Indiana—Two years ago Jackie Donham and her husband, Ray, took their disaster services ministry to the Knox County Fair and gave away 987 pieces of literature and made contact with more than 2,000 people. It was a tremendous outreach that cost very little. As members of the Adventist Disaster Response team, the Donhams are always looking for ways to reach out and serve the community and make the church's presence known. In July they were back at the fair; this time they sponsored a booth at the Greene County 4-H Fair.

The Donhams rented a spot where they could set up two six-foot tables displaying the items needed to make an evacuation kit. They explained to the people why they needed to prepare their kits beforehand—so they could grab them and leave their home immediately in case a disaster struck. The Donhams also displayed a children's disaster kit that included some toys that might come in handy if families had to spend long hours filling out claim forms later on. Jackie says, "We kept our spiel down to about 60 seconds or less because fair patrons always seem to be in a hurry!"

On the second table the Donhams had a small television showing a 3ABN DVD. Plus, they had registration forms for a drawing of a satellite dish which they planned to give away. "Many of the fair-goers were excited about the prospect of winning a Christian broadcasting dish," remarked Jackie.

The Donhams also displayed several pieces of literature, offering them for free. Jackie recalls, "The most popular give-away was The Ten Commandments Twice Removed. We gave Christian-themed stickers to the children which were a great conversation opener."

The Donhams were well received: "One lady offered to put our information sheet on the Greene County Soil Conservation website along with our church's name and telephone number. Another lady asked if we could tell her Brownie troop how to make an evacuation kit. A school teacher asked if we would make a presentation to the students in her school system on preparing for a disaster. Before the fair ended, an official of a local radio station asked for information on the Sabbath. We happily gave it to him!"

All in all, the Donhams made many contacts and gave away a lot of literature. Jackie said, "We did this with minimal time and money. A friendly smile and a genuine interest in the welfare of others went a long way. A lot of our church members helped, and we all felt the project turned out to be quite an achievement for our small church!"

The Donhams are available to come to your church to teach how to do a successful fair presentation. You may contact them at 812-757-4576.

Judith Yeoman, correspondent, Lake Union Herald, as shared by Jackie Donham, communication secretary, Bloomfield Church