Every spring, the Minneapolis Convention Center comes alive with the energy of thousands of students from across Minnesota. Buses arrive by the hundreds for the annual college fair. For most, it’s a day of exploring future campuses. For one small group of believers, it became an extraordinary opportunity to share the Gospel.

It all began in the mid-1980s, when a recent graduate saw the college fair as a golden opportunity for evangelism. He started going with a handful of Chick tracts, and a desire to speak truth into young lives. Soon, others joined him, and over the years the team grew into a large ministry that returned each spring to reach students from across the state.

The scale was impressive—and sometimes overwhelming. “The kids came from all over Minnesota on bus after bus, maybe a hundred buses,” one team member recalls. City authorities and school chaperones quickly noticed the gospel-focused group. The Minneapolis police tried to clamp down.

Undaunted, volunteers found creative ways to distribute tracts. They moved to nearby sidewalks, wandered through the Convention Center, and left hundreds of tracts in prime locations before being told to leave. Despite the challenges, the group persevered year after year, handing out thousands of tracts to eager and unsuspecting students alike.

The tract-sharing ministry began to foster deep, lasting relationships among the teammates. A men’s Bible study and prayer group grew out of the outreach, meeting weekly for 20 years in rotating homes. These gatherings became a foundation for friendship, encouragement, and spiritual growth. Some participants experienced salvation and all grew in their walk with Christ through the meetings. For this group, evangelism spun into long-term discipleship in addition to regular one-time encounters.

One of the earliest team members, John, joined at age 35 and continued with the group well into his seventies. “I’ve given out hundreds—or maybe thousands—of Chick tracts over the years,” he says. “I could tell so many great stories.”

The team’s desire to witness also extended beyond the college fair. They eventually got together to engage in other outreach activities all across the Twin Cities. No matter where they were, their mission was the same: to faithfully share the message of Christ by word or tract.

Eventually, the Convention Center built a massive parking lot, redirected bus traffic, and made street-side distribution all but impossible. But the group still continues on. Many former volunteers now serve in evangelism teams at local churches, continuing the work in new forms and locations.

But Chick tracts were the catalyst that grew into a continuing force. John cites the easy gospel-sharing opportunity provided by Chick tracts as key and says, “Thank you SO MUCH for stoking evangelistic zeal for me and many friends!”

Faithful evangelism is rarely flashy or headline-making. Instead, it is often as simple as handing out a tract, starting a Bible study, or showing up week after week in service and prayer. Over decades, these small acts accumulate into a ministry of transformed lives, communities, and hearts.

As the Twin Cities continue to challenge believers with hardened hearts and cultural resistance, this group’s example offers hope and inspiration. Prayer, persistence, and dedication matter. And for this team, the reward is clear: lives touched, friendships forged, and a faithfulness that will last for generations.