Tattoos, Movies, and Sabbath

By Andrew McChesney

A man walked up to the church booth at the Howard County Fair and, without an introduction or even a smile, asked a pointed question.

“Do you have to go to church on Saturday to be saved?” he said.

Booth volunteer Tony Williams had heard other unexpected questions at the fair, including about Hollywood movies and whether Jesus has a tattoo, and he was not surprised.

“No,” he replied. “Jesus has followers faithfully seeking to follow Him in many churches.”

The man visibly relaxed, and he took a step back from the booth themed, “Seeking Hope,” and managed by Triadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church in Clarksville, Maryland. He began asking questions about local Adventist schools. Apparently, he had heard good reports about Adventist education, and he was thinking about enrolling his fourth-grade daughter in an Adventist school.

As a result of the conversation, the man has made several visits to a local Adventist school and, Williams prays, has found a new reason for hope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hope in a Pandemic

Triadelphia chose the theme “Seeking Hope” for its booth at the annual fair of some 100,000 visitors in West Friendship, Maryland, in an effort to encourage those who have faced losses and other challenges during the pandemic.

“This pandemic caused considerable disruption for businesses as well as for families and the larger community,” said Triadelphia pastor Samuel Nunez. “I genuinely believe our message is one of hope for the future in Christ Jesus.”

Public response to the theme of hope has been so positive that Triadelphia intends to find a way to incorporate it into future fairs, Nunez said. Previous fair themes have included health, family, and evangelism.

At the Aug. 7-14 fair, more than 1,000 people participated in hope-filled activities such as voting in an interactive poll and adding their names to a height wall at the Adventist booth. In addition, 400 children assembled craft kits, and more than 2,000 pieces of literature were distributed, including Bibles, Desire of Ages, GLOW tracts and back issues of Guide and My Little Friend. One day, Willie and Elaine Oliver, directors of the General Conference’s Family Ministries department, signed copies of their 2018 sharing book, Hope for Today's Family. Visitors also took 1,150 hand-fans containing a Bible verse and the church’s contact details and nearly 600 business cards with information about Bible studies, Hope Channel, and the church.

Sowing Seeds

Rick Remmers, executive secretary of the Columbia Union Conference and one of 54 church volunteers involved in the booth, was especially touched by an encounter with a mother who accepted a craft kit for her young daughter. When the mother saw that the booth was managed by Triadelphia, she exclaimed that she had received a children’s Bible at the church in the mid-1990s and that her own daughter treasures it today.

“It was just neat, after seeds had been sown in the ’90s, to have that connection refreshed,” Remmers said.

Volunteer Chandler Riley said the fair provides “a tremendous opportunity to connect with others from our community and a place to offer them hope in various forms.”

“I wanted to be a part of that reaching out to our neighbors around us,” said Riley, an associate director for human resource services with the North American Division.

Noah and Tattoos

Sometimes those “neighbors” have unexpected questions, such as a woman who once asked Williams whether he thought that the 2014 movie “Noah” matched the biblical account of the Flood. Williams, a U.S. government engineer who coordinates the annual booth as director of Triadelphia’s Adventist Community Services, expressed reservations about the movie’s accuracy, and the woman voiced interest in learning more. Their conversation resulted in the woman and her husband visiting Triadelphia several times, and she sought out Williams for a conversation at this year’s fair.

Perhaps the most unusual question came from a woman who asked one year whether Jesus has a tattoo. The question surprised Williams, and he learned that the woman was puzzled by Revelation 19:16, which says, “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (NKJV). Williams did not have an immediate answer, and he promised to look into it. He did some research and later gave the woman an informal Bible study. The woman’s brother-in-law happened to overhear the Bible study and, when it ended, said he had noticed while reading the Bible on his own that the Bible teaches a seventh-day Sabbath.

“He then asked if I knew anything about the Sabbath,” Williams said. “I was able to share literature and conversation about the Sabbath — all because Jesus doesn't have a tattoo.”

Booth volunteers said it was a blessing to converse with people at this year’s fair and pray with many of them.

“I had many, many good conversations about hope with all ages, from teens on up,” Williams said. “Please keep all these families in your prayers.”