More Information
Getting Started
We send out a ministry team, a family of 2-5 people, traveling in a motorhome with a trailer filled with the equipment, sound, lighting, props, special effects, dual screens and everything they will need to do an outreach.
The team will normally stay in your church parking lot (if the weather permits), provided water and electrical hook up is available.
The cast & crew is made up of 30-50 volunteers from your church or community. The ministry team will work with these volunteers teaching them to do the drama!
Selecting your dates is the first step. Dates fill up quickly so reserve your drama as soon as possible.
All bookings are for 3 presentations.
Every size church is welcome! The Ministry Team is prepared for churches of any size or shape. The average church hosting the drama seats 200-500 people. The drama has been done several times in churches that seat fewer than 100 people to churches that seat thousands.
If you feel your church is limited on space, many smaller churches choose to use an outside location. Consider using the local high school gym, nearby college theater, city auditorium, or partner with a another church with larger facilities. If you feel a passion to host the drama for your community, we believe God will always provide the location!
The outreach is $4,450. A $400 deposit is required at the time of booking. The remaining balance is due after the drama on the last night.
During the opening announcements of the drama, many churches will receive a free will offering to help cover the cost.
If finances are a concern, please contact our Scheduling Department at 1-800-263-2114 or scheduling@realityoutreach.org.
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Accommodations: Weather permitting, accommodations would be a parking spot for the motorhome with water and electrical hookup (220v).
It would be a great help to the Ministry Team if the church could make a vehicle (e.g. Church van or otherwise) available to eliminate the need to take the motorhome for errands.
Supplies: 6 Rolls of masking tape; 8 Duracell or Energizer 9v Batteries for the Microphones; Some lumber to build the "Heaven Platform". (See specs below under "Heaven Platform")
See "Heaven Platform" section below for more information
Meals: To help keep rehearsals on schedule, we ask that lunch is provided on location for the cast & crew on Saturday and Sunday. Then, a light snack on Sunday night before the drama since there is little time for the cast & crew to eat between the rehearsal and the drama.
Meal expenses for the rest of the week are required for the Ministry Team. Often times, the team will buy groceries and give you receipts for reimbursement.
Advertising: Handing out free tickets is one of the most successful ways to promote the drama. Other forms include Facebook, Mailers, Posters, TV, Newspaper, and Radio. A church should plan to spend between $3-4 per available seat on advertising. (ie. Sanctuary seats 400 x $3-4 $1200-1600 in advertising)
See "Advertising" section below for more information
- It is recommended that you take up offerings, in advance, as well as an offering each night of the ministry outreach. These funds will go to your church to offset your expenses and budget which is payable upon the final presentation. When you do this, your people have an investment in the outreach and their interest is stirred before the ministry outreach even begins. EXAMPLE: Challenge 100 people to designate $40.00 above tithes or challenge 100 people to commit $1.00 a week for 40 weeks.
- b. Involve your people in prayer concerning the finances of the coming outreach. What they pray for, they will respond to.
- c. Divide the budget among the various outreaches of your church.
- d. Set aside finances for evangelism in your church budget.
- e. Invite other churches to be a part of your outreach, allowing for a division of expenses and a unification amongst your community.
- f. Consider asking local businesses to help sponsor the outreach.
Change a Date?
We will do our best to accommodate the change and apply your deposit to the new date. Depending if we can re-book the date, you may forfeit your deposit.
Cancel a Date?
If a cancellation were necessary, we would appreciate at least four months notice in order for us to re-book the date. The $400 deposit paid at the time of confirmation will be forfeited.
Approximately 30-50 people are needed, of which about 21+ are speaking parts. They should be a minimum of 14 years of age (exceptions below). The more mature the cast, the better the production. Cast members needed for speaking parts:
- 1 boy or girl (6-8 years old)
- 1 girl (9-12 years old)
- 2-3 additional boys or girls (9-12 years old)
- 3-12 Teens
- 7-10 Women
- 7-10 Men
Note: Most of the volunteers may come from your church but feel free to use people from other churches, groups, or family and friends.
