We share with you the latest report on the gospel literature outreach of Pilgrims Covenant Church in Monroe, Wisconsin, USA.
I have in the past had the opportunity of ministering in this church and sharing the pulpit with a faithful preacher and contender for the faith, Pastor Ralph Ovadal.
He and his helpers set a wonderful example of what it is to be an earnest, stedfast and abounding in the work of the Lord.
I trust you are encouraged by this report and I would ask you to pray for this faithful gospel witness.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
Pilgrims Covenant Church Public Ministries Update
July 22, 2023
Dear Friends,
With this summary on our gospel witness in the world, we pick up where we left off with our last quarterly report. I want to begin by thanking those who pray for us as we labor for the Master and, I trust, with a heart for His honor and glory and then for the perishing. We also wish to express our appreciation for those who help in a financial way our small church labor for the Lord by way of our gospel witness. For instance, we have just put in another order for 35,000 of our PCC gospel tracts, specifically our Christ Jesus Came into the World to Save Sinners tract. But of course above all, we thank the Lord for the means, the health, and the many opportunities He has provided to share the glorious gospel of Christ with multitudes of men, women, and young people spiritually and legally “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).
Below is a very brief summary of our gospel labors at public gatherings these past three months. Generally speaking, during each gospel witness, we have many interactions with all sorts and kinds of individuals. It is not unusual to meet with a certain amount of animosity from surly men and women, old, young, and in-between, who would no doubt be in favor of making the sharing of the gospel – at least a faithful gospel – unlawful. But at the same time, we regularly, not always but regularly, meet individuals who surely seem to be born-again brethren who rejoice to see the gospel of Christ being shared with all and everyone present. Among those just mentioned are, here and there, on-duty police officers who, having been offered one of our gospel tracts, warmly respond to us and announce that they too are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The great, vast majority of persons with whom we interact are unbelievers – some with no religion, some in apostate churches, and some of religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. Most individuals are polite, and many even thank us for the gospel tract they receive. No doubt, a good many are thankful that someone showed such concern for them.
But, to sum up, every ministry outing we undertake results in a full range of interactions and responses which, if we were to detail in a report such as this, it would turn from a summary to a small book. So we content ourselves with mostly sharing some essential facts concerning each outreach and comfort ourselves with the thought that in each case we are sure that the Lord did so much more than even we were aware of at the time. Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Cinco de Mayo – Rochelle, IL
On Saturday, May 6, three of our number labored for the Lord at this event which was on the modest side, numbers wise. But we have found Hispanic folks are generally very receptive to the gospel. During this ministry, 394 individuals received our gospel tract along with a Trinitarian Bible Society Spanish language tract titled El Evangelio de Tu Salvación (The Gospel of Your Salvation). Another 386 individuals received just our gospel tract. So a total of 780 men, women and young people received a total of 1,174 pieces of gospel literature from us. Two Spanish gospels of John (Juan) were also gladly received.
Memorial Day Parade – Janesville, WI
This Memorial Day, which fell on May 29, found four of us walking the parade route in Janesville with the same goal we have for every such event: that is to offer a gospel tract to every single person along the route old enough to read with the exception of children whose parents object to them receiving a tract. Though it is not likely we have ever accomplished 100% coverage of a crowd due to the fact that the crowd is sometimes so packed together and tangled up, we usually come close to our goal in pursuit of which we not only cover the curb and sidewalk area but also large grassy areas along the route and bunches of people congregated in parking lots. We also approach persons sitting on their porches or in their driveways some distance back from the public sidewalk as well as persons watching the parade from their cars along the route. Then after the parade, we make an effort to get tracts into the hands of those who marched in it or rode on floats.
During our time in Janesville, we handed out 1,908 gospel tracts.
Gospel Witness in Richland Center, WI and Scales Mound, IL
On Saturday, June 10, we split our small force with three of us heading north to witness at the Richland Center Dairy Days and Rodeo Parade and two of us heading south into Illinois to share the gospel at a parade in Scales Mound where they were celebrating the 170th year of that town. The parade in little Scales Mound (pop. 426) had quite a number of units; and the route was circular, enabling the two of us to thoroughly cover one side of the route and then start over on the other side and cover it as well before the parade ended, though it was a close affair. By the time we were done, we had handed out 585 gospel tracts.
