On Sunday, March 19, 2006, approximately 9,000 copies of the DVD "The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon" were distributed throughout Brigham City, Utah, and several of the neighboring communities. (See photos & links at the bottom of this page.)
The reason we were able to do this was because last fall, our DVD replication facility had accidentally used the wrong DVD master which contained a small error (that didn't affect content or playability). Ten thousand copies of the DVD were created and printed before they caught the error, resulting in 10,000 pieces of round plastic coasters that were headed for the landfill. We offered to pay them pennies on the dollar for the DVDs, which they gladly accepted.
This all happened around the time we were praying, "Should we get this video out to Brigham City, like we did the DNA video three years ago?" Well, it would seem we no longer had an excuse not to.
Over the next few months we began asking God for more guidance. How were we to do this? Should we mail them out, like we did the DNA video? We quickly decided that mailing wasn't a good option; not only because of the expense, but also because last time, the post office had stonewalled the process when we did it with the DNA video three years ago. They significantly delayed getting many of the videos out, and some were even thrown away.
But the only other option was to distribute them ourselves, on foot. But with only a handful of people who could realistically do this in our church (and nearly a hundred miles of residential streets throughout Brigham and the outlying communities), it would have taken us several days at least!
We broached the subject with Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City, who immediately jumped on this opportunity to serve the people of Brigham City. It was refreshing and greatly encouraging to see their enthusiasm and excitement for this project! We were also touched by their sharing our love for our town.
The big question, though, was how many people would come? Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? We had no idea. Calvary Chapel had suggested a number around 150, which we thought was great, and figured we could probably get the job done in a reasonable amount of time with 150 people. So we began planning...we drafted a paper insert, had 10,000 copies printed up, we stuffed nearly 10,000 plastic doorhanger-bags with the DVDs, we reserved the Brigham City Community Center as a base of operations, we bought lots of Costco lasagna to feed the troops and otherwise get ready for the "Battle for Brigham City".
The week before, we sent out an e-mail to our supporters telling them of the event and inviting any of them to come and join us if they were so inclined. We received an outpouring of responses, people all around the country who shared with us that they were excited about what was happening, and that they would be praying for us. Several even said that they would drive down to Brigham City to help out. One young woman was so moved that she booked a flight from Denver to come and hit the streets with us! (A link to her weblog is at the bottom of this page).
When the day came, the sky was overcast and it was threatening to live up to the forecast (rarely do forecasters get the weather right around here), which was snow, and plenty of it.
Around 10:45, the Community Center had had filled with about 150 people, which thrilled us! They were from Calvary Chapel in Salt Lake, as well as several other churches in the valley; some came from Twin Falls, Idaho, others from Pocatello, and various other locations.
Then we received a call saying that two charter buses, with another 150 or so people, were due to arrive shortly from Salt Lake City!
More than 300 people crammed into the Community Center and we could do little more than watch them file in with slack-jawed awe at God's faithfulness and generosity...men, women, and children who gave freely of a whole Sunday to help us out!
By now it had started to snow quite hard, and people came in, shaking the slush from their heads and coats, but with great, big smiles on their faces. The joy and the excitement in that Community Center was palpable, and people excitedly set to the task at hand! The snow, which we had initially been concerned about, was little more than a bit of added discomfort which served to really make the experience memorable for those who walked the 80-100 miles of streets that had to be covered to deliver the videos. It had the added benefit of reducing the number of potential confrontations, since most people would be indoors in such weather. Even through all the lines, the waiting, the slogging through slush, we didn't hear a single word of complaint. In fact, people came up to us and thanked us ("You are thanking us? Shouldn't it be the other way around?")
Yet even amid the excitement of a bunch of Utah Christians who were unified by a desire to reach out to our Mormon neighbors, there was a clear understanding that we were in the midst of a spiritual battle. Not against the Mormon people--far from it--but rather against the deception that holds them captive. The Battle for Brigham City--or for that matter, for the souls of the precious Mormon people everywhere--is far from over.
A common question we will get is "What has been the response of the community?" When we distributed the DNA video, it was pretty evident; lots of phone calls, lots of e-mails, a good chunk of them nasty and angry. This time, thus far, it has been relatively quiet. It's quite possible that the LDS wards had caught wind of this (not unexpected) and had perhaps warned people not to watch the DVDs or communicate with us. Whatever the case is, however, we expect that over the course of the next few weeks, those few Mormons who are curious, and who will be able to overcome their fear of reprisal, will watch the video, and perhaps some of the seeking ones will contact us. That is our prayer, and we ask that you make it your prayer, too. Many recipients will likely misunderstand and think that this is an "attack" on them personally. While experience has taught us to expect, and even understand this reaction, we maintain that it is not so; we love these people, and because of that, we want to share the true Jesus with them.
So what will be the end result of all this? What will be the fruit from it? This is something that God alone knows, and really, is alone responsible for. We have scattered the seeds that He has given us; some of it falls on compact, rocky soil, and some of it--we pray--has fallen on receptive soil and will bear its fruit in season.
While we may get glimpses of it here and there, the full extent of that fruit will probably not be known until we are with the Lord. The fruit that has come of it thus far is that it has given a lot of weary, discouraged Christians in Utah a breath of fresh air and some encouragement that there are still things to be done--Christ to proclaim, and souls to win--to the glory of God!
Some Photos of the Day!
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A sample of the DVD package that was left on every doorknob in Brigham City and the surrounding communities of Perry, Willard, Honeyville, and Mantua.
Each packet contained an insert with an invitation to view an evangelistic website we created specifically for this distribution, www.hopefortheweary.com. |
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Thousands of DVDs, hundreds of people: We had an amazing turnout of people willing to slog through the snow to share the good news of Jesus with our Brigham City neighbors. |
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Our kitchen crew and many volunteers worked hard to feed some three hundred "troops"! |
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| People from all over Utah and Southern Idaho, and even Colorado and Montana, braved the winter weather to descend upon Brigham City for this outreach event. |
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| These brave troops--men, women, and children--slogged through sticky, slushy snow to deliver the videos door-to-door. |
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| Meanwhile, back at headquarters, groups came in "off the field" to warm up a bit, and then many requested second, third, and even fourth route assignments, and went back out to the snowy battlefield! We had quite the operation going, with tables directing route assignments, transportation assignments, and handing out bundles of DVDs. |
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| Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night...not even the less-than-favorable weather dampened the spirits of our willing participants; if anything, it made the adventure even more memorable! |
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Dwayna Litz, a young woman with an apologetics ministry called Lighting the Way International, who flew in from Denver to join us, also posted photos and shared her experience in her ministry weblog. Click here to view Dwayna's blog!
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