Years ago, when I met my good friend Liz I realized that she struggled with speaking to strangers (even Christians) let alone evangelizing. So I began to challenge her week after week with small steps to help her overcome her fears. These challenges helped to strengthen her confidence in the Lord and gave her boldness to eventually share the gospel. Now she's unstoppable and not the same woman she used to be. I would like to present these same challenges to you. And if you are up to it please take these challenges to heart. Remember this Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion."
Here's Challenge Number 1:
If you have never passed out a tract, I would like to extend a personal challenge to you. You have one week from the time you read this blog to pass out one single tract. Then post your story on my blog. I will read them and then present a new challenge for you in the week to come.
Living Waters has the best creative tracts I've ever seen. If don't have any tracts you can purchase them HERE. Then when your tracts arrive, you have one weeks time to pass out your first tract.
Charles Spurgeon said this with regard to winning the lost:
"Brethren, do something; do something, do something! While societies and unions make constitutions, let us win souls. I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men. Old Suvarov's idea of war is mine: `Forward and strike! No theory! Attack! Form a column! Charge bayonets! Plunge into the center of the enemy! Our one aim is to win souls; and this we are not to talk about, but do in the power of God!"
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21 comments:
Hi Trish! This is a wonderful idea! I handed out tracts for the first time in St. Louis after attending Transformed...but, I didn't do it alone. My friend and I would take turns handing out million dollar bills and the other one would just give encouragement. For example, we would say things like "you go girl...I've got your back". It made us laugh but it also gave us that little extra push to take the first step and we both overcame our fears that weekend. It definitely helps to team up with another Christian and encourage each other to become better witnesses for Christ.
Great idea Trish! I'm taking you up on the challenge and will post soon.
This is such a great idea!!!! Today while I was walking to lunch, I decided that I'm simply not as consistent as I'd like to be in sharing my faith. I had gone on an overseas mission trip about a month ago, and while there I handed out probably HUNDREDS of tracts, talked in front of large groups of children about God, did drama, and street preached four times, yet since I've been back I know that I haven't been NEARLY as bold at home sharing my faith. So while moseying to Quizno's for lunch, I decided that for the next 90 days, I'm going to hand out a tract or Gospel of John every day. I got to give a tract to an international student that I saw while on my way to Quizno's (I'm a university student).
Thanks a lot for your blog...I know that it's a great encouragement to me, and I'm sure many other Christians :-)
Hi Trish. Thanks for the challenge! I had posted a comment last week when you did the tracts in your car video. I was telling you how much you encourage me to hand out tracts. Well, I did it!!!! Twice! First, my husband and I were at a gas station and I just walked up to this girl and handed her a million dollar bill. She looked at me like I just fell off of Mars, but she took it. Second, I was at another gas station, which was full service. I didn't realize it was full service, but God did. The guy walked up to my van, pumped my gas, and when he was done I got to give him a million dollar bill. When I pulled away he was reading it! I can't even tell you how excited it made me. Thanks again for what you do!
Wendy that's wonderful! I am so blessed to hear this. It's always good to have a friend with you :-)
Lauren, I look forward to hear back from you!
Rhea, thank you for posting your encouraging comment!
The Lindaman Family, this brings great joy to my heart...keep up the good work for the Lord!
Hi Trish,
FYI, I emailed your "tract challenge" to a whole bunch of my Christian friends.
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is a missionary in Mombasa, Kenya, a predominantly Muslim city. He read my email and told me he was going to take you up on the "tract challenge" and intentionally use gospel tracts in Mombasa.
Anyhow, I was thinking you might be greatly encouraged to know that your "challenge" is being taken up on the other side of the world!
Praise God! Perhaps He will see fit to bring many Muslims to Christ in Mombasa as a result of your blog?!?
I hope you and your readers are as encouraged as I am.
in Christ and for His glory,
Mark Sohmer
P.S. Anybody have any suggestions for a solid gospel tract that uses the Law before grace that is suitable for a Muslim city? As much as I love the "Million Dollar Bill," methinks that might not be culturally the best presentation in Mombasa. I'm open to suggestions for those with experience reaching out to Muslims, particularly in Africa.
FYI,
In regard to my question asking people about good gospel tracts to give out in Mombasa Kenya, somebody suggested that I contact Dr. Peter Hammond from Frontline Fellowship, because he has a lot of experience with evangelizing Muslims in Africa. So I sent him an email, and he responded.
The following is an excerpt from the email he sent me. It was extremely helpful to me, so I hope it will be to you as well. So I'm posting it here.
