Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest PageMISSIONARIES LOOKING FOR a way to share the gospel in the heart of the gambling capital of the world came up trumps with an unlikely approach.
Eager to preach and talk with passers-by in downtown Las Vegas, they didn't see how they could gather without being moved on by the authorities for causing an obstruction - until they looked across the street.
Now they bring members of local churches out most weeks for an open-air service illuminated by the bright lights of one of the city's most famous landmarks. They sing, present dramas and preach from a parking lot directly in front of the renowned Fremont Street entrance.
More than 80 people have given their lives to Christ since the Youth With A Mission team began their regular outreach earlier this year. Among those who have responded is a former gambling addict who fed his habit through male prostitution. He now attends a local church.
The evangelism program focuses on the city's large homeless population - many of whom gather in the Fremont Street area at the far end of the celebrated Strip - rather than the thousands of visitors who flock to the desert resort from all over the world.
"Tourists are often too busy to want to stop and listen, but more importantly we want to concentrate on local people because it's possible to have some ongoing contact with them," said YWAM-Las Vegas director Richard Thompson. "County records show that the city has 125,000 transients. Many of them have ended up with nothing because of gambling."
The evangelistic groups rent out four parking spaces for up to three hours where, because they are on private land, they can carry on uninterrupted. "We told the man there we wanted to have a sort of open-air church meeting and he was very helpful," said Thompson. "It's the perfect location. It's right next to the sidewalk, and straight across from the entrance to Fremont Street, so there are always people walking by."
Visiting YWAM teams from other parts of the country and overseas have joined in the downtown initiative - called Lost World Rescue - along with 16 local churches. "It's effective. I have talked to people who have stopped to watch what was going on whose hearts have been touched or who have been willing to receive prayer," said Richard Box, youth pastor at Hallelujah Christian Fellowship, whose group has taken part in the program. "People come to Las Vegas and the last thing they expect is to see an evangelistic outreach on the streets, so it kind of shocks them, but it is very effective."
A British evangelist who has preached on the streets of cities across Europe and the Soviet Union over the past 12 years, Thompson said that Las Vegas was as tough a setting as he had experienced.
"It is a hard situation because you are dealing with very real needs, life- controlling problems. You can't give someone a quick fix. But once you find an approach and are prepared to keep at it, there is no reason why you should not see fruit, as we are doing."
With support from local churches, the YWAM team this month plan to start a regular "street cafe", providing free food for some of the homeless. "Eventually we want to have some sort of a drop-in facility where we can offer people other kinds of practical help," said Thompson.
"Without seeking to offer long-term solutions, preaching can seem a bit like just handing out band-aids, but when there is an accident you should do all that you can until the ambulance arrives. You don't do nothing."
(Photo available on request)
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