What is your church doing to reach the lost?

As an evangelist, I have two roles. My first role is to tell people about Jesus, to preach the Gospel, to be a soul winner. But my second role as an evangelist is just as important.

In addition to evangelizing the lost, I am also called to equip believers for evangelism. According to Ephesians 4:11, the five-fold ministry gifts are given for “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.” In my blog today I want to give you an idea on how your local church members can be involved in reaching out to your community.

This past Saturday I participated in a local church outreach in Glenpool, OK with First Grace Church. The church is small, about one hundred members. Glenpool is a city of 12,000 people so the church feels it does not have the resources to do an outreach to the entire city, but they chose a particular neighborhood of about 150 home to focus on.

The church rented Jupiter Jumps and a popcorn machine, someone donated hotdogs, they invited a clown to make balloons, and they did face painting. They also did a drawing for a $300 pre-paid visa card in order to attract adults. The church members spread out into the community and invited people to come for a free hotdog. Of the 70 people who came around 25 people got saved! On Sunday morning, 8 people from the community came to church. At least two new families will start attending the church. For a church of this size, this was a very successful evangelistic outreach.

Below you can watch a video to see what happened.

Every church should give their congregation opportunities to reach out to those who are lost. Not every member of your church is called to be an evangelist, but every member of your church can be involved in evangelism. By scheduling regular outreaches your church members can have an outlet for their ministry gifts. Whether they participate by cooking hotdogs, knocking on doors, playing music, or just hugging people, every person in the church, from the young to the old, can help win the lost to Christ.

I want to hear from you. What is your church doing to reach out to the lost? What methods have you found to be effective for evangelism? Is there a needy community near your church that you could adopt?