A low-budget tract table at Wal-Mart
My friend invited me to help him share the gospel at Wal-Mart. The store’s corporate policy allows people to set up a table near the entrance. Most organizations I’ve seen taking advantage of this policy sell something as a fund raiser. We simply gave away tracts and had several good conversations about the gospel.
Wal-Mart isn’t public property, and I don’t think the store is obligated to allow anyone to do this. It has rules regarding the amount of time and number of days people are permitted to do this. The possibilities are endless for those willing to abide by these rules.
My friend simply asked to speak to the manager and she specified the time, but allowed us to choose the dates. We spoke to about 15 or 20 people in the three hours we were there, so while we certainly weren’t swamped, being there was worth the time. I would recommend a weekend so that more people won’t be too busy to stop and chat.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
But Bill – it appears you didn’t use the “4 Spiritual Laws” tracts! /sarc/
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Awesome!
Where did you get the large “Are you a good person” sign on the table??
This is a fantastic idea and I’m going to see if my local Wal-Mart will let me do it.
Dawg
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I agree, this is a wonderful idea! I’ll ask about the one in my area as well. I wish I had thought of this!
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
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Waynedawg,
This particular banner was designed and printed by my friend at Wal-Mart for about $20. It’s just paper, and may not have the best durability.
I had a different banner printed a couple years ago on vinyl for about $25 plus shipping, but that printer is out of business. After checking a handful of printers on the internet, this seems to be the cheapest:
For a full color 4’x2′ vinyl banner it would cost $34 plus shipping. The drawback is that you have to provide a file for them to print from that meets their specifications.
Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.
Bill
P.S. I just found a printer that may be cheaper:
http://www.ballyhoobanners.com/printreadybanners/index.cgi/main?checked=YES&totalPrice=24.00&individualPrice=24.00&itemNum=PR2X4&bannerSides=One-Sided&iQy=1&bannerLayout=HORIZONTAL&bannerFinish=2&squareFeet=8
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This is great! I wonder if those laws are the same up here in Canada? I’ll have to call Wal-mart…
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May the LORD bless you and bring life to those who heard!
– Keep up the good work.
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Great idea! We do a book table in a pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City during warm weather. Similar type of thing, but we are usually there for about four hours every Friday evening. Has been a challenging ministry. Bless you in your endeavors.
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This is a really neat idea! I’ve never thought about doing this before. I would love it if me and some in my college ministry could set up a table outside our local Walmart and share the gospel. Walmart is always swamped with people and this will be a great way to reach hundreds in one day.
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Great idea! Wow, we do something similar at several colleges in the Los Angeles area, but i never thought about Walmart!
We employ way of the Master for evangelism and presuppositional apologetics for defense
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NExt time you do this,hava a camcorder so we can see how you do it. I’ll try this in Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic.
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All that is missing from the picture is Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. 🙂 Please tell me you had the million dollar bill tracts.
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Now that it’s the Christmas season, this could be an even better outreach. The sign could say, “Do you know the real reason for the season?” Along with the million dollar tracts, you could have some Christmas tracts as well.
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I was once a political petitioner in Washington State, and I know that in my home state, if a store lets one group solicit, they have to let all of them solicit – as long as they are not disparaging the business. I’m not going to give free legal advice; I’m not a lawyer, and if I knew was that valuable, I’d charge for it. But those who are considering doing this may want to look up the laws for your state on nonprofit solicitations, which is what this legally is.
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I think this was such a wonderful idea for outreach! 🙂
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I go to wal-mart all the time and see people who call themselves “christian” who have set up table to beg for money from the public and it makes me want to tear my hair out , They slander the name of Christ and the reputation of our Mighty God …HIS seed are NOT seen begging bread …The God I serve is a Provider not a Panhandler , part of me wants to just stand in front of thier tables and scream DONT JUDGE MY GOD BY THESE FAKES , and how on earth to they tell people God cares about them when they themselves are begging people who are lost to provide for them as though thier God was not able to do it ?? it makes me sick ! 😦
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