Commonwealth Games Update

By Jonathan Bennett

In a little over 3 weeks, between 500,000 and 1 million people will be visiting England for the Commonwealth Games (a mini version of the Olympics). We are counselled to go out to mass gatherings and share the gospel. This is the plan of Advent Books and hopefully many other ministries who will be joining together in the mission to reach those who attend this event.

The main focus of distribution is to hand out as many copies of The Great Controversy as possible, but we will also have other EGW and health materials available. This will be the whole unadulterated version of the book, which we will strive to spread “like the leaves of autumn.”

We ask for your prayers in finding suitable accommodation for the volunteers planning to attend. Given the magnitude of these games, all local hotels are fully booked, so we are relying on church friends, possibly even church halls or camping as a last resort. We will do whatever it takes to ensure the message reaches as many as will receive it.

Preparing for the work

Next week we have a 6ft by 9ft double-sided mobile billboard trailer arriving. This will be driven around near the games so thousands of people can see The Great Controversy being advertised. The book can be requested online, and those on the street will also be more inclined to pick the book up when they pass a street team.

Alongside this, we are encouraging SDA’s to display an advert on their cars, which is a further step in getting people to familiarize themselves with seeing the cover. Lastly, we are also planning to do local regionalized Facebook advertisements. All of this is to reach more and more people. Time is short and we have a work to do.

The Plan

The plan is to work with as many different ministries and church groups as possible who want to distribute The Great Controversy. Each team will go to different locations where the sporting events are happening, set up a portable table and loudspeaker, and give out The Great Controversy. This method has proven successful many times in the past.

Last time we went out as a church, I had the pleasure of talking to two Muslims who, after only a few minutes of discussion, both went away with a copy of The Great Controversy.

It is our duty just to plant the seeds of truth, and God will water them.

Limiting God

Should we plan how many books we are going to distribute? I would like to, and I have done this in the past, but this might limit God’s plan. Therefore, we all need to work together to reach as many people as possible, maybe 1 person, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, or more. We wait with excitement to take a humble part in the work.

We need your prayers that the Holy Spirit will open up many conversations so personal relationships can be made, people can ask questions, and this can be the first step for people heading to the heavenly kingdom.

Volunteers

Do you want to come and help? This is a simple and easy work that everyone can do. We still need people who can come and give books to the public and hold conversations with them. The world is waking up and looking for answers. These answers have been given to God’s Remnant people. Will you help deliver them?

True Partnership

We plan to work with other ministries. Instead of just fundraising and giving ministries books to give out, we want to actually assist the ministries in their work. This is why we are fundraising to help subsidize the cost of the books, which will enable each ministry to distribute even more books. For every $1.20/£1 you donate, that will subsidize the cost of 4 Great Controversy books, meaning that ministries going out on the street can reach even more people.

This new approach will encourage accountability in order to ensure that books are valued by everyone who distributes them and to increase the number of books in the hands of the public.

The Truth Will Travel

Imagine this book is given to a person visiting the games. They put that book into their pocket or bag, and then they take it home with them. Their home might be a few miles away, or it might be to their home country dotted around the world. Imagine a book travelling to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and the list goes on.

Testimonies

This is just a few testimonies from previous street work which I know about.

• A back-slidden SDA was walking through the local town and passed by a street witnessing booth, a conversation was struck up and now he and his wife come to church regularly.

• A gentleman struggling to overcome heroin was also met at the same location, a friendship was made and this person has made several visits to church – we ask for your prayers for him.

• Just a few weeks ago, a brother met an ex-Mormon who is on the route to becoming an SDA. This man called me and we expect him to be at church either this Sabbath or next.

• Another brother from Poland but living in the UK was walking and met on the street. He visited the church as he wanted a smaller, friendlier church.

• Many books, Bibles, and magazines have gone out this way, and hundreds of seeds have been planted.

The above testimonies are just a snippet of the success stories from street work that can be accomplished. By God’s grace, we plan to meet many many people at the Commonwealth Games. It is our prayer that there will be hundreds of testimonies like these and many more souls in the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you have any questions, you can contact Jonathan at jonathan@adventbooks.org.

Or send donations to:

USA Address:

Advent Books
98 Roachville Road
Campbellsville
KY 42718
USA
Tel: +1 308 991 4422

United Kingdom Address:

Advent Books
P.O. Box 5794
Blaby
LE8 4ZA
England
Tel: +44 7966 049 985

Donations can also be sent to donations@adventbooksupdate.com

Visit our Go Fund me account: https://gofund.me/98e4296c