Clowns, Doctors, Dentists, and Street Witnessing Teams Needed For Unique October “Festival of Life”
By Dan Wooding
May 16, 2001
SAN DIEGO, CA (ANS) – Clowns, doctors, dentists and street witnessing teams, are among those needed for Mike MacIntosh’s unique “Festival of Life” outreach in the historic city of Queretaro, Mexico, October 3-8, 2001.
“The Festival of Life crusades are Christians reaching out one-on-one to people who do not know Jesus Christ – reaching out personally, in the streets, in corporate and government offices, in schools, in jail and prisons, in military camps, and finally at the main evening events,” explained Mickey Stonier, a leader of the outreach sponsored by Horizon International Ministries based in San Diego, California.
He went on to say that local pastors host the multinational team behind the Festival.
“Hundreds of Christians in the host country join the Horizon team in sharing the love of Jesus,” said Stonier. “The emphasis of their message is the hope, love and abundant life that Jesus Christ promised to the world.
“This theme is communicated and shared through sporting events, street drama, music teams, children’s teams, relief and construction teams. Local and visiting celebrities and athletes team up to share how their commitment to Christ has transformed their lives.
“A large representation of denominational and non-denominational churches are involved with the Festival of Life to reflect the new life that people experience when they come to Christ. The Festival itself features music and testimonies by local talent, joined by the Horizon International team.”
Mike MacIntosh, senior pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, said he has “always felt led towards mass evangelism” since his dramatic conversion to Christ in 1970 after a background in drugs. “My gifts include Pastor/teacher, so this has shown me the importance of the ‘Body of Christ’ being involved in mass evangelism,” he said. “In past years the image of the evangelist is that of a celebrity if he is at all successful. God showed me to use Ephesians 4 as the example for the Festival of Life outreaches. I believe that I am to ‘perfect the Saints’ with my gift for them to do the work of the ministry, so now I get the joy of unleashing literally thousands of Christians into the harvest. They get to do the work of evangelism and instead of being a celebrity, I am a lightning rod to inspire the work of evangelism.”
He explained that he is not “putting down evangelism in past years” but he believes his Festival of Life model “is a new work for the people of the 21st century.” MacIntosh added, “These large events grew out of smaller events…actually in the early 1980’s when I would travel to Mexico City with our Horizon School of Evangelism students. I would street preach and they would do drama and music. Since then, of course, they have grown into major events.”
Ministry Opportunities for this Festival include:
* Medical/Dental Teams
* New Believer Counseling
* Construction Team
* Prayer Team
* Sports Ministry
* Clowning/Children’s Ministry
* Street Witnessing
* Technical Support
* Worship & Music
* Youth Outreaches
* Translators
* Festival Administration
Queretaro, which has a population of about 600,000, is located in central Mexico, and is the capital of Queretaro State. It is a center for cotton milling, textile manufacturing, and food processing. It is also noted as a trading center for Mexican opals. The city has a 16th-century cathedral and is the site of Queretaro Historical Museum, the Autonomous University of Queretaro (1618), and a technological institute. An Aztec city, Queretaro was conquered by the Spanish in 1531. In 1810 it was the scene of the conspiracy that sparked the Mexican revolution against Spain. The city was also the site of the surrender (1867) of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico to the forces of the former president of Mexico Benito Pablo Juarez. In 1917 the present constitution of Mexico was adopted at Queretaro.
Stonier said that the Standard Package is $749 UD. This includes six days, five nights hotel accommodations, round trip air fare from Tijuana, Mexico, as well as daily Breakfast, Festival Delegates Dinner, Team T-shirt, & Event Transportation.