Greeley, Colorado… In preparation for the “Catch 2020” evangelism thrust in Northern Colorado, the Greeley Church creative bridge events are included to raise awareness about the outreach series in the community. In hope of inviting community members to the evangelistic meetings, the evangelistic team went for doing something creative.
“As we were brainstorming I started thinking about paint parties that are so popular right now and I thought, ‘Why couldn’t we do that here,'” said Grace Logan, member of the team.
That is where the idea was born. A member of the Greeley Church, Philip Castillo, is an artist who also teaches art classes at the local Christian Adventist School. It only made sense to ask him to teach the class and he was willing to help out. Church members were encouraged to come to the bridge event on December 15 but there was one requirement: they had to bring a guest.
“We decided to make it a Christmas paint party so we could give away our paintings as gifts. There were only 16 seats available and they filled up quickly. We had a nice intimate group. It was such a fun environment and we were able to get to know all the guests who joined us in a nonthreatening atmosphere.
“It was so easy to invite friends and they were so willing to come. All the guests said they would come back if we do another one,” said Grace.
As we let our paint dry the participants were treated to a devotional from Janea Balderrama, who is preparing for baptism. Philip also gave his testimony of what the church had done in his life.
The class was such a success that the plan is to have many more painting classes and many want to do once a quarter.
—Grace Logan; photos by Jason and Grace Logan
