The ABC’s of Evangelism

by Bob Prouty (bob.prouty@powertochange.org.au)

(originally written as a series of 9 emails)

'A' is "Associate with non-Christians'.

The problem is that a lot of us live in a Christian bubble. When I lived in California our Christian organization
that had an office in a retreat centre. I ran a youth group on Friday nights and went to church on Sunday.
Where was I going to meet non-Christians in the normal flow of my week?

So one Saturday afternoon a friend and I decided to walk around our church. We saw a refrigerator in a front
yard with a big 'For Sale' sign, so we asked the obvious question: "How much are you selling the refrigerator
for?" That led to a two hour conversation where we shared the Gospel with each member of the family. The
middle child, Kristen, became my wife's most faithful disciple.

Sometimes walk-up evangelism like this can be very effective. But I

am seeing the advantage of focusing on opportunities where you
can see people regularly.

Don't get me wrong. I still talk about Jesus with people at the
birthday and house warming parties that I go to. But I am finding it
far more fruitful to go someplace where I can regularly meet the
same people in a way that does not seem weird to them.

Right now my wife and I help prepare and serve dinner to 100 international students at a local university twice
a month. Suan Lee regularly participates in a class at the fitness centre. Paul drinks his coffee in the same cafe
at the same time each week.

What is an activity that you could enjoy where you could meet the same group of non-Christians at least every
other week? How about giving it a go for the next six months and seeing what God does? Or maybe you are
already involved in an activity like this and you just need to move on to the next step of the ABC process.

Before I go let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, thank you for the many people you bring across our path. Show us how to spend our time this
week. Open our eyes to see the non-Christians in our community and to look for ways to spend time with
them. We love you and thank you for the way you are transforming us and our community. Amen"

Next week we move on to the letter "B". Many people have found this letter is a game changer.

Have a great week.

'B' is a game changer
I am an amateur magician. Nothing really fancy, just simple tricks that are great for children's birthday parties.
I've discovered that one of the most important skills is getting the audience on your side. Otherwise you have
someone in the audience who tries to show how smart they are by proudly telling everyone 'how the trick is
done'. My tactic: make a hero out of one of the audience. Let them appear to do the trick while I appear to just
stand by and applaud their action.

It is a game changer.

When it comes to connecting people to Jesus the game changer is "Befriend". It seldom works to skip from A
to D (Associating to Declaring). Yes, it can be done, and some people can do it well. But I find it a lot better to
take time to let the person know you are interested in them, and that you want what is best for them.

Andrew was driving down the freeway when he was rear-ended by Nick. Nick was so embarrassed. He knew it
was hit fault for not paying closer attention. Nick was afraid of what the other driver would say, so he was
most surprized when Andrew's major concern was for Nick's well being. Then he was overwhelmed when
Andrew called later in the day to see how he was going. The relationship deepened and after several months
Nick and his brother were baptized.

Tina and Richard were new to Sydney. My wife met Tina at a

women's craft morning. They hit it off well, and so Chris asked if
she and Richard would like to join us watching a baseball game.
There was lots of time during the game to talk and get to know
each other. The next time we got together was for a seafood feast
where I focused on 'C'.

My friend Alan used to play tennis at his university. His labelled his first game with a person as an A Game. His
goal was to simply show up and Associate with the person. His second game as a "B" game, where he would
start to befriend is opponent by inviting him to get a bit to eat or something to drink after the game.
Sometimes the conversation drifted to "C", but that is a story for next week.

What ways can you Befriend the non-Christians in your community, work or sports club?

 Think of the things you enjoy doing and invite people to join you.
 Find a club where people are already doing what you enjoy
 Take up a new hobby
 Invite someone out for a cup of coffee or something else you would both enjoy drinking

My friend Tim bakes over 500 Christmas cookies each year and gives them to 100 families in his
neighbourhood. It takes a lot of time to knock on that many doors, but it opens so many opportunities to talk
about Jesus throughout the year.

What do you want to do this week to befriend people?

