BUSY PEOPLE
Therefore, as you go, disciple all the
nations (Mat
28:19 ISV)
ACTS OUTREACH PROGRAM is designed for busy people. As you
stay in touch with your team members, you should be able to get with a
partner
and run out there and do some outreach when you have an extra hour or
so. Your witnessing
partner could be your wife or husband or another team member. It should
be
planned out in such a way so that you don’t get into another team’s
territory,
and where you leave off, you can take up right there next time. This is
accomplished by maps and some very simple record keeping, and
communication
between team members.
By
using maps and territory assignments, there can be a
long-term and systematic coverage of any given area. Proper record
keeping will
assure there to be proper follow up. Once the “track” is laid, then a
person can
quickly grab that hour of outreach without wasting time “re-inventing
the
wheel”. You’ll know exactly where you are to go. Every team can have
their own
“field” to work, until it is “gleaned” so the next one can be covered.
Included
in the planning and territory assignments, should
be a systematic outreach/follow up to (a) one’s immediate neighborhood,
(b) the
area immediately surrounding the church, and (c) the upper middle class
and
affluent neighborhoods. Many times outreach is focused on the lower
class
people. There are just as many lost and miserable and sick people of
the upper
class as there are in the lower class. There are many Christians in the
upper
class that need ministry and encouragement in the faith. Everyone you
meet is a
ministry in some dimension.
There
should be contact with the middle and upper class
that is pleasant, respectful, and to-the-point. You are busy people and
they
are busy people. Keep in mind that we are seed sowers. Have in mind to
sow the
seed and go on, but be sensitive to the Spirit for any in-depth
ministry that
opens up. In all contacts, let the attitude be in you of being a
relaxed,
pleasant, friend.
Even
if you can only go out to one or two houses at a time,
that is better than nothing. It’s good to start with your neighbors and
work
your way out to other nearby neighborhoods. Every time they see you
come and
go, they are reminded of your visit and the message you gave them.
It
is helpful for team members to share cell phone and home
numbers and work schedules, and have
those with each team member at all times. This will aid in being able
to
smoothly carry out the outreach efforts, plus, there could be a call
for prayer
support or for a testimony to be given.
We
need to carry a team attitude, very much like carrying
out a strategic military operation, and, it should be conducted with
the same commitment
to accomplish the mission that is set before us.
Once
this program is “ignited” in any give area, its flame
can be spread by word of mouth. Even if the “igniter” has moved on to
another
territory, the program is designed to be “self propagating.” A couple
of people
can get together and access the web page and get the program and start
doing
the work of outreach and sharing the program with others. It will need
to be
printed out and put in a 3-ring binder for all to have in hand.
The
program is designed so that a lot of lengthy meetings
are not required. The meeting is in the material of the ACTS Outreach
Program. When you share the idea of
the need of outreach, interested people will respond. Refer them to the
material so they can read it and set a time to get together with a map
and
determine the area you are going to “touch”, then just get out there
and do it.
We are discussing the mechanics here, but we need to remember that
everything
is to be bathed in prayer, trusting God to guide every step.
Have
a records section in your binder so you can keep track
of where you are to go, where you went, and who you contacted. You can
carry an inconspicuous pocket
pad which is sufficient to write names and addresses and numbers and
date of
contact, for follow up. These can be transferred to whatever means you
are
going to use to permanently keep up with the people you contact, either
with a
hand written record in your binder or by computer.
A
tract, flyer, or brochure that has your name and the
church name and contact information, should always be left with the
people, but not forced. The
simple gospel message should be printed on whatever you leave. The
gospel is
the power of God to save those who believe. Our mission is to get the
gospel
into people’s hearts and operating in their lives. We contact, God
converts. And, always remember, God is always on the job to convert, at
some level or another, through the presentation of the gospel of Jesus.