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Message Touches Lives at Inauguration

The official inauguration of Barack Obama started on January 19, but plans for outreach started long before that.

The previous Saturday, Message magazine was spread throughout the local Baltimore and D.C. neighborhoods. “We felt that we should have some type of presence there,” said Washington Johnson, editor.

However, putting together and organizing such an event was no small task. Pastor Brathwaite, church ministries director for the Allegheny East Conference, helped bring all the pastors and churches together so that the distribution could be a success.

Joan Cummings, director of publishing for the Allegheny East Conference, helped coordinate the buses and people that signed on to help distribute the magazine.
 
“I have never done anything like this before and I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said 69-year-old Dorothy Walker, who traveled with a group of six. “I was inspired to do it, thinking about all God has done in risking the life of His Son for our salvation. As I get older, I want to do more on God’s behalf. I’m not a good communicator or teacher but through the magazine.
 
“The inauguration was a momentous occasion,” continued Walker. “I was an adult before desegregation and I lived through Kennedy forward. I never expected to see a Black man as president. At the same time, I know about prophecy concerning the United States. We have to remember that we are on God’s timetable.”
 
Wade Cross, who was at the whistle-stop in Baltimore, also shared his experience: “It was great to see the people beckoning for the magazines. One lady in a wheelchair with both legs amputated asked for several copies. She wanted to pass them out in her apartment building.”
 
Lauren Timpson gladly passed out many copies of Message. “We don’t have to wait for an occasion like this,” she says. “But when something like this happens we should be there sharing the gospel.”

“Waking up at 3:00 a.m. to go on a mission to educate the world—literally—about the truth that lies inside of Message magazine was quite uncommon for me,” said Laila Davis, who took pictures of the event. “But seeing the response we received from people who were all but clawing at our magazine stacks by the thousands was absolutely unbelievable and incredible!”  

The message of Message was not limited to the streets of Baltimore and D.C.; it went global. On CNN’s homepage, there was a picture of a woman holding Message in her hands as she cheered loudly among the myriads of people gathered in D.C. for this special event.
 
There was much to cheer about Inauguration Day; not only for this country’s first African-American president, but also that 100,000 copies of Message were distributed. Because of the quality of the magazine, many people thought that there was a charge. They were all reassured that the cost was the same as what we paid for our salvation: nothing.

by David Robinson