Outreach Running Blog

Decided to keep a running blog (more or less) of an outreach event that a few of us embarked on.  The premise is a Chinese radio station and a restaurant in San Mateo co-sponsored a wedding fair.  And we capitalized on this opportunity to outreach to some young couples.  Here's a short running blog of the actual events...

405PM -  Found the place. Turns out to be old Joy Luck Place. Scoped out he place and it looks like a closed dinner party. With some vendors each owning a table.  Not what I expected and no sight of any young couples yet.
415PM - Moved car to a closer loacation. Found a Le Boulanger to hang out at. Ordered a small Kona Coffee cuz I was dozing on the drive up...Coffee very weak~ but there's no Peet's in sight. 
421PM - Still no Roy, Anderson or Galpal. Starting to get a bit scared.  Sitting outside Le Boulanger waiting for them to show while catching up on Patriots/Jets game.  J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!
423PM - Wondering how long it took to organize such and event? And starting to brainstorm if SJCAC can do one ourselves.
425PM - Roy calls. They're here. Now what? I guess as a leader I need to step up and come up with a game plan.  But I much rather be a follower right now. 
432PM - Too cold sitting outside so we move inside. Discussing our game plan.  Last minute planning is definitely not the way to go. 
453PM - Prayer time... Nor really sure what to do. Discussed tactics but still a bit lost. Declare God will lead us! 
500PM - Go inside and immediately showered with flyers from an East Bay "wedding favor" company.  Thinking - "Dang! where's our product?"
505PM - Stood for about 5 minutes obeserving.  No one is approaching us and none of the vendors are opened.  We didn't get kicked out yet...so that's a good sign.
510PM - Got tired of waiting. The employee there didn't know anything... so I asked for the manager or organizer of the event.  Turns out the event is opened to the public even if you don't have a ticket, until dinner time.  AWESOME!! That's our green light to stay.
512PM - Free wine tasting.  Hrm.... a slight buzz will certainly make outreach easier!  But opted agianst it...(this time).
515PM - Roy approaches our first target.  God bless his courage! 
517PM - He comes back and says, "They're interested and want to know more! They have a lot of questions!" 
520PM - I take that cue and go talk to my first target.  They politely listen to my schpiel and move on.  It's all good.  After the first rejection... my nerves are completely calm.
525PM - Anderson and Galpal are infiltrating and visiting the vendors.  At the very least...it'll give them some ideas of what's to come.
530PM - run into the parents of my high school friend.  Ah.... good times.  Too bad it's not him getting married, it's his younger brother.  Nonetheless, nice to know someone in a foreign place. 
540PM - Not a lot of young couples walking in...but there are a lot of family and old couples.  Standing around without much to do... we started thinking that one of the girls from the Wedding Favors place is a friend of a friend.  She looks familiar. 
545PM - I go up to her to introduce myself and she says I look familiar also!!  But upon exchanging stories... there's no way we could've met in the past.  Another case of "looks-like, almost-like, but not really."  Turns out she's a Christian going to a church in San Francisco.  And she dated one of my coworkers!  Small world.
550PM - Now that she knows what we're here for...every time she comes across a young couple...she'll point them out to us.  NICE!!  An ally!
555PM - My new found friend and her business gets kicked out by the restaurant.  I guess even though it's "Opened" it's not really "Opened."  We see what happens and quickly split up ourselves.
603PM - At Starbucks.  Decide to call it quits for the day.  Sharing in a time of feedback and debriefing. 

Overall... this was a wonderful experience.  I feel so energized after this event!!  Wish I could do more for God's kingdom... but as for now... I can only dream.

Mood: buzzed, despite no alchy