Friday, August 28, 2015

Awesome Evangelism Visit(s)

So, we divided up into two teams.  Justine took Adam, our youth pastor.  I took Jacob Wilson, pastor of Barterville UMC and general idea-generator.  We hit a neighborhood I had been to about a year ago.  MOst folks weren't home, as it was middle of the day.  And that's ok-- sometimes it's good to get a lot of cards out!  But we had three people we got to talk to.

First was a fellow who said he "just has not felt the need to go to church."  Now, normally, I would have talked about what he thinks his "need" would be, and then describe the Bible's definition of his need.  But for a number of reasons, I knew it was not the time. The Gospel would not have gotten a hearing, and as I was sensing that he will one day respond to communication at a later time, I moved on.  I hate that, because a part of me thinks, no you have to tell him now. I hope I was right.

Next house, a woman opens the door with a maybe a three year old on her hip.  We told her who we are, asked if she had a church.  Long story short, she visited the church about 3 years ago, I visited the house they were living in after they came to the church, but they moved.  She remembered the church and we had a great time reconnecting.  Then while we were still talking, her husband showed up and we were able to really talk to them about all the ministries of the church.  So let's hope they come!

I asked Jacob what he thought about that visit.  He was pumped, of course, but he had a great suggestion about getting contact information.  To see it, you'll have to watch the periscope video.  Get the periscope app on your smartphone or tablet and follow aaronjmansfield  Maybe I will post it to youtube.

Anyway, we hit another house and it was another family who came sometime back but had not been since.  It was cool to reconnect there, too.  We had a chance to invite them and remind them of the love of God.

Jacob was excited that we made a contact that will probably come to church.  He said, "What would happen if every month you had a family of four join the church?"

Right! Your church will grow!  The tough thing is... getting more people out and getting the time to do the visits.  I guess I would say, many many days I wish it was all I did!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Mentors

You need a mentor for the significant areas of your life.  I have been privileged to have good mentors right when I needed them.  As far as ministry is concerned, I was lucky to learn from Howard Willen, my pastor at First United Methodist in Lexington, KY from 1995-2000.  He took me to school in things like prayer; bible study; visiting in hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and homes; how to do a funeral; and preeminently in evangelism... making contacts with people, looking for the open door to share Christ, and asking them to put their faith in Him.  If I had not seen that done, I would have a hard time imagining what it looks like or how to do it!

We were doing some planning for an upcoming evangelism training, and I guess I mentioned Howard a number of times, to the point where it was suggested that we make WWWD bracelets for evangelism training... What Would Willen Do?