Meanwhile, our three brethren in Richland Center worked hard to cover both sides of that parade route with the result being that 1,782 individuals received gospel tracts from their hands. Though Richland Center is a rural community, there were a number of “out and proud” homosexuals watching the parade. To say the least, this is a people group which is not the most favorable to Christian witness for the Lord publically. Yet of the number on hand, two lesbians with a little child did accept gospel tracts. A group of young homosexuals also took tracts.
Balloon & Blues Festival – Monroe, WI
During this June 16-17 event which takes place near Joy’s home, she had her Bible table out in the front yard of her house alongside the sidewalk on which many who attend the balloon rally walk. By this means, twelve persons, in some cases families, chose to avail themselves of a Bible; and one Spanish Gospel of John was also taken. Also, four Trinitarian Bible Society coloring books were taken. These books have Scripture on every page along with pleasant pictures for children to color. They contain no idolatrous pictures, including of “Jesus” such as are so popular among new evangelicals for witnessing and in teaching children.
Butterfest Parade – Reedsburg, WI
At this event which took place on Saturday, June 17, four of us were blessed of the Lord to hand out 2,794 of our gospel tracts. To put it another way, two thousand, seven hundred and ninety four men, women, and young persons received a sound, scriptural, straightforward, thorough gospel message contained in our three-fold Christ Jesus Came into the World to Save Sinners tract.
Several other churches also conducted a “gospel witness” during this parade by having floats in it. For instance, the local charismatic church had their rock-and-roll band belting out their brand of “worship” music by way of drums, electric guitars, and vocals. A number of homosexuals and their supporters also marched in this parade, holding their “gay pride” flags high. By the grace of God, some of these individuals did accept gospel tracts.
Old Settlers Days Parade – Lanark, IL
This parade was held on Saturday, June 24. This was a crowd very open, in some cases seemingly eager, to receive the gospel as attested by the fact that 599 of our gospel tracts were given out to the relatively small crowd. Probably no more than 2% of the crowd refused to accept a gospel tract! Clearly the Lord had prepared some good ground in which for us to sow the gospel on this day!
Once again, several local churches had floats in the parade. One such float featured church members dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz movie, such as the Wicked Witch of the West. Another of the churches with floats in this parade was the “Simply Free Church” with their rock-and-roll “worship” band complete with a “bubble machine” as their entry.
Whitewater, WI Fourth of July Festival Parade
The city of Whitewater is the home of a state college, which is possibly the reason for more than the average number of refusals as we offered gospel tracts to those assembled for the Independence Day parade. But the acceptance rate was still quite good. We also were encouraged in our gospel labors by a small number of Christians scattered along the parade route. In one case, a man scanned the tract I handed to him and then shouted after me, “I was hoping someone would do this today!”
There were a good number of Hispanics at this parade. As I handed a gospel tract to one Hispanic man who was there with his family, I noted that he was softly singing “America, the Beautiful” as a band passed by playing that song.
At this parade, we also had the blessing of being sought out by a young man who had seen the tract others were reading and eagerly asked if he could have one also.
It was quite a hot day and the parade route was, for several reasons, an extra tough one to thoroughly cover. By the time we handed the last gospel tract of the 4,519 tracts we gave out, we were soaked with sweat, but as always, rejoicing and able to once again say, “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad” (Psalm126:3).
Later that night, after we had enjoyed a late afternoon Independence Day meal ourselves, Joy decided to check out a local Fourth of July event at Twining Park in Monroe. At this event, there were also a good number of Hispanics on hand. Joy was enabled by the Lord to give out 450 gospel tracts and had the blessing of seeing many men, women, and young people reading those tracts. So by the end of the day, 4,969 individuals had received gospel tracts from us.
“Our Town” Sesquicentennial Celebration Parade – Highland, WI
Highland is a town with a population of about 800 persons. It is located in southwestern Wisconsin just south of the beautiful Wisconsin River. On Saturday, July 15, we traveled there to share the gospel with the people who gathered along the route of the parade which was part of the multi-day celebration of the 150th year anniversary of Highland’s founding. Among the entries in the parade were an RCC Knights of Columbus float and another RC float flying the Vatican flag. Highland proved to have its share of people who were obviously less than pleased with our gospel witness. The large Roman Catholic church and heavy Roman Catholic influence in this town could well be the reason a number of men and women coldly refused our gospel tracts. But we were still enabled by the Lord to hand out 420 tracts, for which we were profoundly grateful to the Lord of the harvest.
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13
Sincerely,
Ralph Ovadal
After we have covered the parade route, we do our best to also offer gospel tracts to those who were in it.