Is scoping out garage sales part of your weekend routine? These easy tips can turn a garage sale-ing hobby into a simple, effective witness opportunity:
1. Get ready. Go to the bank and get lots of $1 bills. Any purchase provides interaction with the seller. Keep church brochures or business cards in your car or handbag. Before you leave to go garage sale shopping, ask God to guide your conversations and actions.
And include your children. Give them some dollars to garage shop with you. Encourage them to be friendly and helpful, and invite kids to church events.
2. Go garage sale-ing. As you approach each sale, notice bumper stickers, kids’ toys, the lawn, etc. Observation enhances conversation. Speak to the host as you arrive. Pay attention to others around you – neighbors, strangers, workers, and children. Browse the treasures at the garage sale and find at least one item to buy.
Be gladly willing to have conversations. You’ll likely have plenty in common since you live nearby. Mention something about your church. If you discover someone has no church or relationship with God, invite them to your church or make a plan to talk again. Before you leave, share a church brochure.
If you’ve invited someone to church, share your contact info and say, “If you ever decide to check out a worship service and don’t want to go alone, just call or e-mail me.”
Watch for ways to meet needs. If someone mentions a life crisis, ask if you can pray for that need, offer to assist, or share a Christian resource. It may seem easier to leave a witness tract secretly by the cash box, but a neighborly conversation and personal invitation is probably more effective.
3. Host your own sale. These same ideas apply for having a garage sale at your home. People from all walks of life will arrive. See each person through God’s eyes. Pay more attention to people than to your profits.
Consider scheduling your sale prior to big church events, such as Vacation Bible School. Invite guests as you talk.
Jesus instructed his followers to tell about him “as you go” (Matthew 28:19-20). So next weekend, as you go for a morning of garage sale-ing, make it more than just a shopping trip. Share Jesus as you go.
© Diana Davis’s new book, “Across the Street and Around the World,” will be released this fall.