When I was a missionary in Brazil we quite often utilized what is termed “open-air evangelism”. Those that came down as volunteers have some great stories about their experiences with this evangelisitic tool – the night air, the large, milling crowds, the thousands of tracts passed out, the drunks and the hecklers, the people speaking an unfamiliar language, hundreds of kids running around, the loud music, the preaching, the insect that secrets acid on your face, the Jesus film, the “paint talk,” the jugglers, the counseling opportunities – it sounds crazy, and, well, quite frankly, it is . . . . but it’s worth it.
These open-air events can vary in their content and purpose, but most have one ultimate goal: Taking the gospel to people that most likely will not set foot in a church or hear it any other way. In Brazil most of our open-air activities were at night because of the heat. Regardless of the type of event, most fall in to one of two catagories: those that draw a crowd or those that take advantage of another event that draws a crowd. An often used method in the U.S. that would fall into the first catagory would be a block party, whereas an example of the second would be passing out tracks at a large sports event.
The main three open-air events we used were preaching, showing the Jesus Film, and the evangelistic paint talk. I want to introduce the last one to those of you who are not familiar with it because it is a method that can be used overseas as well as here in the U.S.
Though there are hundreds of paint talk presentations, the one I was trained to present is called “The Cross of Christ.” Although it’s not required, we always used florescent paint under a black light powered by a car battery for that extra special crowd drawing effect. We also used a portable battery powered sound system in order to be heard over the noises of the event.
Before beginning, the presenter prepares a blank sheet of 24″ x 48″ paper for the presentation, painting it to look like the illustration above. This is done either before arriving at the event or on location in between presentations. Both methods have their pros and cons. If time is short, it is best to prepare before arriving. However, preparing the presentation on site is a great attention getter because people start gathering to watch, curious about what you are doing.
Once the presenter is ready to begin, she starts adding other brush strokes to the paper that illustrate the spoken message while slowly revealing more about the significance of the ”painting”. This particular presentation talks about how mankind longs for peace and life, but only encounters conflict and fear in the world. It then goes on to present God’s plan of salvation through Jesus’ death on the cross.
When finished the paint board looks something like the illustration below (this one is in Portuguese, so it will still be a little hard to understand everything, but you get “the picture”). 
The presenter gives an opportunity for those who understood the message to accept Christ as Savior and then dismisses the crowd. A team of prepared couselors stand ready to follow-up immediately with those who indicated their desire to accept Christ.
In the next post I will continue talking about evangelistic paint talks and how you can get involved!
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