Dalston Show - August 2023

After arriving at the Show field shortly after 8am, and while commencing to set up the display, I was approached by one of the stallholders from the adjacent pitch. This was occupied by a large catering marquee and had a huge generator on a trailer positioned alongside. The occupants of the marquee needed to move the trailer a short distance forward but after attempting to do this with the aid of a handful of helpers they failed to shift it. The Jockey wheel had sunk into the soft ground. I was asked if I could help by moving the trailer with the Van seeing as it had a tow hitch attached. After repositioning the Van, I was able to move the trailer to the required position. The neighbours were grateful for the help given and later in the morning one of them returned and again thanked me and offered some free refreshments. It was good to talk to him and speak of the reason for the Van’s presence. When he left he was willing to accept the tract ‘’The Purpose of Your Life.’’

During much of the morning there was a steady drizzle resulting in few visitors to the show and to the van. The afternoon saw an improvement in the weather and also in the numbers attending the show. The Guessing Box was kept busy with children and teenagers to the extent that on occasion there were queues waiting their turn. Robert was at times kept busy describing how a ’black heart’’ could be turned into a ‘’white heart’’. This also resulted in parents (and grandparents) accompanying children, hearing the message of the gospel.

The provision of a dog drinking bowl and a plentiful supply of water drew the attention of many dog owners. While the dogs quenched their thirst an opportunity was provided to speak with the adults. All who were spoken to were happy to receive a tract ‘’Man’s Best Friend.’’ 

During the morning a young man from Haltwhistle stopped to speak to Robert. This man returned later in the afternoon and spoke to David. He indicated that he was ‘’not religious’’ and also that he was’’ too busy to read.’’ The conversation moved on to eternal matters where his response was that he would ‘’take it as it comes.’’ After being advised that it would then be too late he left with the booklet God’s Story and the tract Eternity Stakes.

The Guessing Box as always reveals a huge disparity of Bible knowledge. Three boys (aged 9/10) from Blyth were very familiar with the Bible stories but another young person (a girl) from Annan had absolutely no knowledge at all of the Bible. She had received no Bible teaching at school, did not attend a Sunday School and had never attended a church.

During the day many tracts were handed out and people spoken to on the Gospel message. We pray that the seed sown will spring into life as the literature is read.

David Johnston and Robert McGibbon