Open Air: WVU vs TCU – 10/22/16

MORGANTOWN – This game was a great learning experience and showed much promise for future games. Andy Schmelzer and I setup on a busy corner in the largest tailgate lot next to Milan Puskar Stadium. This corner is where the WVU football team and coaches are dropped off before the game and they walk to the stadium cheered on by fans. We were able to distribute hundreds of Gospel tracts and even engaged in some one-on-one conversations.

Both of us open-air preached, Andy more than myself as I began to feel ill shortly after arrival. However, we pressed on and continued to minister. After I finished open-air preaching, the players arrived and began their walk through the crowd. Because we were strategically setup, Andy was able to stand up on his stool and hold a sign up for not only the crowd, but the players and coaches to see as well. The sign read, “ON JUDGMENT DAY, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR SIN?”

WVU Head Coach Dana Holgersen’s eyes locked on the sign and I could tell I grabbed his attention. What a way to plant a seed of thinking of eternity to someone with so much influence!

One realization we found is that our small voice boosters are no match for the many speakers blaring music throughout the entire area. We are trying to get a half-mile hailer or other louder sound amplification system soon.

Due to health reasons, I was unable to continue up to kickoff. However, Andy did stay and walked around the stadium and found that all around the tailgating was very loud. Other areas were quieter but it wasn’t as busy, possibly because it was closer to game time. He went back to our original spot and foot traffic was less. He did find that a close-by intersection was busy and quiet and he preached there for another 1/2 hour.
The next game, we will try the intersection and the original spot we were at as well as the opposite side of the stadium after the team walk through and see what we feel the best spot is. While this year has been a learning experience, it will pay dividends in the future.