rebelling against low expectations

How can I personally evangelize in my community?

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GRACE WRITES: I’m a “sheltered” homeschooling teen, but I have a heart for evangelism. I really want to reach out in my community in more ways, but I barely know anyone outside of my church, and I barely go anywhere besides church. How can I start a program to really get in the community, like Laura in Sharing the Gospel From New York to Texas? Where should I start?


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are submitted by real rebelutionaries who are looking for godly answers to tough questions and lively conversation with other young adults. You can join the conversation by commenting below. If you'd like to submit your own discussion question, email us at [email protected].

34 comments

  • What a great question! I’m homeschooled as well, and I can relate not knowing a lot of people outside of your church. In June my church went on a week-long mission trip to Roanoke, VA, (World Changers) It was an amazing experience! I had an awesome crew and was so excited to minister to people in that community! I had several opportunities that week to evangelize and I discovered that I had a huge heart for evangelism. The day before we left, we finished early at the worksite and went to the mall to evangelize (and eat ice cream 🙂 I had the opportunity to personally lead someone to Christ and it was SO exciting! About a week after we got back I talked to my Youth Leader about starting an Evangelism/Prayer Walk Outreach in our community, he said YES! We went out into the community for the first time last month, and saw many seeds planted and 1 salvation. It was wonderful! I am still looking for ways to be active in sharing the gospel in my community, but this is just my personal experience, I hope it helps! But I think the most important thing of all is seeking the Lord and asking Him to guide and lead you through this, if God has called you to minister to others He will provide. God is faithful! Seek Him!

  • Hey there Grace! =D I totally know how you feel! Before I moved to Zambia, I pretty much ONLY associated with my church family because I too was home-schooled as were all my friends…One idea might be to actively find other home-schooling kids in your community! Just before we moved, all the home-schoolers in our community had started playing soccer every week together…which later turned into other fun events and whatnot, but I left before all that… =P One way to find home-schoolers is to search for co-ops in your area!
    Another thing I did was invest in people I saw regularly around town. Talk to your cashier at the grocery store! Talk to your waitress…the Starbucks employees, the woman you see sitting outside Walmart everyday….Taking the time to get to know them will really help you expand your sphere of connections!
    You can also visit a place like a local homeless shelter to meet people who really need someone in their lives!
    Also, I think maybe just visiting popular places in town! Is there a park near you where lots of people walk? is there a certain coffee shop/cafe where lots of people go? Like Faith said, a mall is a good place to go too!
    Also if you live in a community with neighbors close by, you could make it a point to get to know some of your neighbors! =D
    These are just some ideas….I also know that as girls we have to be much more careful about our surroundings and where we go alone…so like, visiting those popular places, it’s important to always bear our surroundings in mind and maybe even go in groups or take an older brother along if you have one… =)
    Hope some of these may help!

  • I totally agree with what you said about it not being about a program, and talking with people you come in contact with in everyday life. That is so true! The way we minister to people in our everyday lives is the most important form of evangelism, in my opinion.

  • I’m home schooled too and I get it that it’s hard to get out of an unbiblical Christian bubble. You need the church. But the church us meant to be a group of believers who gather to worship, be encouraged, *and then go out with the gospel.* If the going out doesn’t happen something is wrong.

    Okay, now for actually doing it. A lot of people hand out tracts, or do door to door evangelism. There’s value in that, but Jesus didn’t say “go therefore and make converts..” He said *disciples* and discipleship keeps going after conversion. It’s daily showing them how to live, and pray, and read, and speak as a Christian.

    All that to say, making disciples works best in a relationship of some kind. I babysit a lot for several families and as far as I know I’m the Christian they’re around every week. That opens the door for me to speak and show the gospel to the whole family. All in a very natural way so I don’t end up being a jerk abut it.

    Any type of friendship will be better than none. Try to get to undrtstamd thier worldview so you can emphasis what they most need to hear. Don’t feel like you have to explain the whole gospel at once, just work it into your normal conversation.

    I really hope this helps! 🙂

  • Dear Grace:
    While your desire to evangelize is good, I am a little concerned with the “sheltered” comment. It seems that you are discontent with your position as a homeschooled student as your “barely know” and “barely go” comments suggest. I don’t mean to be harsh. I mean this with deep concern.

    We all have areas where we are discontent in lives. But discontentment breeds bitterness if not repented of with Godly repentance.

    The hardest area to prove our faith starts in the family. If we cannot love our family, serve our family and forgive our family, it will have an impact on our evangelizing. Since you don’t have the regular option outside your home, begin with putting into practice God’s love to those closest to you. Also, your neighbors and family friends are a great way to live your faith.

