This marked the second year for the JoePix/Thunder outreach, sponsored by Long Run Baptist Association. Last year, approximately 400 of the 631 people who had their photos made, accessed the JoePix gospel presentation online.
“It’s great for people who are a little intimidated by evangelism or are just learning,” said Christa Webb, a member of Bethany Baptist Church and administrative assistant for Long Run Association.
She said telling a group of strangers: “Y’all get together and we’ll take your picture. It’s totally free and there’s no catch,” works like a charm.
Most of the “photo evangelists” were University of Louisville students involved in Baptist Campus Ministry, according to Bill Noe, U of L campus minister.
Some of the BCM students still were spiritually revved up to share the gospel after a spring break outreach in Panama City, Fla. “They have a desire to share their faith,” Noe said. “I told them, ‘Here’s an opportunity right in our back yard.’”
Launched in 2002, JoePix provides digital cameras, instruction cards, caps, t-shirts and training for volunteers.
“The training really does equip you,” Webb said. “After you do it four or five times, it’s locked in.”
In a two-hour training session on the day of Thunder Over Louisville, JoePix staffer Amy Gagel prepared volunteers for the outreach.
“The beauty of JoePix is that you can use it with your 80-year-old grandmother who has never touched a camera in her life or an 18-year-old person who thinks he can do anything,” she said.
In her two years with JoePix, Gagel has trained many college students who worked tailgating crowds before football games. “Most people don’t think about bringing a camera to these events,” she said. “You are there to capture that moment.
“I just love the easiness of the transition from taking someone’s photo to sharing the gospel,” she said. “It’s so much easier than walking up to someone and saying, ‘Here’s a tract.’”
College football games and events such as Thunder are conducive to group photos. JoePix provides a way for one photo to deliver the gospel perhaps to dozens of people.
One person in the group receives the instruction card with the access code. After that person downloads the photo, he or she e-mails the instructions and code to other members of the group—or other friends and family—so they can download the same photo.
JoePix refers to this as “viral evangelism.”
In 2005, more than 13,000 people accessed the JoePix gospel presentation, Gagel said. The ministry estimates that 60 percent of the photos taken by “photo evangelists” are downloaded.
Easy introduction to evangelism
JoePix works for the timid first-time evangelist, Noe said. “If you want, all day you can take pictures and get cards into as many hands as possible.” It also provides an introduction for believers who are more experienced and comfortable sharing their faith with strangers.
“Everyone wants to know, ‘Why are you doing this? What are you getting out of this? It can’t be totally free,’” Noe said. Responding to those comments and questions opens wider the door to share the gospel face-to-face.
Noe said he responded to those common questions with: “We hope to share with you what is most important to us, the love of Christ.”
In addition to the two Thunder Over Louisville outreaches, U of L BCM took JoePix to last year’s national meeting of Future Farmers of America meeting in Louisville.
Noe said the day-long, relaxed setting for Thunder works well for this type of evangelism.
“The unique thing about Thunder that makes it a great match (for JoePix) is that people are down at the waterfront just hanging out all day long,” Noe said. “They are more open to talking and are willing to have a drawn-out conversation while they wait for the fireworks.”
Western Recorder issue date: May 2, 2006
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