National Finals Rodeo Ministry - November 29th-December 8th, 2008

Each year our ministry comes to a close with our work at the National Finals Rodeo. Our Fellowship of Christian Cowboys ministry team was in Las Vegas for the finals for a little over a week and, while Vegas is not an ideal place for a believer to vacation, we were truly blessed by the Lord's work. Our team was also joined for a few days by my brother-in-law, Curtis Wiebe. Curtis is married to Leslie's sister, Bitty, and farms near El Dorado, KS.

This year's ministry in Vegas was a little different than previous years. We did not set up a booth at the Cowboy Christmas trade fair as we've done in the past. Instead a couple from a Colorado Springs chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys used our booth space to sell thier "Christian Cowboy" themed products along with keeping up a display of our outreach material (New Testaments, Bible tracts, and Bible studies). I was a little apprehensive of this change but the couple proved to be an excellent crew for the booth. Not needing to man our booth freed our team up to move around the Cowboy Christmas gift show and make several important meetings and events throughout Vegas. As a result, we were able to follow up on and spend more time with some relationships that would ordinarily have suffered. I am still praising God for this provision and we look forward to continuing this partnership with that chapter next year.

We also had a new opportunity this year to hold a Cowboy Church Service for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. You probably remember that we have held a prayer breakfast for the pageant contestants in the past. This year we were asked by the Director of the Miss Rodeo America Association to hold a service for the family, friends, and spectators of the pageant. This was a huge opportunity for us. I believe that it was offered to us because of our faithfulness in ministering to the contestants at the prayer breakfast for so many years.


As you can imagine, when we have a new service it is sometimes hard to estimate how many people we will have or what kind of reception we will receive. With new ministries like this we sometimes have three people show up (like a few times at the American Royal Rodeo) or we can have fifteen hundred show up. We usually try to advertise the service with fliers, posters, and word of mouth and then we trust the Lord to bring those whose hearts have been softened. Around five minutes before the start of the service there were seven people in the room (and five of them were part of the service). That could be disheartening, but at the time the service was to start we were scrambling to find more chairs. The Lord provided the people! After the service we talked with quite a few who were challenged by the message and we are looking forward to keeping up those contacts this year!


Later in the week we held a prayer breakfast for the actual contestants of the Miss Rodeo America pageant. This is my fourth year organizing this event for the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys. The prayer breakfast is held during the most intensive time of the pageant and the Lord usually uses it to encourage the contestants and calm their nerves. We had two quick praise songs and then a testimony from the reigning Miss Rodeo America. Amy Wilson, Miss Rodeo America 2008, shared how the Lord had used her over the past year to be a witness in the rodeo world. She encouraged the ladies to see all the opportunities that they have throughout the year to serve the Lord and make the most of them. Following the service we presented each of the state rodeo queens with a Cowboy New Testament, a Bible tract, and a copy of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys monthly magazine The Line Rider. We let our new helper, Curtis, make the presentation!


We finished up the week with a Cowboy Church Service at the Cowboy Christmas gift show. This service is one that I look forward to each year because so many of the Cowboy Christmas vendors have become like family to us. We've built relationships with many visitors to this service and this is usually the only time we get to meet and minister to them face to face.


I would appreciate your prayers specifically for those who made decisions for the Lord in Vegas this year and for our faithfulness in following up with discipleship! I can't wait until next year...

Click here for more pictures of the Miss Rodeo America Cowboy Church Service...

Click here for more pictures of the Miss Rodeo America Prayer Breakfast...

Click here for more pictures of the Cowboy Christmas Cowboy Church Service...