Before I go, let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, I know that you love the people in our community. You want to welcome them into heaven. Let us
welcome them into our hearts and take time to befriend them. Lord, show me how to listen -- not only to
what they are saying, but also to what they are not saying. Help me to draw them out, like Jesus drew out the
Woman at the Well. Amen".

Next week we focus on C. C you then.

'C' a change in their interest about Jesus
Last week I mentioned that Richard and Tina invited us over to their house for a seafood feast. We ate a lot of
seafood in Oregon, where I grew up, but the Balmain Bug was something totally new to me.

While the women were in the kitchen boiling the bugs, Richard and I were alone the living room. I recognized
that once the food was cooked our total attention will be on the seafood. So here is my one chance to see if
the conversation will move to C (Create an Interest in the Gospel).

I start off by asking Richard what his plans are for the year. Then his five year plan and his ten year plan. He
has each of those nailed. He and Tina are a young couple and they have definitely thought things through.
Then I ask him what his thousand year plan is. This startles him.

"You know Richard, you are going to be dead a lot longer than you are alive, so what is your thousand year
plan?"

Then I shared my thousand year plan, and asked if he would like to meet with me a couple times over lunch to
go through something called "Christianity Explained". Before I could get an answer, the food came out. Later
in the week I called Richard to get his answer. It was a very positive, "yes".

Around Easter I often create an interest by asking people, "Have you read the Easter Story lately?" They usually
say "no". Then I ask it I can draw a few pictures to point out the
highlights.

I am not much of an artist and I think that works to my

advantage. I make a tic-tac-toe board and then begin to fill it in
while we talk. I like this approach because it keeps us talking
back and forth. Here is how I do it.

There are lots of ways to create an interest in the Gospel:

 Alan likes to ask people "Have you had much to do with Christian things?" and then follow-up with
"And what did you think about it?"
 After Paul has listened to a person share how they are going, he will often say, "That reminds me of
a story from the Bible. Can I share it with you?"
 Earl takes a much more direct approach: "Have you heard of the Four Spiritual Laws? Can I share it
with you?"
What have you found effective? How do you Create an Interest in the Gospel without being weird?

Let me know and I will share it with others next week.

Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, I can think of nothing more interesting than you and what you have done for us. Give me creative
ideas on how I can share my excitement with others, so that they too will glorify you and accept your offer of
forgiveness and eternal life. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who will bring ideas to mind and give me the
boldness and sensitivity that I need. Amen.

Next week we move to the street evangelists' favorite letter. See you then.
Have you mastered 5 ways to D?
When our children were younger, I took them fishing in northern New South Wales. We went through a whole
box of shrimp without a single bite.

Then we moved location and saw children catching something almost every time they threw their line in the
water.

I went over to ask them what they were using for bait. "Bread", was their reply.

Bread? Never in my wildest imagination would I consider bread to be a bait for fish. But I asked them for a
piece, soaked it, made a bread ball, put it on the hook and soon we were catching whiting just like them.

There are some similarities between fishing and sharing our faith. What appeals to one person may not appeal
to another. I tried to share the Gospel with my brother, but he was unresponsive. Or at least I thought so.
When two strangers knocked on his door at university he heard their presentation and readily responded. The
difference: they were engineers like my brother.

A good fisherman keeps a variety of baits in their tackle box.

I'm convinced that every Christian needs to learn five ways of sharing their faith. Why five? As a magician I
focus on doing five tricks well. I don't need more than that for most shows. If I see a trick I like more, I ask
myself which trick I am willing to drop.

So, what are my 5 ways of sharing my faith today?

1. A discovery Bible study called Discovering

Spiritual Community
2. Drawing and explaining cartoons
3. Evangelistic Parties
4. Bi-lingual Four Spiritual Laws
5. Business-size cards for websites

What is your favorite method?

Do you have five ways of Declaring the Gospel? If not, how about trying one new way?

With magic tricks I discover that I need to perform them 25 times before they are really mine. In the same way,
I suggest practising with a friend first. Then try a method over and over until you become comfortable with it.
This way you will be able to focus your attention on the person you are talking with.