Blessings...
I have specialized in Muslim evangelism for many years. I have designed the Muslim Evangelism Workshop which now has an MP3 with 12 lectures and presentations available both in audio and PowerPoint form.
We have a Muslim Evangelism Workshop Manual, which is also incorporated in the Slavery, Terrorism and Islam book. That book has been so much in demand that we were quickly out of print, and Amazon.com is offering secondhand copies of it for $98! So we have worked hard at revising, expanding and updating it. By God's grace I intend to get it to the printer this week. So that book will soon be available with very useful insights and material for anyone involved in Muslim evangelism.
Life Challenge Africa produced an excellent Gospel tract designed for Muslims: What Do You Think of the Messiah? I've distributed tens of thousands of them. Chick Publications also has produced tracts such as: Allah Had No Son. I've also distributed thousands of those. However, I think the Are You a Good Person? booklet works extremely well with Muslims. They all are convinced they are good, and yet as you take them through the Ten Commandments, conviction of sin settles in.
Please let us know how we can assist you further.
Hi Lauren, just wanted to check with you to see how you are doing with the challenge...I would love to hear from you!
I have been watching all of your youtube videos and reading your website and am taking you up on your challenge. I ordered the Way of the Master training course and some tracts tonight! I am very excited!
Hi Trish,
I wanted to update and let you know that I handed out my first tracts today. I ordered tracts on June 1 and they came Monday afternoon. I had surgery on Monday morning and had to go back to the hospital today to visit my wound care specialist. I had some tracts in my pocketbook and prayed that I would have the courage to give some out. The first one I gave out was the pink and blue illusion. I showed a man in the elevator. I gave it to him and told him that it was a gospel tract. He said "cool" and thanked me. I then had a pink and blue and a million dollar bill ready when my wound care specialist came in. I told him I brought him something today and had him try to guess which was bigger. He kept having me switch them back and forth to try to "figure it out". His assistant came in and looked quickly and said, "they are the same size." I told her she was right. I gave him the tract and then told him I had a million dollar bill for him. He loved it. I told him they were both gospel tracts and that he should read them later. He thought they were both great and said he'd get a lot of mileage out of them. I gave the same tracts to his assistant. On the way out I gave million dollar bills to one lady and a gentleman in the elevator with me. The lady said the kids would love it. When she got off the elevator the man said that he had seen on TV where someone got arrested for trying to cash one. I didn't do any one on one yet but it was pretty exciting to have so much fun with these two tracts. Thanks for the challenge!
Karen in Rhode Island
Karen, thank you for following up with this. I just read your post and I am so happy to hear about what happened. It's always the first tract thats the most difficult to hand out. Now you probably know why the pink and blue tracts are my favorite-they're so easy to give out!
Hope you're recovering from your surgery!
I am very shy, and would never have dreamed I could witness. I have been encouraged by listening to The Way of the Master to start sharing my faith. I now give out million dollar bills when I go to Walmart or the grocery store. God can use even shy people!
Hello Trish!
I'm like the friend you described. I am totally itching to share my faith, but I'm so shy I just don't know how. So I usually end up feeling guilty because Christ gave His life for me and I can't even bring myself to talk about it. So I took you up on your challenge last week, and on my very last day I finally made sure I actually had a tract with me and gave it to the K-Mart cashier. It was totally awkward because I didn't really know what to say, but I'm still glad I did it. Thanks for the challenge. Would love some prayer. :)
-Dana
Deanna and danagirl47, it's such a blessing to read your words. I'm so glad you've taken the first challenge, how about this challenge next :-)
Copy and paste this link into the google address bar:
http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2008/05/will-you-take-one-2-one-challenge.html
Deanna and danagirl47, it's such a blessing to read your words. I'm so glad you've taken the first challenge, how about this challenge next :-)
Copy and paste this link into the google address bar:
http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2008/05/will-you-take-one-2-one-challenge.html
Hola! I work for a Messianic Jewish ministry in San Francisco, CA (I'm a gentile). I've never had the guts to pass out Bible tracts, but after watching the news a couple of weeks ago and seeing Christians get chased out of the Castro District for simply praying, when one of the evangelists on staff asked me the other day if I would help pass out Bible tracts in Union Square I couldn't resist! I stood on the corner for a couple of hours passing out tracts and struck up a great conversation with a really nice elderly Jewish woman. Her and her daughter passed me by at first, but I noticed her take a second look at my shirt which simply says "Y'shua" across the chest. I continued to pass out tracts and I noticed the women looking back at me from about 30 yards away and talking with each other. After a couple of minutes the elderly woman approached me and asked, "Are you here to convert the Jews or the Goyim?" I told her I was here to tell about Y'shua. She asked me the same question again. I told her "I'm not here to convert anyone, I'm here to get to people to consider the facts and make an educated decision as to whether or not Y'shua is the Messiah the Hebrew prophets fortold." Again, she asked me the same question a third time. I said, "Look Miss, I'm here to tell both Jews and Gentiles alike that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob chose the children of Israel to have a special relationship with, and through that special, unique relationship with Israel, God would introduce Himself to the world and all of mankind would be blessed. I'm here to get you to consider whether or not Y'shua is that blessing, through whom God manifested Himself in human form and makes salvation possible for all of mankind." With that she said, "Hmmm. Ok. Let me have one of those." I gave her one, we talked, and shared a laugh. I wish I could say she asked the Lord for forgiveness, but she promised to read the tract and look into it. God's at work! I love your site; many blessings!
