Blessings At Cons

Once again, we have returned from a convention with a true appreciation for what God can do when we take Him out of the box we want to keep Him in.

For the last few years, we have been involved in several sci-fi, gaming, multi-genre conventions. The biggest is Dragon*Con in Atlanta, but we've also done ConNooga in Chattanooga, and now the Dicehead Siege in the same city. In each of these venues we've had the opportunity to hold worship services, and share the gospel with people. And each time we're amazed at what God can really do. Let me give you some examples.

Dragon*Con officially reports about 30,000 attendees, but many believe that it's closer to 50,000. The first year we had a service (2007) we hoped for about 30 people coming to church. The room we had arranged was packed to standing-room only with nearly 60 people. Last year we had right at around 100.

At ConNooga 2008 there were just under 1000 people, and we had 11 people come to the service. This year there was closer to 2000 and we had 35 people.

The Siege is in its first year this year, and had about 150 people attend. We had expected 5-6 people at our service and ended up with 13. One of those was a staff member at the arena, who heard our singing and came to sit down and worship with us.

Now these numbers may not be dramatic to many people, but consider the type of people who go to the cons. Most of these people are not Christians, and many have been hurt by judgemental church-goers. To have these people come to the church service, as well as the Christian fans, is a real blessing. And it amazes us (but shouldn't) that God constantly surpases our expectations, each time having the Spirit bringing more people that we could imagine.

There is a real hunger for Christ at these cons. Many people are lost and need the light of God in their lives, even if they don't realize it. And there are Christians who feel like they have to give up church in order to attend these cons. We truly believe that we are doing His will by taking the Word to these places. Nobody who hasn't been a part of it can really understand.

Our next con will be Dragon*Con in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend. I hope to see you there! Be sure to stop by the Fans For Christ booth and say hi to "Swordsman" (my handle on the FFC forum).