At the Fishers of Men Conference in Indianapolis, Mark Cahill dished out some helpful advice on what to do when law enforcement starts restricting your efforts to reach people for Christ.

Following are six quips I extracted that I found helpful:

• Any property or event that is partly or fully funded by taxes is a public property or public event which means you have full rights to freedom of speech. This typically includes public parks, public universities, the sidewalk etc.
• If the mall is public property they cannot ask you to not share and pass out tracts. It's paid by taxes and it's your consitutional right to do this. If it's private, they can restrict you. The best thing to do when it's private is not to pass out tracts but have conversations with people. Sitting down next to them makes it even better. They can't tell people they can't talk about religion.
• If someone walks up and says, "You don't have the right to walk up to people and talk to them," you can say, "Well you just walked up to me." Better yet, ask, "Do I have the right to ask what time is it?" "Yes." "Do I have the right to ask, 'Where did you buy that shirt?'" "Yes." "Then why do I not have the right to have a conversation about God?"
• A policeman once told Cahill that he couldn't talk to people on the sidewalk, even though this is tax-paid propoerty. Cahill told him, "Your job is to protect my rights. My taxes are paying for your salary. I'm asking you to help and protect me, not infringe on my consitutional rights." The policeman backed down.
• Property that is not owned by the state is private and many owners will have "no solicitation" rules. Understand that passing out tracts is technically not soliciting. Solicitation means giving something and asking for something in return.
• If you feel that your rights are being infringed upon, contact www.christianlaw.org, a free law service located in Tampa, FL that helps defend Christians.