 | LAY EVANGELISM FESTIVAL: ShareHim had its third annual Lay Evangelism Festival on the campus of Atlantic Union College from April 9-11. With the great support of the Atlantic Union and its many Conferences, this year's Festival was considered to be the best one to date. About 400 registered participants took part in over 25 seminars scheduled for Friday and Sabbath and were joined by hundreds who gathered to be challenged by guest speakers such as Elders Mark Finley, Derek Morris and Robert Folkenberg, Jr. However, the highlight of this festival, as in previous years, was the dozens of testimonies shared by lay men and women who truly engaged in a lifestyle of evangelism – Evangeliving. Next year's festival will take place in Hope, British Columbia, April 8-10. TRUTH 4 YOUTH: The most effective window of time for reaching souls with the gospel is between the ages of 5 and 13 and now there's a program that will help you do that, Truth 4 Youth. Truth 4 Youth enables you to prepare and present a vibrant, effective children's program, complete with songs, Bible stories, crafts and beautiful overhead illustrations. Included on the program discs are easy-to-follow scripts with text and pictures; illustrations in DVD or PowerPoint format; printable songbook and manuals to make organization easy; masters for all crafts and program materials; and more—all for just $129.95! The 26 programs in the series present Bible truths in ways kids appreciate and understand. Each program centers on Christ's empowering grace and is ideal for evangelistic series, camp meetings, story hours, baptismal classes, VBS, and other children's programs. Produced by Young Disciple Ministries in cooperation with ShareHim, the program correlates with ShareHim's Truth for Today, Hope for Tomorrow sermons. Visit www.youngdisciple.com/truth4youth for a sample program and ordering information. Cheyenne Francis Assistant Editor, Young Disciple magazine . |
THE CYCLE OF EVANGELISM:
May the Work Continue Until He Returns!
| Our church in Topsham, Maine, just completed a prophecy seminar that was a great success. At the end of the series, God blessed with eleven baptisms and many others are still studying with us. Nonetheless, though the seminar succeeded in reaping, it took a lot of preparation and seed-sowing beforehand to insure such positive results. Many of the attendees had previously been to our Preventing & Reversing Disease seminar conducted by Dr. Howe and Dr. DeRose which led to several personal Bible studies. This seminar (along with a Depression Recovery program, a Brain Health presentation, a weekly Brain Health support team meeting, a Creation Seminar, prayer and the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit) had a part in bringing souls to the prophecy seminar and ultimately to decisions for Christ.
People began to see that God had answers for them and they wanted to know more. They met others who cared about the struggles they were going through and who could show them, from the Bible and through science, a way to deal with those struggles. What an uplifting and joyful experience it was to be a part of it and to see the tears and hear the testimonies on the baptism day. God blessed all our efforts, and we are really excited to see what He will do next as we continue our service for Him.
We have already started another Depression Recovery program. Plus, Simple Abundance cooking classes are held each month and each week we are meeting for a Bible study class. The work goes on and may it continue until He returns!
Joseph Nally
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THE TESTIMONY:
The Thoughtful Pastor Empowers the Layperson | A pastor in upstate New York took the time to train, encourage and guide one of his young church lay-members. The pastor included this member as he gave Bible studies. Eventually, the pastor and this lay-member co- preached an evangelistic series.
This lay-member, because of the thoughtful pastor and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, determined to live a life immersed in evangelism. He went to ARISE Institute (A Resource Institute for Soul Winning and Evangelism) directed by David Asscherick, then returned and teamed-up again with his pastor and went to a dark area in New York. They planted a church and the young man became the lay-pastor.
The Holy Spirit was not done. The young man received and accepted a call to be a pastor of a three church district. He applied principles he had learned and NOW these three churches are growing. They are receiving the same training that the young man received from his thoughtful pastor.
That young man was me, Dustin Hall. I am a 28 year old pastor who had no idea, on the day I determined to live a life dedicated to evangelism, how God would use me. I am so grateful for the pastor (Roger Curtis) who took the time to involve me in his work and train me. I am also thankful to be working in a conference (New York Conference) that believes that evangelism is for every person! In the past 18 months, God has blessed my district with 40 baptisms, most coming from lay-members rising up and doing the preaching through the use of the ShareHim evangelistic materials.
I believe every person has the gifts to be an effective evangelist, but not everyone knows how to use those gifts. It is the job of the leadership of our church to show every layperson just how powerful they can be in the service of God. I praise Jesus that He showed me that being a pastor is about training, teaching
and coaching every member about sharing Him.
Pastor Dustin Hall
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THE TEAM:
Korean Churches Rally for the Kingdom
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Over two different weekends in January and March, ShareHim held training rallies for Korean churches in both the east and west coasts of the United States. More than 15 Outreach Leadership Teams were formed and launched, each committing to live a lifestyle of evangelism - "Evangeliving”! These teams are now meeting, praying for and working intentionally with an interest list as well as planning outreach and sowing activities for the months that come. The excitement at the rallies was palpable. Pray for the members (over 200) of the Korean churches who are now actively involved in evangeliving.
We must never forget the injunction given to us by the Spirit of Prophecy: “The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” 9T 116-117. We all have the privilege and joy to share Jesus and His soon coming with the world.
Robert Folkenberg, Jr.
(Click here to see ShareHim's "Resources" page and then scroll down in order to locate the Outreach Leadership Team Handbook printed in English, Korean and Spanish.) |
THE YOUTH:
"It was especially rewarding to work with kids..." | I followed behind the children as they marched up the church aisle singing “Lift Up the Trumpet” and took their places at the front of the church. Next they sang “Apple-Red Happiness” which I’m convinced was their favorite song. After singing two other songs, many of the children took turns saying memory verses that they’d learned during our Truth 4 Youth program. When the last child had finished, there was a loud applause from the audience and the children followed our leader back downstairs to enjoy a feast of homemade pizza. It was hard for me to comprehend that this was the last night. I knew I would miss many of the twenty-five to thirty children that had attended our program. I would miss working with these dear children and helping to teach them about God.
It was especially rewarding to work with kids who didn’t know much about our message and exciting to see God working and using me in a little way to spread the gospel. I’m very thankful that I had the opportunity to use Truth 4 Youth!!
If you’re looking for an easy-to-run program that will touch lives for eternity, Truth 4 Youth is for you! Just go to www.youngdisciple.com to learn more about this awesome resource made just for kids. It is designed as a full evangelistic series covering all our major doctrines including the Sabbath, the state of the dead, salvation, health, baptism, the Second Coming, and so on. It is a program filled with songs, Bible stories, cool crafts, and much more! I would definitely do it again and would encourage everyone else to use it, too!
Angela DeRose, 16 years old
| | | ANNOUNCEMENT: ShareHim is compiling stories of lay women and men in action for God. These stories may have taken place at home or abroad. If you have a story to tell about your international campaign and have another story to tell about how God used you here at home, we want both of those stories. Of course, pictures make stories come alive so please send your stories and pictures (unedited, high resolution) to: Don't hesitate to contact us with any comments or suggestions. We welcome your testimonies and any ideas for witnessing that are working for you and your Outreach Leadership Team. Sincerely, The ShareHim Team ShareHim | P.O. Box 43234 | Charlotte | NC | 28215 | USA | | | | | | The Challenge | The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.
9T 116-117. | |  | | The Quiet Hour | | Partners in Evangelism | | |
