Why we need to improve on our evangelism methods
Many of us who are preaching the Gospel regularly have noticed that most of our evangelism methods have not been giving us the desired results. Carrying megaphones to public places and holding city-wide “crusades” have sometimes proven useful, but most times they are not as effective as they could be. Oftentimes, people hear the Gospel, and they seem receptive, but their lives show they’ve never been born-again — they simply continue in their sinful ways.
I have also realized that most people whom we are engaging with do not pay attention to what we are saying and what we are reading from the Bible because of their physical challenges. A hungry man finds it difficult to focus on anything but on the ways to get food to eat. “An empty stomach has no ears” is an African phrase that is commonly used to depict the desperation of the hungry in search of food. Preaching the Gospel without attending to the basic needs of the desperate sometimes ends in futility. A little act of kindness can do a lot in helping them listen to us.
The conventional methods of missions have also suffered a lot of setbacks, especially in areas where insurgency and terrorism are prevalent. In Northern Nigeria, most of the mission fields have been abandoned as missionaries and Christians are killed daily. Fear of attacks has not allowed us to venture into many communities, as bandits are threatening to attack even the refugee camps in the neighboring villages where people have run for refuge.
But I have noticed something striking. The unreached are now migrating en masse to the Southern part of the country. We can no longer send missionaries to the unreached, but God is sending the unreached to us.
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In response to this mass migration, we must recognize the immense opportunity we have in spreading the Gospel. Christians can now reach the unreached in their neighborhoods without physically risking their lives. We are not replacing the conventional method of doing missions but are merely supplementing it.
We need to know who our target persons are and establish relationships with them with the purpose of introducing Christ to them. We should also be careful to live a lifestyle that will endear them to us. Our behavior can either bring them to Christ or scare them away.
Let’s endeavor to pursue one-on-one friendships as part of the way we evangelize the world. A little shift from conventional methods can be of immense help in reaching the unreached. A little bit can go a long way in bringing many to Christ.
Oscar Amaechina is the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria. His calling is to take the gospel to where no one has neither preached nor heard about Jesus. He is the author of the book Mystery Of The Cross Revealed.