The ministry team will have your volunteers read for parts and will assign all the parts to the cast.
It does help to invite someone who fits the typical look of Jesus to be in the drama. Mostly, we are looking for a nice beard and a compassionate face. Jesus is a non speaking part.
Thursday
The Ministry Team will arrive on Thursday or Friday.
*Note - Volunteers (4-6 people) meet to help unload the trailer into the sanctuary.
Friday
7:00 pm - 10:00pm - All volunteers will meet for devotions, prayer, putting up the set, and casting.
Saturday
9:00 am to 4:00 pm - Devotions, Prayer, Rehearsal
*Note: Lunch is normally provided by the church for all the cast & crew
Sunday
Attend Church Sunday Morning!
*Lunch provided by the church immediately following morning service
1:00pm to 5:00pm - Rehearsal
5:00pm to 6:00pm - Break & Snack
6:00pm to 7:00pm - Prayer
7:00pm to 9:00pm - Live Drama
Monday
6:00pm to 7:00pm - Prayer
7:00pm to 9:00pm - Live Drama
Tuesday
6:00pm to 7:00pm - Prayer
7:00pm to 9:00pm - Live Drama
9:00pm - 10:30pm - Take Down Set
MEALS: Food for the cast & crew during rehearsals is needed. This includes Saturday & Sunday lunch, and a light snack before the Sunday evening performance.
The drama generally runs Sunday through Tuesday evening. However, if a church wants to start the drama on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, we may be able to accommodate and adjust the schedule accordingly. Contact Scheduling for more information at 800-263-2114 or scheduling@realityoutreach.org.
Please note: The drama runs for just over an hour. Please allow for 1½-2 hours for the entire evening which includes the opening and the altar call.
Absolutely! The set will be up and it’s great advertising for the evening presentation. You can bring musical instruments onto the platform for worship.
We booked the DRAMA! Now what?
Handing out free tickets is one of the most successful ways to promote the drama. Other forms include Facebook, Mailers, Posters, TV, Newspaper, and Radio. A church should plan to spend between $3-4 per available seat on advertising (ie. Sanctuary seats 400 x $3-4= $1,200-1600 in advertising).
After booking your drama, you will have access to the templates to print your own tickets, flyers, & posters. You can also order materials that will be mailed directly to you.
Tickets & Posters
Tickets are very convenient for distribution by the “church family” and are also a very professional presentation of details. The free admission ticket is a successful way of advertising your drama. Templates are available for a variety of products.
The poster is a very exciting looking item and is highly effective as it informs people of the date and location of your crusade outreach
You can order here or use any print company you choose.
Decision Cards
This “decision card” is widely used by churches that host Reality Outreach Ministries as it provides an organized method of tracking the many new decisions for Christ. It also provides your church with a convenient record of the many names as well as contact information for follow-up purposes.
A great alternative to paper decision cards (can be ordered under "Tickets & Posters") is to use Google Forms to create an online form and spreadsheet of those contacts. Another great benefit of using Google Forms is you can easily read all the information collected!
Each altar worker can access the form on their smart phone or tablet while speaking with the new believers.
Here is a Google Forms Tutorial Video
Every Door Direct - Post Office
Every Door Direct (EDD) is a service provided by the Post Office in which you can select a mail route, and the postman will place a flyer in every mailbox on the route.
This is different from a mailer which costs substautianllly more and requires postage. This is a flyer in every mailbox rather then mailing a flyer to every mailbox. This is a great way to send everyone in the surrounding area a free ticket or flyer!
Facebook Event & Advertising
A facebook event is a great way to get the word out about the drama. Creating an event is different from creating a post.
Once you create an event you can invite people to attend. The more people who accept the invitation the more the event is showing in newsfeeds.
You can also pay to promote your event which has a great impact on the views. An amount to consider is spending approximately 20% of the advertising budget promoting the event through facebook.
