Outreach Shows Evangelism 'the Old Way' Still Most Effective
By Ed Thomas
December 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - An official with the Assemblies of God (AG) says his denomination's latest large-scale outreach helped to provide convincing evidence that one-on-one evangelism still belongs in a vital first-place role ahead of the use of electronic media.

The AG's "God Gives Hope" outreach campaign ran for two weeks in New York City's Time Square, back by ads on a jumbo electronic screen which featured the 1-800-4-PRAYER counseling line number. But Scott Temple, director of intercultural ministries with the denomination, says more importantly, more than 90,000 people received gospel booklets from teams of students, missionaries, and lay leader volunteers. He explains that was an outworking of the teams' desire to reach a city with Jesus' example of the woman at the well, told in the fourth chapter of John in the Bible.

"And that strategy is seen in Jesus having meaningful conversation with one woman at the well," Temple shares. "And by [Jesus] taking time to have that conversation, that was the key that unlocked the gospel reaching an entire city." the rest