Outreach Shows Evangelism 'the Old Way' Still Most Effective
by Ed Thomas
December 11, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An official with the Assemblies of God (AG) says his denomination's latest large-scale outreach helped to provide convincing evidence that one-on-one evangelism still belongs in a vital first-place role ahead of the use of electronic media. The AG's "God Gives Hope" outreach campaign ran for two weeks in New York City's Time Square, back by ads on a jumbo electronic screen which featured the 1-800-4-PRAYER counseling line number. But Scott Temple, director of intercultural ministries with the denomination, says more importantly, more than 90,000 people received gospel booklets from teams of students, missionaries, and lay leader volunteers. He explains that was an outworking of the teams' desire to reach a city with Jesus' example of the woman at the well, told in the fourth chapter of John in the Bible.
"And that strategy is seen in Jesus having meaningful conversation with one woman at the well," Temple shares. "And by [Jesus] taking time to have that conversation, that was the key that unlocked the gospel reaching an entire city."
According to the AG spokesman, when people were able to know exactly who the soul-winners were -- as a result of the personal contact -- they were open to receiving gospel booklets, magnets, and balloons. They could then follow up with the prayer-line number displayed on the huge video screen. Temple explains that beforehand, teams prayed that the conversations revealed the key people who were ready for the gospel.
"[W]e didn't make it our goal to give out as much literature as quickly as we possibly could," he testifies. " We made it our goal to share with everybody, and to ask the Lord to help us especially reach those key people."
The combination of the video screen display and the booklets helped send an estimated 1,000-plus calls a day to the AG's National Prayer Center, says Temple. But he says it was only after people were assured in person that they were not dealing with a cult, but with believers who offered help and hope for financial, spiritual, and physical problems. Then, he says, their "floodgates of need" opened up.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