TV, Newspaper, & Radio
Running TV, newspaper, or radio ads are another way to get the word out.
A lot of these avenues have some free event options too. There may be a special free spot on the radio to talk about upcoming events or a place in the newspaper listing the event.
Each team is equipped with LED lights, so we will just utilize regular electrical outlets.
If the location is equipped with a sound system, then we would just need 2 channels on the sound board. The team will use their own soundboard and computer for the drama and send the signal to the church sound system using those 2 channels. If there is not a sound system at the location, each team is equipped with a full sound system.
- 6 rolls of 1” masking tape**
- 2 large rolls of 2" grey duct tape**
- 2 large rolls of 2” clear packing tape** **Amounts subject to change when contact with your team director has been made
- Name tags for cast
- Display Table - We would appreciate it if a display table, to accommodate our product items, could be made available near the church’s exit. (Note: We are careful
that only items consistent with our Ministry’s spiritual focus are made available. The proceeds from the sale of these items help support our ministry worldwide) - Material to build a "Heaven Platform". (See next section below)
We LOVE when people go to heaven so we need to build a small platform to represent heaven. There is generally two ways to do this.
The primary way is to build a platform that is 4 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long. Then, it has 2 sets of stairs attached. One for people to walk up on their way to Heaven and one in the back of the platform for people to exit backstage. Below are some images and dimensions. The "entry steps" should be centered at front of Heaven Platform. They can be as wide as the Heaven Platform but not less than four feet. No Hand Rails please. The top step of the Heaven Entry Steps should be even with the top of the Heaven Platform. Typically steps are built with an 8” rise, a 12” tread and with a kick plate.
In regard to the placement of the Heaven Platform, it is most often centered on the back wall. You need to have at least 8 feet or more of clearance from the top of the platform to the ceiling. If your church has a center in-wall baptistery, the Heaven Entry Steps can be built to the baptistery instead of a separate Heaven Platform.
REAR EXIT STEPS: These can be 2-4 feet wide with a handrail if necessary. The rear exit steps should be positioned toward the back edge of the Heaven Platform toward the most convenient exit off of stage. These exit steps will be out of sight when Heaven stage setup is complete. The Heaven Platform and steps must be sturdy. There can be as many as 6 people on the platform and/or steps at one time. We recommend using screws instead of nails to allow for easy disassembly or adjustment. A set design can be constructed for any size or shape of stage. No two stages are identical.
The cast will require full use of the sanctuary for set-up and rehearsal on Friday through the Sunday evening presentation. We ask that the platform be cleared (e.g. mics, keyboards, drums, monitors, pulpit, etc.) prior to the team’s arrival and that the sanctuary be cleared of any other use during this time (excluding Sunday morning worship).
As a general guideline, the number of counselors should total approximately 10% of your anticipated audience. It is recommended that you select altar workers you believe will have the greatest success with new believers. They may or may not be part of the cast & crew.
Because of the drama’s graphic impact, it is recommended you provide a special children’s program (for ages 9 and under). This also allows parents to give the drama their full attention.
The most important aspect of hosting a drama is a strong FOLLOW-UP program. We have found through the drama, that the results are tremendous. However, the follow up can be weak. We strongly believe in and support implementing a discipleship program. Alongside the drama, it has resulted in keeping many of those that come forward, continuing in the faith and in church attendance.
Thoughts from the President & Founder of Compassion Network, Josh
Hannah, on how to develop an effective follow-up process so that
people stay connected to your church after they attend the drama,
Heaven's Gates & Hell's Flames.
Other Ideas to Connect & Follow Up
- Follow-Up Calling: Have volunteers touch base with new believers the next day
- Banquet/Dinner: Give invitations for a meal prepared in the new believer's honor.
- Breakfast with the Pastor: Have a continental breakfast with the pastor to answer questions & give information for 4 weeks following their decision.
- Family Fun Fair: Invite new believers & families to the church for an evening of fun.
