The Christian men’s movement has taken off in recent months as thousands of men from around the country gather in stadiums for fellowship. But Fred L. Bishop, director of the nondenominational No Greater Love Ministries in Du Quoin, Illinois, has discovered another means for men to bond, which he has been putting into practice since 1975.
No Greater Love recruits men as volunteer evangelists at some of the nation’s largest sporting and cultural activities. Bishop wants to take advantage of the huge crowds that gather for these seasonal events, including the Indianapolis 500 auto race, the Kentucky Derby horse race, and New Orleans’s Mardi Gras. “Why spend money and time to attract a crowd at some crusade?” asks Roger Lipe, No Greater Love’s administrative assistant. The emphasis is on small-scale or personal evangelism techniques. “You don’t have to be the greatest guy in the world to put on a clown suit at the county fair.”
HEALING THE SICK? The group makes an annual trek to New Orleans in February for Mardi Gras, which, in spite of its religious origins, has become one of America’s biggest annual exercises of public drinking and personal excess.
This year, a group of 171 men from 69 churches in 15 states traveled to the French Quarter hoping to spread the gospel and interact with revelers.
“Jesus said, ‘I came to heal the sick,’ and this is the sickest place I know,” Bishop says of Mardi Gras. “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
Most participants drive between 12 and 24 hours and take several vacation days from work to share their faith in the streets of the French Quarter during the wildest two days of the carnival.
Yet most people in the French Quarter are not interested in hearing about Christ. No Greater Love members boldly proclaim the gospel anyway, marching three abreast down Royal and Bourbon streets carrying a 95-pound, 12-foot wooden cross and singing hymns such as “Amazing Grace.”
A few bystanders sing along, while others stare blankly. Some are outraged and shout insults or throw drinks at five-by-seven-foot canvas signs proclaiming “Jesus Saves from Hell.” When the column of marchers splits up to preach on the streets and to distribute tracts, most passers-by ignore them.
STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS: If Mardi Gras revelers are hostile or too drunk to listen, why do so many men take vacation time and spend money to travel to New Orleans with No Greater Love?
Spreading the gospel is only part of the answer. Also important is the opportunity to strengthen their relationships with God and with other men.
They consider their mission a pilgrimage that results in personal renewal. “This trip is actually like a pressure cooker,” Lipe says. For many men from small Midwestern towns, the crowds present a God-given witnessing challenge.
After sharing the gospel, men divide into small groups for daily Bible study and devotion. The meetings provide the chance for leaders to encourage the men to share their daily experiences and to lean on each other for support.
Traditionally, parades and amusement games dominated Mardi Gras as a celebration of merrymaking and festivity prior to Lent. But in recent years, the carnival, especially in the French Quarter, has degenerated into a display of exhibitionism. Almost anything goes, including the occasional sex act in the street, particularly along a strip of Bourbon Street dominated by individuals wearing lewd costumes.
Small-group leaders counsel men on resisting temptation, from adultery to alcohol. Men are urged to discuss their temptations immediately so that other group members can pray for them.
“These guys are building relationships that are deep enough where they have a level of accountability,” Lipe says, “not just to encourage each other, but to confront problems that arise.”
Camaraderie forms quickly. Bill Riley, a Dorchester, Nebraska, father of nine has made six trips. “I’ll go home a better husband, better father, and better friend and neighbor,” Riley says.
Carl Aten from Sumner, Illinois, made his first Mardi Gras mission this year, taking three days off from his park manager job. “One young man was very interested and allowed me to pray for him,” Aten says. “He gave me his name and asked me to continue to pray for him.” Each participant is responsible for personally following up anyone who shows an interest in Christianity. No Greater Love also sends more information to those who inquire about the faith, an average of 75 per trip.
Ryan Stebbins, an airman stationed in Maxwell, Alabama, visited Mardi Gras for the third time, but the first year he came as a reveler. In 1994, he became a Christian and decided to join the No Greater Love team after hearing about the group at church. “Last year I was one of the first people to carry the cross,” Stebbins says. “Hearing the insults I felt blessed.”
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