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The Evangelism process Introduction The evangelism system recognized that evangelism is a process that involves various steps. It is necessary that all of the steps be fulfilled for the evangelism program to be effective in leading people to faith in Jesus Christ. The basic objective was ... Go to all ... Give the people all the contents of the Gospel ... All believers are to be involved in the mission. The Process of Evangelism A considerable effort has been made to develop ministry tools that can be employed in the evangelism process. A vast amount of material has been organized so it can be made useful to evangelists in a wide variety of circumstances. The objective was to make the training materials as portable as possible. Ministry tools are not effective of themselves - they need to be in the hands of those dedicated people who have a passion for evangelism and will use the tools effectively. The ministry tools have been developed to be utilized in connection with specific parts of the evangelism process. In order to appreciate the tools and their application, it is necessary to come to an understanding of the process. Every step in the process is ultimately carried out by individuals within a particular culture. The ministry tools have to be adapted to be suitable to a particular culture. The following diagram identifies the steps in the process. These steps are arranged in a circle to denote that the process is a continuous and ongoing process in evangelism. The initial step takes into consideration all of the factors that can be identified in planning to engage in an evangelism mission. Rather than review all of the potential applications, an example will be reviewed: Prison Ministry. This type of ministry concerns prison officials, prisoners, ministry leaders and volunteers. The most obvious list of events would include the following: Sponsoring Organization such as Prison Fellowship Ukraine.The objective in a particular prison system is to begin with the first prison in a pilot project. The ultimate objective is to make the program available in all of the prisons. It is recognized that expansion to include an entire nation such as Ukraine will be developed region by region. This will require a substantial training program for leaders. It must also be anticipated that an ideal situation is to train prisoners to be leaders within the prison. Again this will require cooperation with the officials. The other applications that have been anticipated are orphanages, community churches (including schools), home churches and independent small groups. Proclaim The audio version of ‘The Story of the Messiah’ has been designed to be used to inform individuals about Jesus Christ. Course guides are provided to assist leading the class in content retention and discussion. The small group will listen to the entire program. There is flexibility with regard to the length of the audio program for each session. Evangelize Upon completion of the proclamation program, the small group will be encouraged to participate in the evangelism seminar ‘The Evangelist’. This seminar affords the opportunity for participants to make a firm decision to become dedicated believers in Jesus Christ. Worship After a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, efforts will be made for new believers to become part of a worshipping community. The way this happens will be a function of the sponsorship as well as the site. In the prison example, it is anticipated that there will be worship opportunities available through the volunteer organizations. In some cases, there will be a local church involved as providing the program. In some cultures, the sponsor may be a house church. There are multiple possibilities. Follow (Jesus Christ) ‘The Disciple’ is a training program where the intention is to produce dedicated followers of Jesus Christ. The learning matrix that is built into the course is, LISTEN - LEARN - LIVE - SHARE. When the term ‘LIVE’ is used, it refers to the ‘witness of life’. The emphasis made that before a believer offers the ‘witness of the word’, the believer should first offer the ‘witness of life’. The disciple program is not simply getting cognitive information into a person’s head - it is all about the way the Christian life is lived. Love Jesus Christ said, “A new commandment I give you - that you love one another. By this sign - loving one another, every person will know that you are my disciple, if you love one another”. Believers loving each other provides the “witness of life’ and shows others what it means to be like Jesus Christ and be an example of being obedient to the Lord. Share All believers are called to share the Gospel with others. This echos back to what was emphasized in the beginning: GO to all ... GIVE them all the content of the Gospel ... ALL involved. This sharing with others is facilitated by encouraging unbelievers to participate in the evangelism program, starting with the proclamation. The ministry tools provided are intended to be used in the Proclamation, Evangelize and Disciples part of the process.
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