Let's pray:

"Lord God, you are so creative. I think of all the billions of stars you have created. The abundance of plants
and animals. We can't even name them all. Show us how to declare your wonders to this generation. Let our
neighbours and friends see the lengths you have gone to save them from an eternity in hell. Let them marvel
at the tremendous price that Jesus paid upon the cross. We strongly desire that you will do a fresh work in this
time so that people around the world are swept off their feet by your great love. Amen"

See you next week with "E".

E is essential
Carrie had completed more than 25 Discovery Bible studies with my wife and me. I knew she understood the
Gospel and that she believed that Jesus had died to pay for her sins. So one afternoon, as we were sitting in
the park, I turned and asked her "Carrie, are you ready to be baptized?"

She shot back in chilly voice, "Bob, I already told you I want to be baptized on my birthday".

I don't know how I could have forgotten such an important conversation.

Baptism is a huge thing in our multicultural community. It is

a declaration to your extended family and friends that you
are now going to follow Jesus.

Before I will baptize someone, I let them know that I expect

them to invite at least five non-Christian friends to their
baptism. They will also need to prepare a to tell the story of
how they came to faith.

The day Carrie's husband was baptized he wrote a five page essay of the quality of CS Lewis and sent it
through the internet to his friends all over China.

E stands for Encourage a Response. Here are three examples from the Acts of the Apostles: Each use slightly
different wording.

 Peter says "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38-39)
 When the Philippian jailer asks, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' Paul responds, 'Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.'" (Acts 16)
 Paul later says: 'I preached that they [in Damascus and other places] should repent and turn to God
and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds." (Acts 26:20)

How are you going to encourage people to respond to the Gospel?

Here is how the Four Spiritual Laws encourages a response:

=================================

YOU CAN RECEIVE CHRIST RIGHT NOW BY FAITH THROUGH PRAYER

(Prayer is talking to God)
God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here is
a suggested prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross in my place for my sins. I open the door of my
life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal
life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?
If it does, pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

===================================

Read the first line in the section above carefully. We are saved by faith. One way to express your faith is
through prayer. In the passages above the apostles suggested other ways to express your faith (repent,
believe, turn to God, be baptised).
In some ways E is like when I asked Chris to marry me. Neither one of us can remember the words I used to
ask the question. Neither one of us can remember the exact words of her response. But there was a change in
our relationship which led to a wedding and over 42 years of marriage.

And isn't that what it means to follow Jesus? A relationship. A relationship that grows deeper each and every
day. A relationship that is so deep we can never exhaust its depths.

Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, thank you that you love us and that some how, some way, some one encouraged us to respond to
you. Thank you that you consistently draw us closer to you, so that we may bask in your love and grace. Now
we pray that you will give us both the boldness and the sensitivity to encourage others to respond to you. We
look forward to how you will be glorified in this process. Amen."

Before I go a quick review of the letters we have covered so far:

 Associate with non-Christians
 Befriend non-Christians
 Create an interest in the Gospel
 Declare the Gospel
 Encourage a Response

E in just the beginning of the relationship. Now we move to FGHI.

See you next week.

Is F the di erence between success and failure?
Shortly after I became a Christian, I was kicked out of my dorm room because I had become 'too religious.'
The only room available was with the dorm atheist. He set himself the task of talking me out of my faith.

But I had three things going for me:

 A weekly prayer group where I could worship and

pray with like-minded Christians.
 A more mature believer who would read the Bible
with me at breakfast (when he woke up on time).
 A Bible study series I could do each morning on
my own.

F stands for "Follow-up," and it is the way you spend time with new believers immediately after they come to
faith.
I have seen many good follow-up studies. First Steps with God is available in 27 languages and includes:
 Assurance of Salvation
 Experiencing God's Love and Forgiveness
 Sharing About Jesus with Others
 Growing Spiritually
 Who is the Holy Spirit?
 Living in God's Power

Select something that you are comfortable using and that you can teach others to use. I suggest doing the
complete series on your own before using it with anyone else. That way, you will not be surprised with new or
controversial topics when you teach.

