Karen Kaiser, who worked as a town clerk in Buffalo, N.Y., left the Catholic church and was done with church altogether until she sat down on a plane next to a Baptist believer and talked to him for two and a half hours. Soon after, a neighbor invited her to church.
Kaiser said, “God’s been chasing me down, telling me to come home.”
That’s how Kaiser ended up at the flea market sharing her faith with others.
Shirley Masongezi was pursuing a doctorate in mathematics at Virginia Tech when she trusted in Jesus for salvation at 30 years old. An older woman with Campus Crusade for Christ discipled her. Masongezi became a missionary to Nigeria and later to Cameroon before meeting her Congolese husband, Wilondja.
Together, she and her husband went to the flea market to share their faith with others.
“We had never witnessed at a flea market before,” said Masongezi.
Kristen Harrison grew up doing missions. She served the homeless in Atlanta when she was 12. She served victims of a Tennessee flood when she was roughly 16 years old. And she cleaned up after tornadoes in Oklahoma when she was around 17 years old. Harrison said she wants her daughter to have the same experience.
Believers from multiple states came together to share the gospel with unbelievers — the same message that saved them.
She said, “I’m hoping that she comes away with the experience [of] the joy that it gives knowing you brought someone to heaven with you.”
That’s how Harrison, her husband, and their daughter ended up at the flea market sharing their faith with others.
Will Litrell didn’t grow up in a Christian home. His mom left, and he and his brother were raised by their dad, who never took them to church. But his grandma did.
“When my grandma would visit, she would take us to church, so I learned about the love of God when I was younger.”
Litrell said when his grandmother didn’t come for several years to take them to church, he went back to living life as a “normal” kid.
But Litrell went back to church as an adult and gave his life to Christ when he was 33 years old. Now, 11 years later, he stands at the flea market sharing the gospel with anyone who will listen.
The Flea Market
Will Litrell led the group in prayer as they started the day of ministry.
Over 10 believers gathered at the flea market in West Columbia, S.C., wearing dark gray Send Relief T-shirts. Evangelism at the flea market was one of 47 projects that 1,008 Send Relief Serve Tour volunteers from 80 churches and 14 states participated in Aug. 22-23. Send Relief partnered with Kittiwake Baptist Church and Covenant Baptist Church to host two booths at the flea market with free Bibles, gospel tracts, stickers, necklaces, and other freebies with a Scripture message. Next to one of the booths, they had a prayer tent set up. Volunteers passed out Bibles and tracts and engaged shoppers or vendors with the gospel message.
Two believers, Shirley and Wilondja Masongezi, shared the gospel with several vendors at the flea market. She and her husband decided the best strategy would be to talk to vendors while they weren’t serving customers, instead of shoppers that were focused on buying goods. One of the vendors they shared with had open heart surgery two weeks prior to their arrival. Shirley asked the man if he died would he know he was going to heaven. The man responded that he thought so because he was a good man. Shirley said she then shared what Jesus says about eternal life — that salvation is a free gift by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The man then gave his life to Christ. The Masongezis also witnessed a few others trust in Christ for salvation that day.
It’s been said that “evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” These volunteers did just that.