Finding Bendigo

Bendigo is a funny town, where Is everyone? Bendigo, unlike many other places, does not have a beach, or a boardwalk, a park or a city centre where the masses generally gather. We seem to be locked away in our houses or shops and there is relatively few places where you can find Bendigonians just 'milling about'.
From the perspective of open evangelism, this makes Bendigo a difficult town to connect with. Where can you go to meet and openly approach people without contravening legal boundaries?
Well today I 'discovered' Bendigo's 'hang-out' at the market which is held every Sunday at the showgrounds. I have never been a markets kind of guy so I had never been to the one in Bendigo. I can say that I was truly shocked and astounded when I turned up there today at 10:30. As I approached the show grounds there were parked cars lining roads from blocks away. As I came to the gates, it reminded me of when the Bendigo show is on, there were so many people. There were literally thousands of people there!
Here at the showgrounds is a place where the people of Bendigo are gathering in great numbers out in a public arena. How ironic that the one time in the week that Bendigonians come out en masse into a public arena happens to be the exact same time that good church going Christian folk all happen to be locked up in their good Christian churches. Its like all the fishermen are at home fixing their rods at the exact time the salmon are running!
Are we not called to be fishers of men? Are we not called to seek and save the lost? Are we not called to preach the gospel and make disciples? Why then has the gathering together and our man-made traditions taken precedence over reaching and saving the lost?
Today, in the span spent by most believers in church, I was able to share the gospel personally with dozens of people, more than I would in weeks of my everyday life. And unlike the people that the average preacher spoke to today, I was surrounded by people that had never heard the gospel, or had not heard it for a long time. Of course many of those who heard message rejected it, but there were also those who received it.
I have recently had several people tell me how brave I am, how gifted I am at sharing the gospel, and how well prepared I am in answering those tricky questions people pose. These same people have told me that the reason that they will not step out in evangelism is that they feel unprepared. I imagine that the reason you have not come running to join me on the streets is that you feel the same way. But I want you to know that I, like you was not so bold as I am now, nor so prepared - and I can tell you now I am definitely not gifted; merely practiced. How do you expect to become prepared to be a fisher of men if you are not going to put any effort into learning the craft and preparing your skills? How do you expect to be able to 'have the answers' if you never put yourself in a position to have a question posed to you? And how do you ever expect to become effective at sharing your faith if you don't put yourself in a place where you regularly and consistently are sharing your faith?
Everyone wants to reap a harvest of revival but no-one it seems is willing to plant the seeds! Everyone talks about wanting to see thousands brought to Christ to none is willing to go out and actually bring them in!
Can you imagine the impact that a group - even a small group - could have in a place like that? What about you? What do you think?