Considering bringing this presentation to your
group?
Having brought this presentation
to a wide variety of group types and sizes, please allow me to make a few
suggestions to both accommodate your group and make it the best presentation
possible. Please note that I prefer not to have my phone number on
the internet, so email me* or
use my feedback form* if you'd like more info.
For Pastors in particular, you can read my online testimony
here.
Who would best be blessed by this presentation?
Believe it or not, anyone!
I have brought various forms of the presentation to groups ranging from
skeptical scientists to high school classes, church services, private homes,
youth groups, and even kids groups (and let me tell you, those five year
olds scared me way more than any skeptical scientist!). It is not
just for the intellectually minded. I work hard to help the common
layman understand the technical lingo and what it really means in real
life. And so far I have been very surprised by the reactions of even
the most skeptical atheists. Time and again I have been told they
enjoyed it, even if they didn't like what was being said. It is a
fun subject and hey - we need the skeptics too!
It is a tremendous boost to
one's faith to hear these studies. I know because I was once an audience
participant too. All of Creation truly does declare the glory of
the Lord. One just has to take a look around.
One of my primary focuses
is teens. They are at that point in their lives where they are making
decisions for themselves (and of course convinced that they have all the
answers :-). After working in a high school for eight years now,
I'm tired of watching many of them there and in my church go to college
and university only to have their faith trounced by the supposed "science"
of evolution. I endeavour to show them that at the very least evolution
is highly questionable, if not utterly ridiculous, scientifically.
But my primary goal is that they would find a personal relationship with
the Creator, Jesus Christ (John 1:3,10).
How long should it be?
The presentation can be tailored
to suit your needs, running anywhere from 1/2 hour to full, multiple night
conferences. Most groups want either a single presentation or a two
part presentation. Surprisingly, aside from school groups, most groups
have requested one long evening. Typically two hours with a break
in the middle.... well, sometimes with a break in the middle
Well, sometimes we went three hours. :-)
I would probably recommend the two hour session
as it provides enough time to pack a lot of information into, but can easily
be done in one day. For churches, perhaps a morning service and an
evening service. For private groups, perhaps a Friday night or a
Saturday.
"Conferences", or multiple
night presentations can be broken up any way you like and I can easily
provide six to ten hours total time of lecturing. I have done a three-night,
six hour presentation. This was two hours per night, with a coffee
and doughnut break in the middle. It worked well, but we easily could
have gone another couple of nights.
I have also seen a five and
a half hour presentation done in one day. Breaks every hour and a
lunch break, but boy was it a long day! You probably would get the
most bang from your buck for this type of presentation though. Hotel
and travel expenses are kept to a minimum for example. Believe it
or not, my experience has been that once people are there - they don't
want to leave.
Special needs:
I have not as of yet been able
to afford a laptop and VGA projector so I resort to using overheads.
An overhead projector and screen would be a tremendous asset. Aside
from that, space is nice to have. My "portable wall" takes a minimum
7 foot high ceiling and is 8 feet wide, the easel and white board stand
is about 8 feet wide and my globe takes up about 3 foot square. A
small table to hold overheads, displays, etc... would be needed too.
Some of these things can be left behind but they do make up a nicer looking
backdrop for the presentation.
With larger groups, such as
churches, a lapel microphone is really nice to have as I use my hands constantly
during the presentation. If you do not have one, I might be able
to rent one for the occasion. A second floor microphone for question
and answer period is also nice to have, especially for services being recorded.
Other thoughts:
I have never had a problem
of a group wanting to be there and hearing more once they are there.
The delimna I have faced has always been convincing people that they want
to be there in the first place. In this culture, we are very, very
busy. People tend to think it isn't for them.... until they
get there.
A short introduction during
a church service does help to raise interest, but I have still found that
this too often fails to draw people, hence one of the reasons to actually
have the presentation as the message during a church service.
One Pastor recently had a
brilliant suggestion which I would like to pass on, suitable for churches
only. We were actually organising for a mini-conference of several
nights. For the first night, he suggested a "pot luck dinner followed
by a guest speaker". (Oh ya, fellowship and swallowship - the two
main drawing cards for Christians! :-)
This same man actually Pastors a very small church,
so he hooked up with a second small church in the community to organise
this mini-conference. This had many benefits:
-two churches meant more people. A better
potluck :-), more people for the presentation.
-one church could not afford to pay for a mini-conference,
but two meant more people. A love offering helps me to afford being
there. We all win in the end.
In closing, let me be frank about the money issue:
I honestly don't like asking
for money, and I don't like talking about it. However, because this
is now becoming my livelihood, the money does become more important.
Having worked in ministry before I testify that God truly does provide
all our needs. I do my absolute best to go to any group that would
have me, despite their ability to afford it or not. But please understand,
for every hour of presentation I put in somewhere between 20 and 40 hours
worth of work. I am constantly building displays, now building up
the travelling museum, researching, putting miles on my vehicle and adding
to the presentation. This ministry will eventually include research
in a few different areas, and all of this requires, unfortunately, money.
I have always been surprised
by how much even the small groups (<20 people) have given in a simple
love offering. I am quite willing to take my chances for groups who
wish to try to pay that way. Usually my gas is at least covered,
sometimes more.
If you truly can't afford it, by all means please
email
me* and we'll talk. I'll see what I can do.
|
