“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23 NIV)
This past weekend was our second time participating in the Wilson Whirlygig Festival. I’m so proud of our faithful WCC servants who worked hard to make our booth a success.
Sonny Allen, our Director of Contribution, and the one in charge of WCC’s Whirlygig booth, was unbelievable in his commitment, leadership, and enthusiasm for this project. Sonny you are the man!
But as Sonny himself would tell you, he didn’t do it alone. He put together a great team. One of his key players and according to him, his “right hand,” was Abby Propst. Abby brought a great attention to detail and even performed as spokesperson for the event in our in-house video promo produced by George Bryant. Amanda Manuel was another key player on the team, bringing her “eye” for how our booth should look. She designed the signage and layout. Marsha Morris and Mike McKinley were also important members of the team helping with getting inventory together and setting up.
It took 50+ volunteers to man our 30 foot space all day Saturday and Sunday. We sold cotton candy and raffle tickets, raising $1124.00 to give to the Hope Station (a local ministry to the hungry and homeless). We also did free “hair-painting.” These colorful hairdos were like our free advertising as they walked along the street.
We were told that people were asking, “Where did you get your hair?”
“Down at the WCC booth and it’s free!” They’d respond.
The line at our booth got so long on Saturday, that we had to assign a couple of our volunteers to crowd control.
On Sunday afternoon our own worship band led by Stephen Combs performed. Stephen introduced our band and invited listeners to head down to our booth. Stephen and Stedfast did a wonderful job. It was like having church in the streets as the sounds of worship music echoed down Nash Street.
Why did we do this event and what did we accomplish? You may ask. It’s because we want people in Wilson to know that we are Christ followers that love this city, that we are authentic and friendly, and that we want to serve them in any way we can. Our desire in doing events like Whirlygig is bridge-building.
We want to “Build a bridge of trust that will bear the weight of truth.”
I think we were faithful to be bridge-builders this past weekend. I’m thankful to God for the faithful servants at WCC!