1. Anything you can't answer, write it done in a dedicated book and research for the next time the question pops up.
2. Offer to respond to the person by e-mail.
3. Have a tablet or some other device handy with backup material.
4. Have a good and easily available pamphlet supply at the ready and in view. Have a sign saying 'Free Literature'. If you don't you'll be bombarded all people with people asking you "May I take this?".
5. Have the material/articles on the walls of the stand in some sort of order/category to make for easy reading. Have the heavy hitters up there e.g. T-Rex blood.
6. Have your spiel down pat but be prepared to break away from it when the situation demands.
7. Don't be afraid to reel people in as they pass by for an explanation of your stand e.g. "Would you like me to give you an explanation regarding our stand?"
8. Have an enticing line to reel them in e.g. "We want people to reconsider the question of origins.
Logically
there is nothing objectionable about there being a Creator/Personal
Designer", or something to that effect.
9. Follow Jesus' use of analogies (i.e. parables) to get the message across (e.g. "Do you believe that it's possible that the paper, ink and time alone cam make a book? What's missing? Information, which is not a material entity, can't arise from purely material processes." Then link it it biological and evolutionary processes.)
10. Be prepared to "respond" to the idiot! i.e. the nasty atheist.
11. Have a sleeved folder with article in categories to help.
12. DO NOT throw Jesus and the Bible at people. Wilder Smith always said it was better to stick to the science (and from my perspective, philosophy). If they ask for further info (i.e. what do you believe?), then tell them as a Christian I believe reality begs for a Creator and chance chemistry just doesn't cut the mustard (or some variation on this tactic).
13. If you are at a fair, check out the other Christian stands and invite them around for a talk. Chances are they won't turn up but it's always worth a try. And have your anti-theistic evolution and long age responses, both the biblical and philosophical, down pat.
14. Research other religions and philosophies and be ready to give them a response (but don't come across as uber-Christian e.g. sin, you're a sinner, Jesus died for you, hell....). Instead show them how their own system of thought can't handle the big questions and is internally at odds with itself and with external reality.
15. Appeal to the personal.
16. Recommend a good book (have that list next you you as you'll likely forget the ideal book in the moment) or web site (e.g. creation.com, Answers in Genesis, etc.)
17. Be able to respond to the question "But are you religious?" (I usually say "By 'religious', if you mean having answers to the ultimate and big questions, then yes we are religious. But then all people are religious: the atheists, Marxists, Buddhists...We happen to be Christian and hold that the complexity of the universe, particularly the biological world, demands explanation and we say that only a Creator of the order that Christianity proposes can explain this. Chance chemistry over eons of time is inadequate. We can show you why a Creator is the only rational explanation." i.e. be BOLD!)
18. Have interesting photos or objects (samples, fossils, etc.) at the back of the stand to attract people in and past the free literature.
