Praise the Lord Greetings!

One hundred evangelists registered and 99 evangelists arrived in Phoenix for 3 1/2 days of ministry during both the Super Bowl and the PGA Golf Tournament. The golf tournament was a bonus event and according to a police Lt. working the event 300,000 fans attending Saturday's rounds.

This year was an amazing year because there were only 7 team leaders unlike in other years where we've had 10 - 12 and because the western part of the US is not where we are strongest in recruiting. But the 7 persevered to have exactly 100 register. The one who did not attend contracted COVID.

Since the Labor Day weekend Team Leaders Retreat the 7 of them and I have weekly:

  • Prayed together as a group
  • Individually prayed with me
  • Led their team in a weekly prayer call.

The 7 Team Leaders bios:

Ryan Clark - Roseburg, OR
Pat Hegarty -Ft. Collins, CO
Joe Hinson - Denton, TX
Matthew Redondo - Mesa, AZ
Andy Schmelzer - Brandon, OR
Joshua Tubbs - Helena, AL
Mark Yoho - Sugar Valler, GA

The evangelists are listed under the heading SBO ’23 MINISTRY TEAM about 2/3 of the way down: SBO '23.

Below is the entire group.
There are so many stories that happen during the weekend - let me begin with an overview. First there were 4 ministry locations: downtown Phoenix with the Convention Center being the hub of foot traffic; Margaret Hance Park one mile from downtown where many of the fan events were held; Oldtown Scottsdale where ESPN had a live stage and the PGA Tournament.

Friday and Saturday the 7 teams divided up to reach these areas. The typical pattern is that Friday has good foot traffic and Saturday explodes with people. That was the same this year.

Sunday all 7 teams went to the stadium for the game.

For the first time ever two police officers called me to say they were there to help us. And they did.

The Kroc Center also, as part of the contract, provide 3 vehicles that carried 55 evangelists. We had a couple of more vehicles that allowed us to transport 80 of the 99 evangelists. This led the team leaders to work together to craft a transportation plan and forced the teams to cooperate to their ministry locations. Working together brings us closer and facilitates fellowship.

On Friday and Saturday I drove a van and dropped off and picked up teams working in downtown and at Margaret Hance Park providing the opportunity to hear the days' stories.

The evangelists have so many stories they share. There's such excitement from the day. You'd have to be there to see and hear the enthusiasm.

The Kroc Center provided an ideal setting for us: our meetings, meals and sleeping took place there. Imagine 99 evangelists in one location rising early for prayer, sharing meals together, talking all the time about their evangelism, riding to and from a ministry location together, laboring for 7 - 8 hours per day, returning to the Kroc Center for more conversation and then to bed. This scenario is what the Kroc Center made possible.

In this environment many evangelists re stirred up to do more. In fact two of them and I have had discussions about them becoming full-time.

There are many, many posts on Facebook from different evangelists which Lord willing we can download and share with you. Below are 2 messages that were received from evangelists working with us for the first time.
Above is Bill showing the scene in downtown Phoenix on Saturday night. Look for more Super Bowl info. I'm trying to learn to be brief so they should come in small chunks.
Last weekend was the mission to the NBA All-Star Celebration. The team is shown above. Three of the guys, Ricardo, Landon and Jason were new to SFOI. Ricardo and Jason preached for the first time. Landon gained more experience with preaching.

Landon said this about the weekend;

"Thank you, brother Bill for putting together and hosting such an awesome event and opportunity for us to preach the Word to the lost in SLC. I had such an amazing time out there with you brothers. It was a true blessing to be around strong, faithful, men in Christ to learn and grow from. It was an honor and thankful to the Lord for you all. God bless you all."

Jason said:

"Hey brothers! Just want to say ty to all of u for everything. I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to serve with u gentlemen. Ty Bill for the invitation and hopefully, God willing, this won't b the last time. Glory to our God and Savior! Forever grateful!"
LEFT: Jason preaching to the crowds for the first time.
RIGHT: Larry, Jason, Ricardo and Landon fellowshipping at our accommodations.
Left: Front of Salt Palace Convention Center where the fan fest was held daily.
Right: Front of Vivint Arena where the games were played each day.
Left: Bill shows the ministry location at Salt Palace Convention Center.
Right: Kevin, who was new to us, preaches at the Convention Center.
Left: Stirling Long preaching at Vivint Arena on Sunday before All-Star game.
Right: Joe Hinson sharing about his new mission field.
Ultimately the 7 of of us spent 3 days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 7+ hours per day, evangelizing to the fans and local citizens in downtown Salt Lake City primarily at the Salt Palace Convention Center and the Vivint Arena.

The Mayor said in a video shown outside Vivint Arena that they expected 100,000 fans to visit during those three days.

Again, lots of ministry opportunities. Personally I had several Christians thank me for being there; a couple of people came to ask why we were there and thousands heard the Word each day.

Salt Lake City is home of the Mormon Church which led to different topics of discussions with people. This typifies SFOI's ministry: changing cities and venues and adapting to each one regarding accommodations and transportation and preparation for interacting with various types of unbelievers.
Giving:

Listed are the next events with the present number of committed evangelists, next the number of evangelists we are still recruiting and last the total evangelists Lord willing that will participate.


St. Pete Grand Prix (9-1=10), Final Four (3-5=8),
Miami Grand Prix (1-7=8) and Kentucky Derby (1-19=20).

Would you please "Sponsor A Saint" to attend one or more of the events? Each evangelist represents more souls hearing the Gospel and being ministered to in the moment. If you click on the link below you will see all of the events listed on the next page.


For each event attorney Nate Kinard is contacting the local authorities to insure our presence is legally protected. The letter Nate prepares for us to carry with us at the event costs roughly $1,000 each. Would you donate towards this work? Scroll down the page to see the options to give.
Thank you Greetings! for your partnership into the New Year! The Lord is working and let's press forward in faith to join Him in His 'mighty work'.

If you know any evangelistic men please click on the banner below and share the next page with them. It contains all of our upcoming events: