Evangelists Network for the Ins and Outs of Outreach

By Lillian Kwon, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 26, 2006

Corrections appended

After five years, Luis Palau's Next Generation Alliance brought back its Innovative Evangelism Conference to Portland, Ore., to train hundreds of evangelists starting with the basics of event planning to the latest cutting-edge outreach tools.

There have never been so many opportunities to reach the world with the gospel message in the last half century until now, according to world renowned evangelist Luis Palau. And a recent explosion of new and distinct evangelism strategies attests to the evangelist's words.

"In over four decades of evangelism, we've never seen so many opportunities for outreach and such a hunger for Christ's message of forgiveness and salvation," said Palau, who is currently speaking at a conference full of evangelists. "This conference is offered to those who have chosen evangelism as their life's work – who know that there is no greater purpose than to share the Good News."

The first national NGA conference was held in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. NGA partners have continued to gather every year since then, and this week's national conference is the first one to be held in Palau’s hometown since 2001.

The 300 attendants at the event this year include long-time evangelists and a larger number of youth leaders, according to Palau's spokesperson Craig Chastain.

Chastain attributes the growing involvement of youth leaders to the latest technique in youth outreach – young Christian skaters testifying of Jesus Christ on the half-pipe.

Such ministries as the Livin It group goes around the nation performing live action skate demos at such events as the Luis Palau festivals. The unique outreach effort has been called the newest, hippest and largest means of evangelization.

"We're encouraged by the growth and momentum that seems to be coming from youth ministries, in particular, who are interested in using new technologies and [tapping] into today's youth culture with things like action sports and the Internet," noted Chastain.

Evangelists have brought their own unique outreach strategies and "God-given gifts" to the four-day conference which focuses more on the operations in evangelism work. Some 60 workshops are equipping evangelists with the how-to’s such as financially sustaining a ministry, gathering public support, gaining media interest, and planning events. Plus, long-time evangelists like Palau are there sharing their own contemporary methods in reaching the unsaved and encouraging fellow ministry workers.

In his 40 years of evangelistic works, Palau embraced the "festival model" just within the last decade to reach larger, younger and unchurched crowds.

"It's an effective tool for us," commented Chastain. "The Luis Palau ministry has taken 40 years to [reach] the point we can draw that kind of crowd." Palau had just come out of a two-day festival in Houston, Texas, that drew some 250,000 people.

"But each [evangelist] has their own style," Chastain added.

Festival methods and action sports outreaches are only a few in a growing phenomenon of evangelistic efforts. Christians in Dallas, Texas, have begun to take a more aggressive approach with "street invasions," preaching to passer-bys on the street. And traditional methods like the Billy Graham Crusade, picked up by Harvest Ministries and continued by Franklin Graham, continue to pack in the stadiums and arenas.

The Innovative Evangelism Conference concludes Friday.

Correction: Thursday, October 26, 2006:

An article on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006, about the Innovative Evangelism Conference in Portland, Ore., incorrectly reported the conference's launch date and the subsequent gatherings. The Christian Post confirmed with Luis Palau Association spokesperson Craig Chastain that the first conference was held in 2001 and has continued every year thereafter. This year's conference is the first to be held in Palau's hometown since 2001.