WE HAVE A WINNER...TICKET NUMBER 2134

We have a winner!  Incredibly, he was actually present at the BBQ and as you can imagine totally thrilled.  As I read off the winning number “2134”, I heard someone in the crowd say, “I think that’s me!”  The attention of everyone then turned towards Scotty, and we all waited to see if he really had the winning ticket.  He began to stagger around a bit, and eventually a really big smile appeared on his face, then he held up the winning ticket.  It couldn’t have worked out better…out of 1,700 tickets sold the winner was actually present, and Scotty was the perfect person to win.

Saturday, at the 20th Street Park in Lancaster, was supposed to be another beautiful sunny day in the AV.  Joe Delrosario had barbecued Italian sausage, tri-tip, chicken and much more for approximately 500 people—we were ready to go! However, the celebration began with dark clouds in the western sky and a very cool breeze.  200 people showed up that day and we all had a great time enjoying the food, the music, and learning more about the ministry of Quest.  During our time together I had a chance to publicly share the apologetic of God’s existence and the apologetic of the Commandments of God [the Gospel].  It was a great day in the park!

About three months ago when we started to sell tickets for this Opportunity Drawing my kids reminded me that I was going to have to go to car shows, fairs, and other community events to get this Nova in front of as many people as possible. Wow! Did I feel the pressure!  However, the Lord had something else in mind for me.  God, of course, knew that this car would give me opportunities that I otherwise would never have had.  During the past couple months I have attended at least a dozen community events and have had the chance to share the gospel with approximately 75 people.  As I attempted to sell the drawing tickets people would commonly ask, “So who benefits from this raffle?”  My answer would always be, “Quest Ministries…All the proceeds from the sale of these tickets go into the general fund of the ministry.”  Then they would ask, “So what does Quest Ministries do?”  Well, as you can imagine this gave me a wonderful opportunity to talk about apologetics and to eventually share the gospel.  I feel that that was really God’s plan all along—to get me out there interacting with the lost.  

In the end, some really great things came out of this project.

•Hundreds were introduced to the ministry of Quest here in the AV.
•It challenged a number of ticket sellers to share the gospel.
•I surveyed over 40 individuals with the WTM (10 commandments questions)
•It introduced us to Scotty [the winner] and his family.
•It blessed the ministry with very needed funding.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you who prayed for this endeavor.  Our heavenly Father not only blessed the results but the journey as well.  He used it to cause so many of us to grow and change.  He definitely answered “Yes” to our prayers and so much more.  None of us, staff members or board members, could have predicted what actually happened.  The results were financial blessing and more importantly changed lives.  

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