Sunny Seminar In Seattle
I got home to Reno late last night in a fierce snowstorm. I just spent two days in Seattle with Jim Henderson doing a Doable Evangelism Seminar. It was spectacularly sunny and warm there, which in my experience is rare (I didn’t even bring sunglasses because the past six times I’ve visited Seattle is was rainy and dark). I thought, “Wow…I hope it rains like a big dog on Saturday or nobody in their right mind will show up at the DE Seminar to sit indoors!”. I was wrong about that, as it turned out
We had a fantastic time with the gang in Seattle, hosted by the Christian Evangelical Association. About sixty folks showed up to the American Filipino Church (who allowed us to invade their building for the day and who had ten or so of their folks join us), including a delegation from Powell River, BC who came down to get a preview of what they will be hosting on April 5 in their community. We must have had more than a dozen churches represented, which in my experience is more than usual…especially for a crowd that size. The cool thing is that they seemed to actually like each other!
Part of the seminar experience is an interview with three “lost” people (live, on stage). We kind of “lost” two of them by showtime, but we had one really wonderful participant named Ashley who made that segment quite powerful. She was very brave to do this by herself, but she commented to her friends afterwards that she really enjoyed the experience and thought this was a very important thing to do. She even told her friend that she’d like to do it again sometime. Her friend is a pastor of a Seattle area church (he knows her from his coffee shop “office” where Ashley was a barrista). I suspect Ashley will be doing this again quite soon.
What I sensed from the comments and questions we heard during the day was that many of those who came left the seminar feeling encouraged and relieved and inspired. There were some who also felt challenged, and maybe even a little frustrated by the new paradigm for evangelism we are suggesting (think of how hard it was for flat-earth people to think of the world as ROUND, for example). I’m sure there were a few who just thought we were nuts, as well. But the really wonderful thing is that everyone was at least willing to think and consider and explore. It’s my hope that they will integrate Ordinary Attempts into their lives and experience evangelism as a spiritual practice (instead of a program). Maybe together we can be a small part of changing a paradigm.
Thank you, Andy Smith and George Johnson (of the CEA) for putting this together. Thank you, Filipino American Church, for allowing us to invade your home. And thanks to all of you who chose to spend a rare sunny day in Seattle indoors with US. We were honored to meet you and be with you.
Do what’s doable.
Next: Powell River, BC, April 5. Burlingame, CA, April 19. Click on these entries on the calendar to the right of this column for more information.
February 24th, 2008 · 10 Comments
Categories: DE Thoughts
Helen said
am February 24 2008 @ 6:16 pm
Thanks for sharing about the Seattle Seminar Randy. It sounds like it went great!
John Gallegos said
am February 25 2008 @ 10:32 am
My friend Craig and I had a great time learning. Thank you much.
Randy said
am February 25 2008 @ 1:01 pm
I just had a thought…(DANGER, DANGER Will Robinson!!!).
If you were at the Seattle DE Seminar, and you wouldn’t mind, I would love to get feedback on the day…both encouragements and what you thought could have been better. Don’t do that here, but email it directly to me at randy at offthemap dot com. We really want to continue to get better at this, and your feedback would be valuable. Thanks.
John Gallegos said
am February 25 2008 @ 1:38 pm
To everyone who attented the Sunny Seminar In Seattle and anybody else,
Interested in getting together,share our OT’s and encourage each other.
Our home in Kirkland is available or perhaps we could meet at the church office of the Spotted Cow in Mill Creek.
You can contact me at sobaka1 at yahoo dot com or 425-820-1239.
take care,
John Gallegos said
am February 25 2008 @ 1:57 pm
Did I say OT’S ????? I meant OA”s ordinary atempts.
We could still share our OT”S, ordinary temptations.
Randy said
am February 25 2008 @ 4:25 pm
I like it…ordinary temptations. I’d have to work on those, though. My temptations tend to lean into the dramatic. If they’re not dramatic, I don’t count them.
Hey…wait a minute. That’s just like the problem with evangelism, isn’t it?!?
Great idea, John. Wish I could be part of the Spotted Cow OA group. Let me know if this happens. I bet Henderson would show up for a meeting!
John Gallegos said
am February 25 2008 @ 4:55 pm
So far it’s just you and me talking. Is there a way to spread the word on the Spotted Cow OA group?
Pam Hogeweide said
am February 26 2008 @ 1:23 am
very cool! yes, the pacific northwest has been having an amazing streak of sunny and dry weather. glad that worked out for you and the seminar and that it was still well attended.
glad to hear that the DE philosophy of connecting folks to God is spreading. good, good stuff……
Randy said
am February 26 2008 @ 12:03 pm
John,
I’m working on it. This is a really good idea. I’ll be in touch as soon as I get some information from the hosting agency regarding contact information.
Jim said
am February 26 2008 @ 6:23 pm
great feedback randy
John could get in touch with Andy and see if he wants to get a group together to share experiences