Visual Faith® Ministry was recently requested to host a table at a conference called The Word Works. Our spiritual discipline practices encourage focus and reflection during time in God's Word, and our resources include tools which allow for developing a consistent, meaningful quiet time - both of which supported the event topic: building an ethic of Bible reading.
The idea/theme for the day was that reading the Bible changes your life.What might happen if we read through the Bible each year? How did we get the Bible and can we trust it's accuracy? How might a habit such as consistent Bible reading change your brain? And why should we read the Old Testament when we already have the New Testament?
Several hundred people were in attendance, as well as many who registered to watch via livestream. Carolyn Bira and I were there to answer questions and explain what we had brought for "show and tell."
This was our first experience with having only a display table, minus the opportunity for teaching time to explain what "visual faith" is all about. Thinking that if both of us were in conversation, others might pass by and not understand, we didn't want to miss anyone. Some extra explanation was added - very last minute on a folded out section of a cardboard box!
This was also the first time to use our new vertical banner (designed by Diane Marra through Vistaprint) calling attention to our table and beautifully highlighting our mission: Telling the Story of God's Faithfulness.
Projects and resources from our website were displayed and labeled with a bit of explanation. Resource collections such as prayer cards, lunch hugs, prayer spaces, etc. were available to flip through so that newcomers to Visual Faith® Ministry could easily see the variety we offer. Small binders with examples of the Visual Church Year - sermon notes and Children's bulletins - were on hand, along with a few from current readings to spark recognition. Our Bibles, new Lenten resources, and examples of Scripture Scribing were laid out as well. Carolyn created a poster and business cards with our QR code, to help visitors find our website later on.
God brought many people to our table during breaks between speakers and during lunch. "Visual faith conversations" are always exciting! We were encouraged to find out that some of the people we met had already been printing The Visual Church Year for their families or churches - and they stopped by to thank us. Others were not aware and glad to discover this resource. A local missionary was excited about our Spanish resources, and many were interested in the prayer projects that were on display.
What a blessing to share "faith tools" and explain practices that would benefit the lives of people who were being inspired by the speakers to make God's Word a daily priority!
Besides new friends who came to the table, we also met and connected with friends Claudina Kestner and Tammy Mire from our Visual Faith® Ministry Facebook page.
Our website and social media pages reach across the U.S. and to other countries, and we "gather" there for conversation and sharing. We "meet" each other in post conversations and zoom gatherings and events. Relationships grow as we collaborate and talk online, but it is always a special blessing to move from the status of "Facebook friend" to "in-person friend!"
A final gift - speaker sessions from The Word Works are available for you at the links below:
Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Kloha - The Bible: From Manuscripts to Modern Translations
Dr. Thad Polk - Bible Reading & Biblical Expertise: Lessons from Psychology & Neuroscience
Rev. Dr. Mark Hoehner - Do I Have to Read the Old Testament Too?
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"So shall my word be that goes out from my. mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."
- Isaiah 55:11
[Visual Faith® Ministry thanks the Michigan District of the LCMS for hosting this conference and making the speaker videos available for viewing.]