    But any resentment or discontent in our lives is to going to produce good fruit. God has ordained to be where you are at. Take the time to thank Him for His concern and care for you and rest in Him. He will lead you

  • Yes! Discipleship is necessary to strengthen the faith of new converts.
    And I see your point about slow relationships, that’s also a big part of evangelism.

  • Grace,

    I admire your desire to reach out with evangelism to your community! I have a passion to see my generation rise up and vocalize the Gospel to those around us, so I jumped at the opportunity to comment!

    The most important thing to remember is that effective evangelism flows through relationships. While evangelism programs can be great, evangelism lifestyle is even better.

    Pray for opportunities, look for opportunities, and capitalize on opportunities to interact with the unsaved.

    Practical ideas (can be done with family and/or friends):

    * Go door-to-door in your surrounding communities with Gospels of John. Tell them that you are their neighbor, and have come to give them a gift. Ask if they would like you to pray with them. Take records and do followup.

    * Go to local parks and find people to talk with. Take along the “Have You Heard the Good News?” tract. Offer it as a gift and ask if you can explain its contents (https://www.clp.org/products/have_you_heard_the_good_news_pack_of_25_99).

    If you are faithful in living out and vocalizing the Gospel to the unsaved right around you, God will give you many more opportunities!

    Keep up the good work! If you would like me to email you more resources on evangelism, feel free to email me at: [email protected]

    Ian

  • It’s not that I’m discontented with my position, I’m very grateful for my family and Church. I’m just trying to get the point across that I don’t have a lot of opportunities to reach out in my community because I’m home schooled, and I’m not participating in any community programs besides the ones my Church uses for outreach opportunities so the only people I really know are at my Church.

  • Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t put that very well. What I meant was that the church as individuals should be going to the people in thier lives with the gospel. In my church we struggle with this, but a big part of the reason we get together is to prep for sharing the Word in the week ahead. I just mentioned it to show the importance of evangelism so I could get on with the other points I had. I’m sorry about being so vague about it, I really hope this can clear it up some.

  • One way to begin a new program is to start it up online. Many great things have started up like this, such as the Rebelution, Teens Interceding for Orphans and others. Another way is to begin a weekly meeting or club.

    Look at what the communities in your area are.
    Is there lots of youth? Lots of elderly? Homeless? Recreational facilities? Arts districts? What would be the easiest and most effective way for you to share the gospel to these communities?

    Flyers, word of mouth and social media are just a few of the ways to spread the word about your program. Often times, libraries or certain city buildings will let you use a room if you have a “game plan” to show them. They’ll promote your program for you.

    The way to start any project, program or business is to begin with the end in mind. What do you want the people to walk away from this program to know? Ultimately about the gospel, right? Thats what evangelism is. But what specifically do want them to know? What is your message? (the Rebelution’s is “Rebelling against low expectations”)

    Hope this help. These are just my suggestions. I’ll be praying for you! 🙂 🙂 🙂

  • I love that you pointed out that we are called to make disciples, not converts. That is so important to remember!

  • Thank so much for the encouragement! I’m never sure whether or not to comment because I don’t know if it’ll be helpful. Your comment makes me happy. Thanks.

  • It really is. I’ve kind of known it for a while, but I’m only just starting to learn how to actually do it. Thanks for commenting, it’s such as encouragement.

  • Well, to start with–if you’d like–you could pray about it, hand out Gospel tracts, and perhaps get involved in a local children’s ministry. Those are the things I did to reach my local community when I was 14-19 years old.

  • Hi Grace,
    So honestly, I wasn’t very good at evangelizing in my neighborhood when I was younger, but I think my sisters and I did do it in our own unique way. I don’t know if you live out in the country or in a neighborhood, but my sisters and I enjoyed baking bread or something for our neighbors (Christmas time is a good time to do it, but really any time) and going from house to house with bread which often led to a time to connect and have conversations about life and such. That is a nice way to get to know the neighbors and in our case we had an elderly couple who lives in the lot next to us, so as we got to know them we were able to bless them with company because they were kind of lonely and also help them with various odd jobs around the house. I think its a good start to just get to know your neighbors and become friends with them and from that you will be a light to them because they will see your love for others and furthermore, you will then have doors open for you to share the gospel with them. We have had many a good conversation with all of our neighbors that way.
    Another idea that my siblings and I did occasionally when we were feeling particularly enthusiastic was to bring gospel tracts along with us when we went with our mom to run errands and then hand the tracts out to people.

