Bethesda Chapel’s (BC) vision ‘To know Jesus Christ and make Him known’ aligns with the essence of God’s Great Commission. This vision is to be the life goal of every member.
The church is not called to be a silent witness or to share the gospel occasionally but to actively proclaim the good news of the gospel in season and out of season. The active sharing of the
gospel must characterize all believers. It should be part of the DNA of a disciple of Christ. The church is to be light and salt of the earth, Matthew 5: 13-16.
What is BC’s immediate area of responsibility or what is the reasonable geographical responsibility of BC? Suggest we start with a one kilometer radius from BC and start
witnessing for Jesus in the Kembangan area. Having defined our immediate geographical scope, we must now strategize how to reach every family with the gospel by employing all the
resources we have. Next, we should employ tactics that best fit our situation to implement the strategy.
There is no perfect tactic or a one size fit all method. Every method has its strengths and weaknesses. We would like to recommend and consider the following commonly used tactics which have proven effective.
Visitation Evangelism
This involves going from house to house and spending time talking and sharing the gospel with those who are present. The first visit could be an exploratory one where we try to gather as much information as possible about the family. We will create information cards which can be filled in as we go. We could also take a small gift for the first visit to break the ice. Gifts may include mosquito wipes or mandarin oranges during the Chinese New Year festive period. We plan to leave behind 2 items in every non-Muslim house that we visit namely, an invitation to church and a gospel tract. The information collected will be organized for prayer and for further contact.
Relational Evangelism
The basic concept is that certain situations demand that before meaningful dialog and communication can take place, strong relational ties must be built. Relational evangelism is hard, painstaking and slow but it is sometimes the only way to effect evangelism especially in closed and restricted countries. Every member can be mobilized to reach their own ‘Jerusalem’ that is their natural sphere of influence. BC will be partnering BCK to reach the families of the children. Church events like picnics, movie night etc. will continue to be geared towards friendship evangelism.
Mass Evangelism
These are various efforts to reach whole masses of people at one time. Efforts have included the use of radio by Trans-World Radio (TWR), mass literature distribution by Operation Mobilization (OM), Christian Literature Crusade (CLC) and others, and massive gospel meetings such as those held by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. BC will continue to conduct its regular Easter, mid-autumn festival and Christmas outreach services. We will also mobilize members to invite people in our community to attend through distributing flyers
door-to-door or at MRT stations.
The church will be providing training to equip members for the task of evangelism. Each one of us has a part to play to fulfil God’s great commission. It is our prayer that the spirit of the great commission will permeate into every aspect and facet of the church life and ministry.
Sister Teo Soke Fung