Trish-I just read your Challenge blog--Let me tell you something I do ---I go with my wife to Wal-mart and , go loaded down with Living Waters tracts.. I start handing them out with ""The Greeter", but I don't make myself too obvious because--I'm on a mission. While she shops ,I stroll thru the book section and I start browsing through all the magazines and paperbacks, -but before I put one one down and pick the other up I stick a tract securely inside it. When I'm finished with that task, I go to the card section and place a track in front of a few cards . It looks just like a card-----------------I've done this many times ---They work all week long for you. I've done many different things and I get so many good ideas from you and WOTM. I've shared one-on-one many times and You know what? I've never had anyone rude to me when I do the good person test. I did have a lady put her hands over her ears because she was so convicted. I've still yet to open air but am very close.
Thank you for your conviction and dedication in witnessing to the lost.
Joe
Well, I have handed out tracts at our local outreaches with our entire group with me. We leave them sitting on the table and people take them. I may pick up one and hand it out, but it has never been that big of a deal. The people who come know we are from church and are very receptive.
Well, I finally took the plunge and started handing out tracts on my own, away from church and away from our group. I handed an Obama Trillion to the cashier at Wal-Mart when I checked out and another to a cashier at a gas station. Both times I just asked the ladies if they had received one. Once they took it and looked at it, I told them to make sure they checked out the back of it so they could find out about the "real bailout" and left them smiling. I was so pumped that I am carrying them everywhere I go now and plan to spend a day at Wal-Mart just handing out tracks.
Thank you for all the encouragement, Trish! I love your blog and find your suggestions so helpful. God bless you and your ministry! :)
I just happened back to this post and just realized I should have proofread my comment! LOL
Sorry, Trish ... I must have been too excited when I wrote it. :)
Angel, I'm so glad you're doing this and thank you for sharing--it means a lot!
Dear Trish,
I have been studying the "Way of the Master" methods since last October. I'm enrolled in the online evangelism course, have purchased audios to listen to, and am also currently going thru the Basic Training Course. I have been giving out tracts slowly since October, but ever since I took your tract challenge, I have felt an urgency to witness one-on-one.
My husband and I get tons of calls from salesmen, some very unreputable. Last night I announced to my daughter that I would witness to the next salesman that called, to which she responded that if I didn't witness I would have to bake her an apple pie. We made a deal!
Anyway, today the call came. After waiting for his salespitch to end, with much fear and trembling, I asked him if I could ask him a few questions. He was from India and we went thru some of God's law, Judgment, Heaven and Hell and then repentance and salvation. He asked me to pray for him and he may call me or my husband back when he gets off work. Praise God for seeds planted! Please pray for him, he said his name is Joseph.
After his call, I got another call from what I thought was the same guy! It was another rep from a company selling the same thing! I started thru the Law with him too, but he stopped me after I told him he'd have to face God on Judgment Day. He let me know that he is working and getting paid to work. I apologized, but told him I'd like to call him or let him call me back when he got home. He asked when the best time to call would be. His name was Dan.
Later this afternoon, Dan's boss called and said he'd listened to our conversation and would like to talk to me. I was thinking, oh, this is great, but he merely and frankly, quite rudely, wanted to know just why I wouldn't purchase his product for only 20 dollars per month! (I now understand why neither of my salesman would admit to being a thief over the phone, they were being RECORDED! I had to flip to the 10th commandment - coveting while we were going thru the Law).
Anyway, thanks so much for your Challenge and your encouraging website and emails!
God Bless!
Sincerely,
Jodi
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