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For some reason I keep running into people who are part of the group "Jews for Jesus" at public gatherings in St. Louis Missouri.
No, not anti-war rallies, but outdoor art shows, celebrations, that type of thing. Despite its morbid provincialism, the city of St. Louis is really into putting together decent outdoor public gatherings.
Anyway, I go to a lot of this stuff around town, and I first noticed them a few years back, maybe in a groups of two or three, handing out their literature. (I like to keep my eye out for religious folks.)
Not altogether different from Evangelical Christians or Morman missionaries, they were there spreading the message, but one never got the sense they had a game plan beyond handing out whatever it is these people like to hand out and talking up the "Good News".
In the last year or so, I have seen a considerable upswing in their level of organization. I've taken to watching them work street corners when I see them. Not stalking, mind you
, just people watching, which is half of why I go to these things.
They're probably the most organized group of message-spreaders working the streets of St. Louis right now. When the streets are closed off for these gatherings, they'll position pairs of people at all four sidework corners, with a central leader and an assistant working the center in the middle of the street.
The leader keeps his eyes on the four corners and provides reinforcement where necessary. They all wear identical "Jews for Jesus" T-shirts. After 15 or 20 minutes of handing out literature and approaching everyone who walks by, they rally up and resupply their literature stocks. Then they'll move off quickly to the next street intersection a block down and start all over again.
No other missionary group in St. Louis works like this (except for an anti-abortion group who holds absurd apparently spontaneous rallies at street intersections with heavy traffic miles from any abortion clinic).
I was wondering if anyone had any information or experiences with this group. Is it a cult? How influential are they?
No, not anti-war rallies, but outdoor art shows, celebrations, that type of thing. Despite its morbid provincialism, the city of St. Louis is really into putting together decent outdoor public gatherings.
Anyway, I go to a lot of this stuff around town, and I first noticed them a few years back, maybe in a groups of two or three, handing out their literature. (I like to keep my eye out for religious folks.)
Not altogether different from Evangelical Christians or Morman missionaries, they were there spreading the message, but one never got the sense they had a game plan beyond handing out whatever it is these people like to hand out and talking up the "Good News".
In the last year or so, I have seen a considerable upswing in their level of organization. I've taken to watching them work street corners when I see them. Not stalking, mind you
, just people watching, which is half of why I go to these things.They're probably the most organized group of message-spreaders working the streets of St. Louis right now. When the streets are closed off for these gatherings, they'll position pairs of people at all four sidework corners, with a central leader and an assistant working the center in the middle of the street.
The leader keeps his eyes on the four corners and provides reinforcement where necessary. They all wear identical "Jews for Jesus" T-shirts. After 15 or 20 minutes of handing out literature and approaching everyone who walks by, they rally up and resupply their literature stocks. Then they'll move off quickly to the next street intersection a block down and start all over again.
No other missionary group in St. Louis works like this (except for an anti-abortion group who holds absurd apparently spontaneous rallies at street intersections with heavy traffic miles from any abortion clinic).
I was wondering if anyone had any information or experiences with this group. Is it a cult? How influential are they?
I'd love to hear them!
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