Our trip to the University of Arizona and a Gay Pride Parade

October 9, 2009: Grace Covenant Church (a Reformed Baptist Church) planned a trip to Tucson, Arizona to do some evangelizing at the University of Arizona and 4th Ave. (a mild party street). Unbeknownst to them, there was a gay pride parade planned that day on 4th Ave. Though Grace Covenant isn’t Jennifer’s or my church (I don‘t even really have a church at the moment), we came along. Rob-roy Nelson, Steven Gonzales, Phil Ballmaier, David Ardito, Pastor John Giarrizzo, Mike (not sure of last name), Jennifer and I met at Grace Covenant at about 7:45 am., we prayed and then took off to go to Tucson. We got to U of A around 10 am and set up a table with tracts, Bibles and booklets. A little after that, Josh (not sure of his last name) arrived. Phil did some open air preaching (with and without the amp), we had a lot of conversations (some long, some short) and handed out lots of tracts and some booklets and Bibles. There were atheists, Muslims, professing Christians and many others. About 3:00 pm, we packed up and went to get some food. We went to a place called Brooklyn Pizza which was pretty good. I got to talk a lot of theology with the group, particularly with Rob-roy and his pastor. I love discussing the things of Scripture and of God. We talked about Calvinism/ Reformed theology, particularly, Limited Atonement which is the belief that Christ died merely for the sins of the elect and not for the sins of the whole world. I certainly believe that Christ died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). However, it’s clear that forgiveness will only be applied to those who believe. Josh eventually had to take off. After some more conversing and eating we headed outside to do some evangelizing on 4th Ave.

The University of Arizona

The Gay Pride Parade

There was a gay pride parade scheduled. Again we set up a table with booklets, Bibles and tracts. Rob-roy had some cases of bottled water with the gospel on them to give away (they always seem to be popular). Mike went across the street handing out tracts, so I decided to join him for a bit. I eventually saw Phil open airing without the amp, so I ran and got it from the car. Rob-roy suggested we go across the street cattycorner from where I had been with Mike. I suggested that Jennifer stay with Rob-roy and the others handing out water and tracts at the table. Phil, Dave and I headed over to open air. Phil began and within about 30 seconds, three men were surrounding him. Things remained tense for the remainder of the evening. I was filming virtually the whole time. Steven joined us as things escalated and it was great to have him there; safety in numbers. Steven also did some filming. One man came up at one point and kicked the amp, then a police officer stopped him and asked us if we wanted anything done. We said no, but asked if he could stay nearby. He did. Phil was holding a sign that Jennifer had made that said “Jesus is Lord.“ Some passersby spit on it, and later on, it got spit on again. People continued to yell and get up into the face of whoever was on the mic. A little while later, we packed up the table as well as the waters and went down the road aways. Rob-roy did an open air which I was ecstatic about. He's a great teacher. We got more hostility along the way, but the Lord blessed us with safety. I believe we started to head out at about 8 pm. This was a great time of fellowship. All glory and praise be to God!