One of the most helpful exercises when training missionaries is to spend some time listing evangelism ideas that offer the greatest potential for impacting people with the gospel. This is a challenging exercise for many.
Here are several ideas that churches have been encouraged to attempt – and many are – throughout Missouri. Maybe this will spark some new outreach methods for you and your church.
1. Conduct a survey simply asking if those in that home would be willing to conduct a Bible study and/or attend one if conducted in their community. And have people ready to follow-up and do it.
2. Conduct servant evangelism projects inviting the lost to help out when painting, repairing, etc. Seek to witness to them during the project or shortly after. This is particularly effective with teens and young adults: mobaptist.org/light.
3. Develop relationships among responsive subgroups among the people being evangelized: a cluster of homes, dorms, and interest groups like bikers, ESL learners, single mothers, cowboys, gangs, gays, prostitutes, etc.
4. Make disciple-makers, training new believers to share their faith effectively and quickly.
5. Use a baptism celebration as an evangelism event for a family and friends gathering in which the new believers share their salvation story – the gospel!
6. Invite a vocational evangelist to preach a series of revivals twice yearly. Have members provide names of lost people that the evangelist and pastor visit during the day before evening services. Learn more at mobaptist.org/evangelism.
7. Mobilize existing and new prayer supporters. Prayer is evangelism! Seek 1,000 prayer supporters.
8. Conduct massive Scripture distribution blitzes in neighborhoods, multi-housing projects, and campuses.
9. Conduct massive distribution of Christian movies such as JESUS, The Hope, God’s Not Dead, Heaven, etc.
10. Contact influential leaders in your community: principals of schools, government leaders, military commanders, radio and TV station managers, theater managers and drama troupe leaders and ask for their prayer requests. Pray on the spot for them and follow-up.
11. Invite Christian musicians and cultural dancers from a specific immigrant group to conduct a demonstration or festival in which they seek to lead their own people to faith in Christ. Follow-up.
12. Volunteer to serve as police chaplain and fire department chaplain seeking to serve them and also follow-up on contacts made among people in need in the community.
13. Evangelize families of those who are incarcerated and help them transition when their loved ones are released.
14. Offer food (such as breakfast burritos) at the doors of the poorest in the community. Ask for permission to pray a blessing on the house. If receptive, request permission to begin a Bible study in their home. Share your testimony and the gospel story (Romans 6:23) before leaving.
15. Plan evangelism connections at athletic competitions in your community—soccer games, 10k runs, bike races, etc.
16. Give away 9-volt batteries for smoke detectors. Knock on the door of every home where church members live (neighborhood, dorm, apartment). Ask the people what miracle that they would want God to do. Pray on the spot. Offer to return to lead Bible study called “Seven Stories of Hope” (available at mobaptist.org/macedonia)
17. Create an evangelistic Facebook page and Twitter feed. Post testimonies of those from your church who follow Jesus. Invite people to “like” the page and Personal Message (PM) you for more information for spiritual need. Be ready to follow-up.
18. Write on every tract or Bible distributed “For Spiritual Help call 1-888-JESUS-20.” This is the number of the Evangelism Response Center (ERC), at NAMB.
19. Pay for the people behind you at a drive-through. Include a gospel tract and simple note on how to reach you for spiritual help. Give one to the worker and another for them to pass along to the driver.
20. Conduct a door-to-door survey asking language and ethnic identities. Follow-up with language-specific Bibles and evangelistic materials. Network the address with evangelicals working with those immigrants. Post info on www.peoplegroups.info.