Using the outdoors as a connecting point for Jesus Christ is a great idea, especially in Louisiana.
JONESVILLE – Using the outdoors as a connecting point for Jesus Christ is a great idea, especially in Louisiana.
Known as Sportman’s Paradise, the state has its share (1.75 million) of men, and women, who love the outdoors. Therefore, an event like this can be a tremendous means of reaching out into the community.
Stan Wyant, pastor of Lismore Baptist Church in Jonesville, decided to tap into those numbers using a fledgling outdoor ministry, which has already netted the church results after just one springtime event.
“In the spring, we decided to do a crappie tournament as part of our outdoor ministry, but it was put together rather hastily and did not draw the numbers I would have liked,” Wyant said. “Still, we had two families that became involved in our church and three more families are prospects.”
Buoyed by the success of the fishing tournament, Wyant thought – with a little more time and better planning – another event just might attract an even larger crowd. He and his church hit upon the idea to host a two-day hunter education and safety course, followed by a skeet shoot and archery tournament, the weekend before the statewide opening of squirrel and rabbit seasons.
In Louisiana, it is mandatory that anyone born after Sept. 1, 1969 must successfully complete a hunter’s safety course and have a certificate of completion in order to purchase a hunting license and hunt with firearms.
“We advertise the event for over a month in the newspaper, on TV and radio,” Wyant said. “Our local businesses gave us over $1,500 for prizes.”
The response was better than Wyant had hoped, “We had 108 attend – 90 were visitors who had never been to our church. We had one family come from Natchitoches, some individuals South of Alexandria, and another family of 5 or 6 come from Winnsboro. We drew people from a 200 to 300 square mile radius.”
Friday night the event went from 5:30 until 9 p.m. It started at 8 a.m. Saturday. The class, which was taught by wildlife biologist Karen Edwards and Pam Ruttle out of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Ferriday office, finished up around noon and the skeet shoot and archery tournament started at 1:30 and lasted until 5:30.
Twenty-five adults and 15 children participated in the skeet shoot while more than 80 competed in the archery tournament. There were also some 40 spectators on hand for both events.
“We were able to pass out Bible tracts, and one of the members of our church bought Bibles that we gave to everyone who participated,” Wyant said. “At lunch on Saturday, a pastor friend of mine from Arkansas, Kyle Bryan, shared the Gospel with everyone there.”
A small fee was charged so the event paid for itself according to Wyant.
“It was not only a financial success, but a spiritual one as well,” Wyant said. “We had everyone register before hand, and I think we may have several prospective families, not to mention individuals.
“More importantly, the event was a success because we were able to spread the Word of God,” he said. “If we reached one lost soul, I’m happy, but I believe we may have reached many more than one.”