Witnessing at shopping malls can get a varied response, particularly from the owners. Some mall security guards just look the other way. Others get aggressive in trying to oust the soul winners.

One Chick staff member found someone outside a local mall handing out The Execution during the O. J. Simpson trial. Their approach went something like this: "Trial of the century, read all about it." Naturally many people took the tracts. Then mall security approached and made them an offer.

They had to stop handing out tracts at the entrance where they were but the mall would gladly furnish a draped table inside the mall in a busy traffic area where they could put up a small sign to attract people to the table to obtain the free literature displayed. This seemed like a good compromise. Legally, shopping malls are not "public forums" where free speech is guaranteed. They are actually private property and soul winners can be legally expelled if push comes to shove.

When you are witnessing at a mall and security is getting insistent, you might be successful in suggesting using the table approach. With this, the mall security is satisfied in eliminating complaints that customers are being harassed, and the soul winners get a good position inside where lots of people can see them and the table to display a wider variety of literature than can be handed out by hand. If a local church could get teams of soul winners together to staff tables at local malls during the Christmas shopping rush, hundreds or thousands could be reached with the gospel.