Give Them Christ

June afternoons at Ryan’s Pond, the rainbow trout have refined tastes—Caddis Nymphs and Mayflies are their gourmet choices. Serious anglers know that fishing for trout is both an art and a science. We devote time, effort, and money to our sport, and sometimes we catch nothing. Yet, we keep going back for more. How can we not do the same when fishing for men? Matthew 4:19 (NASB) says, “And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”

After saturating the idea with prayer, Paul Boese felt God ordained a meeting with the organizers of Impact Academy’s annual fishing day. Impact Academy aims to help kids develop skills for adulthood. He thought that if our church’s mission is to make followers of Christ and disciple them into mature believers, this occasion might accomplish our mission.

So, Paul and a team of men headed off to Ryan’s Pond with one goal: to make disciples while spending the afternoon fishing with the kids. For some of these kids, fishing was a brand-new experience; for others, it could be a future career. Surprisingly, many of these kids came from homes where Christ was unknown. We are talking about Grand Forks, not some distant land, yet Christ’s name hasn’t reached the ears of many young minds here. It was heartbreaking to see confusion about self, life, God, and morality.

How will we help kids build skills for adulthood? The answer: “Give them Christ.”

I observed Paul and the men’s interactions with the kids and conversations with officers from the Grand Forks Police Department. I wasn’t sure if any individual conversations about Christ occurred, but one thing happened for sure — members from FEFC were engaging with the community and GFPD.

I saw a simple idea Paul had, and soon, Mark, Wade, Kyle, and Luke (all from FEFC) joined. From what I could tell, they all had a sweet time with sixteen kids and three GFPD staff members.

Were there any professions of faith? I don’t know, but I do know everyone knew that the people of Faith Evangelical Free Church cared and were willing to engage their community.

I witnessed community outreach in its most effective form — authentic, intentional, spontaneous, congregant-driven, and certainly non-programmatic. This event required no budget line items or all-church promotion campaigns. All it took was prayer and action.

Paul, Mark, Wade, Kyle, and Luke were available and faithful, reaching out to the community by intertwining their lives and hobbies with it.

If it means fishing, we fish and share Christ (if we can); if it means running a marathon, we run and share Christ (if we can). All it takes is prayer and creativity.

Great things in church history always begin with individuals, like Paul, who pray and then act. Programs and events seldom accomplish great things. However, when people are passionate and willing to take their time, hobbies, and passions to be used for kingdom work, great things often have small beginnings.