It is also possible that your church has a class or group for new believers. That is a great way for new
Christians to meet others who are at the same stage of spiritual development.

Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, thank you for the people whom I am going to see come to faith. I pray that you will give me
wisdom on how to continue relating to the new Christians and showing us the material we should use to guide
our discussions. Thank you for my church and the ability to work with other believers. Amen."

Most process outlines end with F, but I like to go on the GHI.

See you next week.

Don't stop at Follow-up. Go on to G
A friend of mine introduced me to a new type of math where:
1=0 and 2=1.

It is the math that Special Forces use. They say

 If you have one flashlight and that one breaks, you have none.
 If you have two flashlights and one breaks, you still have one.

You can't afford to be without a flashlight, so take two.

The same math applies in evangelism and discipleship. You can't afford to have a new Christian depend on
you alone for their spiritual growth. What if something happens to you?

New Christians need at least two people to build into their lives, and hopefully more than that.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the
more as you see the Day approaching."

'G' stands for Group. It could be a group as small as three, or a home Bible study, or a large church gathering.
Think about what is best for the new Christian and help them take baby steps.
I like to start the group process all the way back at "A" where I Associate with non-Christians. As I Befriend a
person, I ask to be introduced to their friends. Then after I "Create an Interest in the Gospel", I might say
something like:
Would you like to discover for yourself what God says about
Spiritual Community? Most people like to make these
discoveries in a group with their friends. Who could you
invite to your house?
That creates a group where most of the people already know
each other. We can do a Discovery Bible study where you
Declare the Gospel, Encourage a Response and Follow-up
New Believers. The Group can continue meet and become a
House Church, or part of an existing church.

When you decide to take new believers to an existing church, take time to explain the church culture and how
long the service is. My Hindu friends are used to stopping by the temple on the days of their choice and
staying for as long or short as they want. The idea of waiting to the end of an hour Sunday service is foreign
to them. OK, now you know I make mistakes and need both proofreaders and prayer partners. Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, thank you for the many people who have built into our lives. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who
brings these teachings back to our memory when we need them. I pray for the people that you bring into our
lives. Show us the next step that You want us to take with each of them. How can we show them both our love
for them and Your love for them? Guide us into helping them become active participants in the body of Christ
-- your church -- which you love and died for. Amen".

See you next week for penultimate ("next-to-last") email in this series.
The value of Hands-on apprenticeship
Keith's Easter tradition is to set up an archery range. It has been years since I used a bow, but since I was
staying at his house for Easter, I decided to give it a go. What I didn't know is that one of his other guests was
a state champion.

But instead of showing off and making a point of how great she was, Alise took the role of coach and gave me
pointers each and every time I drew the bow:

 "Move your arm up higher"

 "Make sure your second finger is touching the edge of your mouth"
 "Next time, pull the string with the tips of your fingers"
 "Aim a little higher next time"

And by following her instructions I got better and better. Still not
good enough to hit the centre of the target, but I had fun and I
am keen to do it again.

H stands for Hands-on Apprenticeship

Why is H important?
 Most people learn better by seeing something done than by reading about it in a book (or in an
email like this)
 A good coach can help people overcome their fear and develop confidence in God's power
 A good coach knows there are many skills a person needs to learn to be an effective evangelist and
disciple maker and breaks these skills down, focusing on one at a time.

How have I done Hands-on Apprenticeship?

When we have evangelistic parties at our home, we invite a few of our Christian friends to join us. Before the
event we pray together and give them some ideas of what they might talk about. During the party we might sit
at the same table be involved in the same conversations. Afterwards we have a debrief to evaluate and answer
questions.

When we were distributing JESUS videos door-to-door, we went in pairs. I would knock on the first three doors
to set the tone, and then we alternated. We learnt from each interaction we had in the neighbourhood.

Sometimes evangelistic opportunities come up too quickly to involve anyone else. That is where story-telling
comes in. Tell your disciples what God did and the lessons you learnt in the situation.

