Door-to-Door Evangelism: "I know you!!"
11th November 2021
I have been involved in many different forms of evangelism, but the scariest method of evangelism I've engaged in is door-to-door. Whenever it comes time to go out on these outreaches, I find myself looking for excuses not to go. Perhaps the weather isn't right; maybe that old injury has flared up again. Then there is a mountain of work that needs to be done at the office. All excuses!
It becomes even more difficult to knock on doors when I have to go out by myself, but again this is just an excuse. Today, all of those excuses ran through my mind. When I woke up this morning, I nearly let out an audible groan at the prospect of going door to door. As the day progressed, I kept looking for reasons not to go out, but all my excuses failed. Before I realised what was happening, I was walking up a road heading towards a group of houses - the outreach had commenced.
I walked up to the first door and rang the doorbell. Silently, I prayed that no one would be in, but then I heard the sound of keys turning in a lock. A nice older lady opened the door and greeted me. I smiled, told her that I'm the local Baptist minister and that I am in the community to greet our neighbours. We chatted a little about the community, and I asked her if I could get her thoughts on spiritual matters. She wasn't interested in doing a questionnaire (see my blog on Door-to-Door Evangelism Resources), but she was happy to talk. We spoke about the gospel, and she took a copy of the Gospel of John and a church invite. We parted ways and I went to the next house.
The next few houses had nobody home, so I placed a gift envelope through their door. Then I came to a house with a very nice garden; I knocked on the door, and an elderly lady answered. Before I could say anything the lady said, "I know you! You gave me a Gospel of John this time last year. We were in the town centre, and I spoke to you about how my husband had just died of COVID." She went on to say that she reads a portion of John's Gospel every evening, but she doesn't believe a word of it. Yet, despite her unbelief, she said the teachings of Jesus cause her to think and brings comfort. I was able to have a gospel conversation with Shelia, with us spending time going through our questionnaire and then talking about the claims of Christ. At the end of our chat, she took a book about Jesus, and she seemed excited to read it.
Over the next few houses, people were home but weren't keen to talk too much as they were doing different jobs around the house, however, all of them were very interested in taking a Gospel of John and a church invite.
I must admit, I hadn't expected this positive response to the door-to-door work, so I wasn't carrying enough resources on me. I had enough for one more house, so I knocked on the door, but there was no response. I was about to leave a "Sorry we missed you" gift when I heard a lady yell out, "I'M COMING!!" The door opened and I was greeted by a friendly older lady. At first, she was a bit suspicious of me, as she told me she had attended the Baptist Church several years ago, only to find it harsh and damning. I explained that the church has been few several changes and that I've only been there for two years. We chatted a bit about life in the community, and her history in Newquay, then the conversation swung around to spiritual matters. She happily did the questionnaire and admitted that she wasn't certain that she would go to Heaven. In fact, she said the idea that she wouldn't go to Heaven caused her great fear. I then asked if she would like to know how she could be forgiven, and be assured of Heaven when she died, to which she responded, "No, I need to find my own way." I didn't think that was a very good answer, so I gently guided the conversation down the path of the gospel. As we chatted I spoke about how all of us (myself included) deserve Hell, but the good news is that Jesus is a wonderful Saviour. As I spoke about the saving work of Jesus, Vicky said, "I hope your Jesus has plenty of lifevests as I am sinking. It would be a big job for Him to save me!" I assured her that since Christ saved me and forgave all my sin, then there is certainly hope for her. At the end of our chat, she took a Gospel of John and a church invite. As I was leaving she called out, "I think I'll have to visit the Baptist Church again!"
By now my bag was empty, and I was out of resources, so I headed back to the car. In an hour of door-to-door evangelism, I was able to speak to several people and hand out thirteen copies of John's Gospel. Please pray for all those I met this afternoon - may the Lord save all of them.
SDG!
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