Interrupting
Testimonies
A personal testimony is very effective in personal witnessing
and evangelism
Most Christians do not share their testimony with
unbelievers because they think it is boring, i.e. it didn’t
involve drug abuse, violence, crime, etc. Most people in society
can relate more to a “normal” testimony than a dramatic
one
John 4:39 - “Many of the Samaritans from
that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony…”
Key components to a Christian’s testimony:
1. Before
Briefly describe what your life and mindset was before becoming
a Christian. Describe what some of your goals, feelings and thoughts
were. Most people will relate somehow to your testimony during
this part. Describe things such as a fear of death or your perception
of God and how a person got to heaven before you became a Christian.
2. How & Why
Briefly describe how you came to repentance and faith in Christ.
It is significant to communicate why you personally choose to
follow Christ. Don’t preach at the person, but share how
you were able to understand your personal need.
3. After
Briefly describe the changes in your life since becoming a Christian.
Be as specific as possible. Describe realities in your life that
would be of interest to an unsaved person such as no longer having
a fear of death and judgment, what God has done for you, etc.
Helpful Hints:
1. Keep it Short - Keep your testimony descriptive yet brief
and to the point.
2. Keep it Real - Don’t try and sound overly dramatic or
spiritual. Make sure that an unsaved person can understand what
you are talking about and referring to. Avoid using religious
phrases and words that an unsaved person wouldn’t know the
meaning of. Use language and words that would be easily understood.
3. Generalize - Avoid using too many specific names, dates and
other references. The person you are speaking with probably won’t
be interested in the name of your high school, denomination or
the weather conditions of the day you were saved. Say some specific
things, especially about how and why you became a Christian, but
try not to over do it.
4. Don't Preach - Talk about yourself rather than the personal
you are speaking with. Use personal pronouns such as “I’
and “me” rather than saying “you” or “your”.
Keep your testimony warm and personal
5. Write it Out - Write out your personal testimony. Try and
keep it to about 3-4 minutes when you read it or speak it out
loud.
6. Memorize It - Once you have written your testimony out in
a brief yet descriptive and personal way, take time to memorize
it.
7. Use It - Use your testimony as much as possible. Once you
are speaking with someone about becoming a Christian you might
begin your testimony by saying, “Could I share with you
why I became a Christian?” or “Could I tell you how
this all became real to me?”
Summer Outreach Ideas
Tract Ministry
Summer presents many wonderful and very
effective opportunities to distribute Gospel tracts and plant the
seed of the Gospel into the lives of people. Use opportunities where
there are a large group of people together to hand out tracts. We
have sold many of our Great American Myth tracts to churches that
have wanted to hand them out at 4th of July parades and events.
Last summer I took a church group out to hand out tracts at a local
parade and we were able to hand out 1800 in just a little over 20
minutes! You can distribute tracts at parades, carnivals, farmer’s
markets, festivals or at beaches, parks and local sporting events.
Another great place to hand out tracts can be at amusement parks.
I have done this many times. You can put tracts under wiper blades
on cars in the parking lot and then hand out tracts in the park.
Once when I was at an amusement park I was waiting for some friends
in an area where people were getting off a large roller coaster.
I had a bunch of tracts with me so I went to the gate where people
were coming out of the ride and I handed out tracts to people as
they exited. It was wonderful! I even had a big line of people waiting
to get tracts from me. You can purchase effective tracts from either
our ministry or Living Waters Publications at www.livingwaters.com.
Have tracts with you everywhere you go this summer!
Free Bottled Water
Another great idea for summer outreach
is to hand out free, cold bottled water. During the hot days of
summer people will gladly receive a free bottle of cold water.
You could go out with a large cooler, possibly even one with wheels,
and find a place where there is a large group of people or a high
traffic area. You could even make a sign that simple reads, “Free
Bottled Water.” There are Christian companies that bottle
water and put labels on them with scriptures and brief Gospel
messages. Some companies will even personalize the labels with
the name of your church or organization. As you talk to people
and hand out bottles of water you can also hand out information
for your church and Gospel tracts. Your act of kindness will touch
people’s lives and it will also create wonderful opportunities
for you to witness.
Seeding Your City
Here is an outreach idea that you can to both get some exercise
during the warm summer months and also share the Gospel with families
in your neighborhood and city. You could either do this alone,
with a group of friends or even with your whole church as an organized
outreach. You will need to invest in some Gospel tracts and door
hanger bags (these are specially designed bag that have a hole
at the top to hand on door handles). You can stuff the bags with
tracts and any small gift that you may want to give. You can also
include a form letter saying who you are and why you are giving
this literature out. Be simple and sincere and just express your
loving concern for the people’s salvation in your letter.
If you want you could also include information for your church
or your contact information in case anyone would want to speak
with you about the literature. Then once all these things are
in the bags all you need to do is just walk around your neighborhood
hanging them on the doors of homes. Remember that you cannot put
anything inside mail boxes. That is illegal. Pray as you walk
and hang the bags, asking God to draw each of the families to
Jesus and to put it into their hearts to read your letter and
literature. If you want you could even go back to those houses
after a week or so and knock on doors and introduce yourself to
people. You could tell them that you left the literature and see
if they had any questions or if there was anything that you could
pray with them about. It could open up some great witnessing opportunities.
Barbecues and Bibles
People love to barbecue during the summer! You could organize
a neighborhood barbecue at your house and invite your neighbors.
If you want, you could even make up a flyer and hand it our to
your neighbors letting them know about the barbecue and informing
them of the date and time. You could make it a potluck where people
bring a dish to pass. At the barbecue you can meet new neighbors
and have a great time of fellowship. At some point you could gather
everyone together and thank them for coming and then use that
as an opportunity to share your faith and testimony or hand out
literature.
Backyard Bible clubs
Every summer many churches conduct Vacation Bible Schools. But
instead of bringing kids to your church this summer, try bringing
the church to the kids! You can conduct your very own Backyard
Bible Club at your house. During the summer many kids are bored
and moms are stressed out trying to find wholesome activities
for their kids to be involved in. A Backyard bible Club could
be a big help to neighborhood moms and a tremendous opportunity
to minister to children. You could make it a one hour program
once a week for 4 or 6 weeks throughout the summer. You can canvass
your neighborhood with flyers letting families know about your
Backyard Bible Club. Set a certain time and day each week for
the club. You could even put out a sign on your front lawn advertising
the club. At each meeting you can sing songs with the kids, have
activities and games, do Bible lessons and give away prizes or
candy. If you are not used to ministering to kids run this idea
by the children’s pastor or worker at your local church
and get ideas from them on how to do it. At the end of the summer
you could have a barbecue for all the families of the kids. At
the cookout you could present the gospel, do a little program
for the parents with the kids or at least invite them to your
church. This would be a great way to minister to the families
in your neighborhood and develop relationships.
Free Car Washes
Get a group of Christians together this summer and put on some
free car washes. All you really need is some car soap, buckets,
water, towels or sponges and a few signs. You could do these at
your church or a local gas station, if you get permission. Just
tell the owner of the gas station what you want to do. They will
most likely allow you to do the car wash because it will attract
people into their gas station. Have some people stand out on street
corners with the signs directing people to where you are having
the car wash. Then when people drive in to get their car washed
you can witness to them while others in your group are washing
the person’s car. This would be a great opportunity for
you to also hand out tracts and let people know what is going
on at your church. Use this summer as a time to reach the lost!
Getting Started View
the article
Things you can do to start developing an
evangelistic lifestyle.
More to come!
