Stories from Halloween Outreach in Salem (Part 1: those who joined us this year)

Over the next 2 weeks I will relate some short stories, and give thanks to the people who have helped us make this year's outreach over the month long Halloween season in Salem, MA.

Halloween in Salem began on October 1st with the Halloween Parade. We handed out fliers to invite people to the Halloween Children's Day we host each year. During this same time friends from around the United States were preparing to come to join us for outreach at the end of the month during our most busy days.

This year we were joined by Steve Pate and Justin Henk from Church on the Coast (The Carlsbad Foursquare Church) in Carlsbad, CA. Steve has been here on and off since the second year of outreach in 2000, and Justin was here for the first time. Allan Henninger was here as well. Allan is a former YWAM leader, and also a former Foursquare Pastor now living and serving in the Los Angeles area. If it was not for these three guys we would never have been able to accomplish the task of running the stage and live music we provide for the city as smoothly as it went.

Janine and Laura who are teachers of the Streams Ministries Internship Classes were here from Tennessee. The Streams Ministries Internship from New Hampshire, and some of the interns from Canada joined us for three weeks of outreach. Together the internships sent about 15 people to help serve. The Bridge Church from Beverly Massachusetts led by John Harding sent prophetic teams to serve throughout the month of October. The Bridge Church in New London, NH came with their Pastor Scott Evelyn. Pastor Scott is one of the initiators of the dynamic outreach to The Burning Man Festival. Rob from Coeur d'Alene, ID who organizes The Burning Man Festival outreach also joined us. These people were involved with prophetic ministry, healing prayer, and free spiritual counseling services to the thousands of people on the streets of Salem.

Grace Fellowship (a CMA Church) in Danvers, MA under the guidance of Anita Coco sent a group of people to run a Not for Sale event in the basement vault of The Gathering.

The First Church of Salem and their pastor Jeffrey Barz-Snell organized a 350.org event on the 24th.

Other friends who came to serve included: Tim Hawkins and Nine of his group from Sojourn Collegiate Ministries in Boston. Jesse and Liby Browning an Marcos Reyna from a house church in Beverly, Ben Corey who was an awesome Jesus Deck reader from Grace Chapel in Lexington, and of course the infamous James Wilcox.

The musicians who played on our stage included Mamadou Diop and his band (as well as the drummers he has trained who formed a drum circle), Grateful Ted and Peter Tintendo, Paul Phillips with Tom Conlon and The Petty Thieves, Judy C(ooper), Jim Trick, Lisa Press and her husband Simon, Sarah Vanilla who goes by Lush now, Paul Duffy and the Front Street Coffeehouse Open Mic gang, Debra Crosby's Talent Quest TV Show, Hail Plankton, Dave Mangione and the Vic Morrows, Eric Brown and his band Phatmaxx, and Brian Serfes and DJ Xpress with the Salem Beatbox Championships.

The next post will give thanks to all the gang from Church on the Coast who made this year come together, and have been the backbone of outreach for 11 Halloween seasons now.