places where we find life’s ‘wreckage’. We engaged several homeless people and truly would counsel the church to get out of its comfort zone and meet this mess of a world at the street level of parks and wreck.
GOING TO THE DOGS
A second park we visited was closer to the (somewhat scattered) Jewish community of Denver; Sloan’s Lake Park. Coming alongside another local church (as a good para-church ministry should do!) we engaged passers by, this time assisting Covenant Presbyterian Church, Wheat Ridge, Denver.
An elder and member of the church joined us on an extremely windy day. This time we engaged a Jewish man named Jeremiah, to whom we pointed out our T-shirts had his name! (On the rear we have printed, Yermiyahu 31:31) This long conversation was also begun by first engaging the two lovely husky dogs – there’s a lesson in evangelism: go to the dogs!
A second conversation began as a result of seeing ‘Yermiyahu 31:31’ and this was a young Jewish girl who had never heard that there was a ‘new covenant with the house of Israel’. (Jer. 31:31) Tracts were given, and prayers sent heavenwards.
RAISING THE BAR
It was in a breakfast bar in Wheat Ridge, Denver that one of the best (and longest) conversations was had – the breakfast was pretty good too! Shane and Becky were very willing to chat, particularly about sports, and they were clearly very athletic. On probing a little we found out that Shane is Jewish, having grown up in both synagogue and church. His Mom was Jewish and his Dad a nominal Protestant. What began as a casual conversation lasted 3 hours. (Did breakfast become lunch?)
Despite Mitch’s Brooklyn forthrightness, he did admit he’s learning to listen more, and truly did so in this marathon sharing of the gospel in Denver. Teddy Roosevelt was probably right to say, ‘People don’t care what you know until they know that you care’. We believe Shane and Becky at least discovered that Mitch cares, during that long pastoral chat at the breakfast bar. Pray that the eternals truths shared in all these conversations may be taken to heart and believed. There is salvation in no one else.
STEPHEN ATKINSON