Have fun with your hands-on apprenticeship and watching your disciples grow.

Let's pray:

"Lord Jesus, thank you for the people we have the privilege of working with to spread the Gospel. Let us be
good coaches who constantly have the needs of our apprentices in mind. Show us how to be kind and
uplifting as well as challenging. We want to see the disciples you have sent our way become great leaders who
can impact others who impact others so that everyone on earth gets to hear how great you are. Amen."

Next week is the final letter in this series. See you then.
I: The letter everyone is struggling with
Every university ministry I know is struggling with the same problem.

It is the problem of how to help their graduates transition into fruitful Christian outreach once they
enter the work force.

Students who have had great ministries on their university campus get caught up in the many
demands of post-university life. They stop sharing their faith. Some stop reading their Bibles. Some
stop going to church. And some even turn against the faith they demonstrated during university.

Let's face it, the transition is hard. They are entering into a new mission field.

I've seen the same struggle with people who move

from one city to another. In the old city they had a
church that was reaching out. They knew how to be a
part of that outreach program and were quite fruitful.
But transfer to a new city without the support
structures and they stop reaching out.
The people who are most successful in making these
transitions have five things going for them.

They have:
 a Kingdom Vision: something so big that they can not accomplish it by themselves
 a Team: people who work together toward that vision
 a Plan: steps the team is committed to taking which will lead them toward their vision
 Ongoing Equipping: so that they can become more effective.
 a Coach: someone to help them overcome obstacles

The letter I stands for Independence. You need to prepare the people you are discipling to be
successful once they leave you and the structures and culture you have helped create. Make sure
they understand their need for the five things I've listed above. This video might help you in your
training.

Talking about ongoing equipping, you might want to check out MyFriends Training to see when our
next set of courses start. The ad is focused on Australians, but the training is open to anyone who
can make the Australian times.

Have a great week talking with people about Jesus.

Here are the ABC’s of Evangelism and Discipleship:
Associate with non-Christians

Befriend non-Christians

Create an interest in the Gospel

Declare the Gospel

Encourage a Response

Follow-up New Believers

Group Membership is Vital

Hands-on Apprenticeship

Independence Preparation

For further assistance:

This article, and other helpful resources, can be downloaded from hereslife.com.

This email series is copyright by Power to Change, 2024.

About us
Here’s Life is part of the Church Movements team of Power to Change. We o er help in three areas. For
further details see: powertochange.org.au/church-movements/

Shiftm2M: Join leadership peers to explore a disciplemaking framework centred on a case study
of Jesus’ ministry focusing on His movement building principles. Shift groups are coordinated by a
trained facilitator who will help you wrestle with the realities of implementing what you discover
about movement building in your own life and ministry context.

This is not an effort to prescribe a ‘model’ of doing ministry that you can take and plant over your
old style. SHIFTm2M is a journey to discover the foundation of what Christ is calling leaders to be
and what efforts He asks leaders to build into as His followers.

Centred around the gospels, SHIFTm2M Groups are times of study, training, discussion, and
evaluation. There are nine days of content usually split over four retreats or once a month for 9
months.

OurGenerations: Have you formed a group of new MyFriends helps everyday

believers who are learning to follow Jesus? Christians develop a lifestyle
Whether this is in a schoolyard, a university, a that creates opportunities for
workplace, a sporting group or in your home, the their friends and family to
OurGenerations team will help to develop you as a discover God’s story together.
‘multiply’ leader who equips and sends people from We are a community that
your group to connect their own friends with Jesus,
intentionally loves, prays, cares,
forming their own groups who are learning to follow
and shares Jesus with our non-
Him.
churched friends, family, and
With a small group of other ‘multiply’ leaders, our team colleagues. We’re trusting that
of gifted practitioners will facilitate you through a Australians will experience
simple coaching process that is used all over the world Jesus and be ready to discover
as one of the ‘best practices’ for developing leaders. God’s story together, in their
You’ll discover Biblical principles in the gospels and
own communities.
Acts that help you form and multiply more communities
like Jesus.