THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST
BY REV. RANDALL W. DUNCAN
Do the work of an evangelist. Just what is that? “I know-preach one week at a church, the 4 or 5 scheduled services, then go on to the next meeting!”
Sorry, that’s not it. Then what should an evangelist do?
1. Go into a town with one thing on his mind: Revival.
2. Attach himself to that church and to that city.
3. If the Pastor is outreach-minded, then set up a working outreach schedule.
The schedule below seems to work well for me.
1. Be at prayer at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
2. Study time from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM
3. Clean up and dress for church 2:30 P. M to 3:00 PM
4. Hit the streets, knocking on doors, inviting people out to revival, and inquiring about Home Bible Studies. (People usually start getting home about 3:00 PM)
5. Knock on doors until about 5:30 PM
Church starts at 7:30 PM most of the time. That gives you 2 hours to eat (except on your fast days) and go to the church to pray before service. If service is finished somewhere between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM, that gives you a comfortable 11 or 12 hour day. Do that on Wed., Thurs., and Fri. and you have worked somewhere between 33 to 36 hours. On Saturday, be at prayer at 10:00 AM. Hit the streets until 1:00 PM. (That’s only 3 hours.) Then, enjoy time with your family Saturday afternoon.
If service Saturday night begins at 7:30 PM, then be at church for prayer by 6:30 PM. Assuming service goes until 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM, that’s another 3 or 4 hours, bringing you to about a 40 hour work week, not counting Sunday. This total of hours can vary according to each evangelist.
If you want a successful ministry, promote things that carry on after you are gone. I, myself, promote Home Bible Studies and outreach.
1. I first find out if this is the vein in which the Pastor would want to go. If he does, I go to work immediately in the first service,
incorporating some stories in my preaching of things that have happened in Home Bible Study.
2. Next, in my door knocking, I try selling non-churchgoers on Home Bible Study. (A procedure that takes 2 or 3 visits.) Meanwhile, I get with the folks who are willing to teach and work with them on how to teach a Home Bible Study.
At one church in Indiana, we were able to work together and secure about 35+ Bible studies. (Ten or eleven of these cancelled out.) All of this was accomplished during a 4 week revival. In another town, during a 3 week revival, we acquired 29 Home Bible Studies, and baptized 10 or 11.
Please understand, it is not in just one person, but rather in a whole church that will work together. Oh, what a lovely sight to see a young couple sit at a table taking in the Word Of God.
While we were in a town in Arkansas, I ran across a young couple, Lonnie and Karen, while door knocking. Their life was in a mess. Lonnie didn’t want to have much to do with me at first, but Karen came and spoke to my wife and I the next day. She was at the bottom and suicidal. Shortly after, they started coming to church. The Lord blessed Karen with a job, and after she received her first paycheck, she came straight to the church and wanted to pay her tithes. They went to a Justice of the Peace and got married because they knew they weren’t living right. The amazing thing is, they did all of this before they had even really made a move to obey the plan of salvation! I taught them one Home Bible Study before we left town, and Lonnie said, “It’s right there in black and white; why doesn’t everybody teach this?” I told him most people don’t believe what the Bible says about the Acts 2:38 message, and that he would be seeing a whole lot more as we went along. The next service, Lonnie and Karen came to the altar and repented. We baptized Lonnie in Jesus’ name. (Karen was not ready yet.) Lonnie was so excited about God and the Bible that he said, “Don’t just say things to please me, just tell me everything I have to do to be right in the sight of God!” What an attitude! I am thankful that I took those 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday to knock on doors.
Well, the stories go on and on, but the bottom line is, do the work of an evangelist.
I’m not a fisherman, so I can’t tell you how to win people out on the lake. I’m not a golfer, so I can’t tell you how to win souls on the golf course. I don’t ride horses, so I can’t tell you how to win souls out on the dusty trail. I’m not a big time hunter, so I can’t tell you how to win souls in the woods, but, I am an EVANGELIST, so I can tell you how to win a soul knocking on a door or by teaching the Word of God!
May the Lord bless those who do the work of an Evangelist.
Rev. Randall W. Duncan is an evangelist who was a successful businessman for many years in Evansville, Indiana, before becoming a full-time Evangelist in the United Pentecostal Church. He may be reached at Rev. Randall W. Duncan; P. O. Box 6324; Evansville, IN 47719-0324. His Mobile/ Voice Mail number is (812) 453-6753.
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT NEWS, APRIL 2000, PAGE EIGHT.
THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
