Boat Races

I live near the Columbia River. One of big events every year is the Boat Races or the new official name this year: Lamb Weston Columbia Cup. The picture above is one of the boats in action. The picture below was taken as I drove over the Blue Bridge.

I was trying to capture the one of the boats as it raced by but oops…just missed it.

At the races there are all types of booths – food, NASCAR, beer gardens, to name a few. Our location this year was not near a high traffic area, but we had a steady flow of people that stopped by. (Pictured below is what our booth looked like.)

Many people in our church have taken classes on how to interpret dreams. We also offer life readings (better known as a prophetic word) that would edify the person sitting opposite us.

We had many interesting encounters. When words of hope are expressed you see a difference come over someone. They often come back with their friends or family members. Sometimes they come back and sit a different table to get another reading.

There was a couple that sat down and it was obvious that they had too much to drink at the beer garden. Looking past their slightly drunken state, we had some very incredible words of encouragement to share with them. After we started sharing the good we had seen in him, the haze of the beer started to lift. He sat up and listened intently. He thanked us for what we had to say and said that it was time he made a change for the better in life. Not once did we mention Jesus, but He was present in our words.

One young man sat down and I saw a fireman - a person who put out fires in other people’s lives. I saw that he helped people with their problems, but it wasn’t something he was doing presently but will be doing more in the future. He turned out to be a psychology major.

Some people ask the question, “How did you know that?” When they do we tell them, “When you sit down, we simply asked God to show something about you and then we tell you what we see or hear.”

Our purpose is not to grow our church, but it is to love the people that God loves. We want to bless, edify and encourage people about their lives. I love that God speaks to me in my life, but what amazes me is when I ask, he’ll speak to me about the person sitting opposite me in the booth. It was great fun. I can’t wait for the Benton County Fair next month when we do our next major outreach.

© Nadine Z. 2007