Several years ago, the Ft. Worth Branch started holding periodic hot dog outreaches on Saturday mornings. They’d hand out a free lunch, consisting of a hot dog, a single-serving bag of chips, and a bottle of water, to whoever wanted it.

The young people held signs up at the main intersection to attract people down the side street to the branch, and there was plenty of help cooking and serving. Some of the most important jobs were interacting with the guests. You don’t want to invite people to the church building and never talk to them.

So there were saints who primarily struck up conversations with those who came, listening to them, giving them a shoulder to cry on at times, and sharing a testimony of how God got them through a similar matter. The elders were there and did these things, as well as offering prayer and counseling to those who wanted it.

Many people visited those Saturday mornings and afternoons, and many started coming for the spiritual food the next day. Since then, the branch has become involved with the local food pantry and distributes meals to needy families once a month. Countless people have been touched and had the Gospel shared with them. And several have given their life to Christ after learning about the church through these different outreach events.

The weekend of January 18 and 19, we held a hot dog outreach here in the Katy, Texas, area. Now, with three families of saints here, we needed a little help, and the Ft. Worth Branch sent ten willing workers (eight adults and two kids) to give us the hand we needed.

But, as we all know, opposition tends to try and creep in when we do something good for the Lord.

On Thursday evening, the weather forecast for Saturday didn’t look good — cool and rainy. I talked to the brothers in Ft. Worth, and we decided that we’d postpone since the weather didn’t look like it would cooperate. But, the saints who were coming found that their hotel reservations were already inside the cancellation policy. So, we decided that they would still come down and we’d take advantage of the time with a seminar, fellowshipping, and whatever else the Lord might inspire. And, if the weather decided to hold off, we’d go ahead and have the outreach.

Saturday morning came and there was no rain forming as previously expected. I prayed for direction, looked at some forecast data, and felt we should go for it, and so we did. At 11 a.m., we started the grill, posted signs throughout the neighborhood, and got all set. We handed out fliers to those stopping at the intersection. A handful of people came by.

The rain held off for the first hour, and then the skies opened up. Of those who stopped by, one said he would be back next week. Although we didn’t get any visitors on Sunday, we know that we planted seeds and it was a successful event. Plus, the visit helped to energize those of us here away from the main body of the Church.

I told the group Sunday morning that, had we cancelled, we would not have met those who did stop by, especially the young man who plans to come in the future. We don’t know yet what the Lord has in store, but we believe the time is now for the work in this part of the vineyard to branch out and grow. We will continue to petition the Lord for guidance and direction and work each day to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As the weather gets warmer and people come to swim at the community pool, right next to where we held the event, we’ll hopefully hold more to reach those souls who don’t know the whole, restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.