- Dew Drop: Put bottles of Mountain Dew with an invitation for youth night or a coupon for the church cafe on the porch of young people who received Christ.
- Cookie/Home made Goodies Drop: Deliver homemade goodies delivered by church members the following week to new believers.
- Email Coupons: Email coupons for your church store and/or cafe to new believers.
- Couples Connection: Pair new believers with church members to help them in their new walk with Christ. They can provide a ride, meet each week, or sit together in church.
6 Months or More
- Please be sure you have confirmed your dates and paid your deposit.
- If using a location other than the church, confirm you have the location secured for all the dates needed including rehearsal and show days.
- Begin fundraising (some churches find it helpful to begin fundraising in advance to alleviate any financial pressure).
6 Months Prior
- It may be helpful to assign committees for various aspects of the drama.
-Volunteer recruitment
-Advertising
-Follow-up & Discipleship
-Altar Workers
-Food
-Parking
-Children's Chuch - Consider ordering your advertising to avoid added costs or delays.
- Now is a good time to encourage prayer support. People support what they believe in and pray for! Consider weekly updates about the event and any financial needs along with some corporate prayer for the event. Asking different individuals to lead a quick corporate prayer is a great way to get others involved.
3 Months Prior
- Order advertising material by this date to ensure you receive them on
time. - Begin your sign up list for volunteers.
4-6 Weeks Prior
- If you have not heard from your Reality Team Directors, please call our
office at (800) 263-2114 to ensure we have the correct information. - Most of the volunteers should be signed up.
3 Weeks Prior
- Begin advertising now.
1 Week Prior Checklist
- Heaven Platform or Baptismal Stairs are built
- All 30-50 volunteers are signed up
- Altar workers are selected
- Advertising is in full swing
- Meals are planned to be served on site (2 lunch, 1 snack)
- Purchase all items on the supply list
- Decision cards are ready (or Google Form)
- Consider having Bibles available for new believers in need of one
- A Follow-up and discipleship plan are in place
- Children's Church is ready for the drama nights
- An on site RV parking spot is avaialble with electrical and water
- Stage is completely cleared prior to the Ministry Team's Arrival
We believe prayer is the most important element in the making of a successful outreach.
Please encourage your people to begin praying prior to the team’s arrival.
Reality outreach ministries
A Powerful presentation of the Love of Jesus Christ
Thank you for your interest in the ministry. We look forward to partnering with you to impact your community with the love of Jesus Christ. You will enjoy working with one of our Ministry Team Directors as they prepare your volunteers through prayer, Bible devotions, and rehearsals to present the drama. You will discover “Heaven’s Gates & Hell’s Flames©” is a powerful presentation of the reality of Jesus Christ and eternal life.
We would consider it an honor to join with you and your church to reach the lost in your community. In addition to our outreaches in North America, we are increasingly active in an overseas Missionary Outreach Program. Reality Outreach Ministries now has 26 ministry teams taking the message of the Gospel, through drama, to other countries around the world. However...WE ONLY GO INTO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD AS FINANCES PERMIT.
At the conclusion of our scheduled outreach, your church may wish to help us in our missionary outreach with a monthly mission support commitment. We would be grateful for whatever God may lead you to do to help us in this area of our ministry. May God Bless you and your congregation!
In His Service, Reality Outreach Ministries
Attendee
”My life was turned completely around that night as I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.”
Attendee
”Tonight I was a first-time viewer of your presentation. It opened my eyes to many things. I was finally able to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into my life.”
Attendee
“I glanced down to the altar and saw that both my wife and daughter were giving their lives to Jesus... I was in tears.”
Pastor
“The prayer preparation was awesome... God was all over the whole presentation each night.”
Pastor
“Never in the history of this town has anything like this ever happened...”
Pastor
“We hosted a breakfast for those responding to Christ on the first Sunday after the outreach. Nearly 100 came. Over 70 enrolled in a new believers course. Your Directors were great in support and leadership.”