  • Make real friends who you trust and who trusts you, don’t push God on them. Pray for them, model Christ to them. When they go through a spiritual issue (and trust we all do), they will know you as the caring friend who is a Christian (not a Christian who sees me as a mission). It’s about building social equity, real friendships. That is hard as a home schooler (sorry I dont have that experience). I don’t know you at all but people are turned off when they know you see them as a mission, or a check box (make them follow Christ). I agree with Ian_mill who said that evalengilism shouldnt be an even from 12 – 4 but a lifestyle. Good Luck!

  • Maybe joining a program that involves one of your hobbies–writing, dancing, art, etc.–would be good to make other friends and such before you start a program of your own. You don’t necessarily have to jump into it right off the bat, and it’s always good to know some people who share the same interests as you before you start a program like Laura’s. Or you can meet friends of church friends and start a group together!

    Hope this helps!

  • It usually isn’t a good idea to jump in and start evangelizing right away, because you can come across as someone who treats other people as “God projects” and end up being rejected. The best way to show love to people is to cater to their needs. Being in a mission setting, I’ve often heard that one should care for people’s physical needs before even trying to care for their spiritual ones. It’s usually a better idea to take something that you’re interested in and use it to serve your community. Things like pet sitting, babysitting, photography, etc. would be a good place to start. If someone cares for my pet, and treats it well, they’re already in my good books. 🙂

    Another thing to try would be to start a community outreach program. For example, if there’s a lot of trash in your neighborhood, and that bothers you, chances are, it bothers other people too. Put up fliers for a “Pick Up Trash Day” and ask people to volunteer to pick up the trash on your streets. That way, you can bond with people who have a similar interest and serve your community at the same time. I hope this is applicable to your situation and that many people come to Christ through you!

  • Further elaborating on what Okie Gal said as far as making disciples not converts, I think that once you have evangelized to someone and they have found Christ you need to bring them to your church as the church is what keeps a Christian accountable and teaches new believers how to be a Christian. And even if that person has not found Christ it is still important to show them the church, as they could come and find Christ through that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t disciple a person and you should just bring them to your church then say bye and let the pastor handle it. Personal discipleship is very important. I’m just saying I think the church has a vital role in the beginning of a new Christian’s life so we need to bring them there so that they can serve Christ to their greatest extent.

  • I know exactly how you feel! Looking forward to reading the replies here. Thanks for submitting the question!

  • I learned that phrase a long time ago, but I’m just now learning what it means. But it really is so important. I’m glad to know I’m not alone. 🙂

  • But didn’t Jesus just jump in and start teaching right away? He started His public ministry by saying “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Sure He healed people and stuff, but it’s not like that was a precursor to witnessing. Idk, just my thoughts. I’m certainly not the best at #JustDoingIt #NikeWitnessing =P

  • Well, you have a point, but he did have the power to work in the hearts of the people before he said these things. I s’pose it’s a situation-to-situation thing.

  • I can really relate to that. I totally understand your situation, because I am homeschooled and I don’t do hardly any social activities. I don’t do any sports, and my music lessons aren’t with other kids or anything, so sometimes I feel stuck. What I’ve been trying recently is to do some stuff online. My partially online homeschool curriculum offers a blog for students to chat with each other, which I am super grateful for. On that blog, I have been posting daily devotionals and bible discussions. I also am going to continue a book on Wattpad with christian devotions for teen girls. This is something that I feel comfortable with and feel like I am good at doing, so I’m trying to take advantage of that strength of mine.

    So really, my first point is to check out all the options because I believe that if you have a heart ready to serve, God will provide an opportunity for you. And second, that it doesn’t have to be with unbelievers. You can serve God by encouraging and strengthening other believers around you. Maybe for example, all your friends say they are christians, but some don’t actually live like they are, or some are struggling with doubt, or some are just going through a hard time, etc. You might not know these situations. They might be covered up and hard to detect. But by encouraging your friends in their faith by simply talking about the bible in daily conversation, you could be a huge help to them and not even know it.

  • I think the best thing to do is just listen to the Holy Spirit. Maybe someone is at the point where if they here one more word about Jesus they will reject Him forever. But if they see someone living as He does and they see that He is loving, then they will receive talking about Jesus. Then other times, a person might have never heard the gospel, or is waiting for someone to tell them about Him. You just never know! That’s what is so exciting! So to you and @Abby:disqus, I believe the best thing to do is let the Holy Spirit guide you. That’s what I’m gonna try anyway! 🙂

rebelling against low expectations

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