Pumpkin Festival Outreach
At the Morton Pumpkin Festival every year, we set up a booth to raise awareness of Christ. We are thankful for the opportunity to share the Good News with our community!
Bible Booth
Through our booth in the Merchants Tent we hope to encourage festival goers to draw closer to Christ. With the slogan, “Christ’s love is free, so are our Bibles”, our church has had the privilege of distributing Christian literature, including Bibles, large print Bibles, Spanish Bibles, and children’s Bibles and story books to the thousands that visit our booth each year. People are often wary of “free” anything. But our Bibles really are free, and have no strings attached. While Christ’s love is free, it didn’t come without cost. Jesus paid the price of our sins on the cross. Only He could pay the priceless cost of a soul which is of more value than all the world’s riches (Mark 8:36-27). The cost of our Bibles is more than offset by a single saved soul!
Grilling
For many, many years, the men of the Morton Apostolic Christian Church have taken the Saturday evening shift grilling pork chops and brats at the Morton Pumpkin Festival. Not only is it an opportunity to give back to the community but it’s a great time of fellowship, too. And of course, we have to sample our product! Whether you are a grill-master or novice, there are jobs for all. Come join the fun!
Feeding the Carnival Workers
The Morton Pumpkin Festival has the reputation of being one of the premier small town festivals in Illinois. But in the midst of the thousands coming to Morton during festival week are an often overlooked strata of people who work very hard to help make the festival run. They have often left towns just like ours without receiving even the smallest gesture of kindness or commendation from those they served. They are the carnival workers.
A small group of our church decided that we should say thanks. Through the simple act of preparing a delicious dinner, all served on festival grounds, and welcoming the carnival workers with a handshake and a smile as our special guests, it was demonstrated that while they may be “carnies” to most, they were people to us. And more importantly, that they were souls for whom Christ died.
This small gesture was so overwhelmingly appreciated, our church has continued each year since. It is amazing how such a small act of love can so deeply touch a person. We see their beaming faces, the looks of surprise, and hear them say “no one ever does anything for us.” And we hear how veteran workers eagerly anticipate returning to Morton, a most unusual stop in an otherwise rather bleak carnival circuit. May God help us to continue looking for opportunities to do good unto all men (Galations 6:10).
A small group of our church decided that we should say thanks. Through the simple act of preparing a delicious dinner, all served on festival grounds, and welcoming the carnival workers with a handshake and a smile as our special guests, it was demonstrated that while they may be “carnies” to most, they were people to us. And more importantly, that they were souls for whom Christ died.
This small gesture was so overwhelmingly appreciated, our church has continued each year since. It is amazing how such a small act of love can so deeply touch a person. We see their beaming faces, the looks of surprise, and hear them say “no one ever does anything for us.” And we hear how veteran workers eagerly anticipate returning to Morton, a most unusual stop in an otherwise rather bleak carnival circuit. May God help us to continue looking for opportunities to do good unto all men (Galations 6:10).