After a week at the merchant area of the Armada Fair, I thought I’d share in a couple of merchant lies that I picked up on. Both of them have to do with the contests you enter. Just be aware of these:

• "A chance to win $1000 off home improvements" I asked the booth operators what the chances of winning are. They are 100%. If you put your name down you’ll get $1000 off. For them it’s not about the $1000, it’s about you agreeing to the estimate.
• "Enter our drawing for a $250 gift certificate" No one ever wins. All they want is your contact information for their mailing list.

See, the thing about a fair is that it only lasts a week. There is no regulation of any kind as to whom is there. If you pay the money, you get a spot. If you pay $100 cash for a craft… do you even know the persons name whom you bought something from? Where would you return it? What would you do if you found out that they sold you a "handmade craft" from India and not Indiana?

A lot of vendors didn’t like us very much by the end of the week. Sure, we drew a lot of traffic. Sure, we made a 1500 kids smile with free balloons. But at the end of the day we frustrated some vendors because our authenticity reflected on their fraud. The booths who sold honest products at an honest price did better because they looked at the long term gain instead of a one-time, 6 day profit.

I just hope we get a chance to go back in 2008. It was a monster win for KidsTown.

I just talked to Rachel and Katie, who closed out Thursday at the Armada Fair.

Over all it has been a fantastic 3 days. Results-wise, about 40 kids have committed to coming to the next MainStreet with their parents. (Have you seen the August one? Here’s the video)

In the past three days I’ve had a lot of amazing conversations and first encounters with non-believers.
I’ve also had a great time getting to know the other vendors in the Merchants barn. And in the quiet moments of the hecticness I’ve had a chance to reflect on the why we are at the fair in the first place.

My mind has been captivated by two primary biblical passages. I think they are the only biblical justification I would ever need to defend our actions. Not that we need to, but still:

1. Acts 17:17… there is something very Pauline about presenting KidsTown in the Merchant barn. I love that our booth is surrounded by normal stuff. It’s how the church should be.
2. Matthew 11:16-19… Not much to add to that actually.

Better than just being excited about this event, we have more to come. We’ve got a great plan for the Peach Festival and even something super cool for Halloween.

I’ve now spent two full days on my feet telling people about KidsTown and RomeoKids.com. I’ve come up with a few interesting observations about "booth stuff."

• Even though KidsTown is about kids, having kids in the booth doesn’t always help.
• You have to have a reason for people to engage you in conversation. It can be as simple as a balloon or finger puppet, but they won’t give you more than a "hello" if you aren’t handing them something.
• It’s obvious, but making a kid smile is the key to a parents heart.
• Universally, parents are interested in teaching their kids about God… but they aren’t too sure about asking a church for help. (We’ve only had one flat refusal out of the 1000 or so people we’ve talked to.) Giving them a website where they can do it on their own… they can do that.
• Having a steady flow of fresh helpers helps a lot. Since I’ve been there all day I really am feeding off their energy.
• If you can get all the booths around you "awake" and just as excited as you are… everyone will do better.
• Not every vendor is there for the same purpose. Some people are there to turn a quick profit and others are there for leads to follow-up on. For some, 1 lead a day is exciting. Others, 7 makes for a great day. Still others purely want to get their name in the community. For us… this is "a touch" in the process of getting people to the foyer. All we’re asking people to do is check us out. It’s a lead and a "get out" thing combined.
• For every dad I talk to I talk to 5 moms. It’s an old story but dads aren’t leading their families in many ways. But grandma is! Grandma is very interested in the spiritual formation of her grandkids.
• We’ve gotten into the most conversations with two types of people. First, the "mom/female" who is very friendly and engages. Second, the people who are really connected to the community. A fresh familiar face goes a long, long way.
• People from other churches have been very engaging and polite. (At least 5 people yesterday told me they were children’s directors at churches.) I can pick out a Christian family in about .5 seconds. Interestingly, almost everyone who is involved in a church (even staffers) is also willing to be looking at a new church.
• "It’s free" is the most awesomest words a parent will hear at the fair.
• Stand up and smile. Sitting down is death to a booth. (Which is why volunteers help because everyone needs a break!)
• 3Story. 3Story. 3Story. Everyone has a story and it’s just one open ended question away. Being creative, listening empathetically, and not having a script is still the best.
• You can only communicate a single message. Everything else must be built on that. This is what Seth Godin calls "your lie." "What is it that you are trying to tell people about your business?" We’re telling the best kind of "lie." One that is simple and authentic. The best marketing "lie" is a true one.

All-in-all, the booth at the fair is an amazing step for our church. I am learning tons about our community in the conversations we’re having and not having. The bottom line will be "does it work?" And the thing about marketing a church is that it’s not always immediately visible that it worked.

A former student of mine recently blogged about a metaphor I use for evangelism. And I think it applies here. Everyone non-believer has a wall between them and God. In each interaction with a Christian we either have the chance to put another brick in that wall by being something they expect us  to be… judgmental, mean, secluded… or we can take a brick off that wall and be something they don’t expect us to be. [Insert your own] Each time we take a brick off that wall that brings a person one step closer to experiencing God. We don’t know what our role is… we may be the first person to ever take a brick off that wall or we may be the person who God has chosen to remove the last brick and introduce them to a life-changing relationship with a risen Christ.

Romans 1:20 My mind has been focused on this passage lately. It’s not our job to convince people there is a God since God has revealed Himself to all people. It’s our job to show them how they can cannot with a holy God.

I am so excited about all that has happened in the 24 hours leading up to the Armada Fair. Even at the cost of some people getting little to no sleep last night, this is going to be worth it all. There are dozens of volunteers lined up, stuff to hand out, a great looking booth, etc. It’s going to be worth all the hard work.

Let me rephrase to be more accurate. The last 24 hours have been insane. Hectic. Tense. Head scratching. Dynamic. Loud. Not mean or bad, just in a "Om my goodness, lets finish everything right away" mode as a very quick plan had to finish 24 hours early when we were told Friday that we had to be ready Tuesday morning and not Wednesday.

"Going" to reach our community. It has been about 4 years since I felt this church feel comfortable going out to reach the community. Kristen and I move 2000+ miles to a little town north of Detroit because God wanted us to join forces with people equally insane about doing the impossible… in a lot of ways "it’s time" to start fulfilling that mission. A reason most churches don’t do anything about the 90%+ people who walk daily away from God is because they don’t care enough to "go." The major reason I am so excited about the next 6 days is that we, the church, are going. We’re not hiring "go-ers" and we’re not expecting others to magically "go" for us. We are going.

And it will be fun!