Talk Shop

Title	Author	Date	Memo
A time for growing in faith	bob prouty	August 25, 2001	I have been involved with the Agape Project for four years. Each time I learn something new and God stretches my faith as we try to do something new in outreach. I'm excited about the lives that we have touched for eternity.
Evangelistic Shopping	bob prouty	August 26, 2001	I enjoy shopping in small stores where I get to meet the same owners/workers each time I go in. This allows me to build a relationship with them and eventually share the Gospel. My favourite is Bakery Evangelism -- stopping in the same bakery each week to get a treat. When I invited the baker to an evangelistic birthday party he actually volunteered to bring the cake!
A variety of ideas	John Maloney	September 12, 2	I guess the adage applies If you are friendly to people they will be friendly to you.. It is a question of asking God to enable you to make friends.. This is through what we do each day.. ( I have made friends with people I have given tracts to on the street) Take an interest in people. What are their interests? I play ten pin bowling with a fellow every Wednesday nights He is not a Christian yet but comes to church for special occasions.. It is important to keep up your own Spiritual life and ask the Lord to bring across your path people with whom you can identify. I look after a Christian bookshop with the tracts in different languages and I prayed for someone to witness at the beginning of the day. Yesterday a Greek orthodox man walked in and I only gave him the address of our church. Now this will need to be followed up by prayer. When you are working full time in Christian Ministry it is easy to just associate with Christians. I teach English and so have students who have stayed with me who are not Christians so they then come to church. I guess teaching English has provided more contact with non Christians then the other areas of work. One Korean young man stayed with me and we did Bible study together once a week using the book "Steps to following Jesus." He became a Christian before he went home to Seoul and now once a week on Sunday nights we continue on where we left off and we are doing the chapter on prayer using the same book. Using the MSN response program on the internet has helped me keep in contact with my students. I guess we have to use modern technology to as I E-mail previous students and keep in touch and so I can take it further about Christian things.. I am in touch with a Japanese student who is now living in the States and he asks me questions about the Mormons as he has been contacted by them.. There are other Korean students I keep in contact with via the E-mail and so I just use this as examples to show how we can use technology to help out.. On the question of making friends it is helpful to work with the local church and so when we recently had a garage sale I have now befriended a couple in the units opposite who bought a bed from the sale. I have just called around and dropped in a book to help them learn English.. So I trust this is helpful. Hobbies are an interesting area to make friends with and I have made friends with a Greek boy who is interested in Astronomy and I visit his place regularly to look at the moon through his telescope. There is resistance to the gospel but we have a common interest. . I think the idea of the bi-lingual tract is great although I have not used them.. I usually get the person to tell me what it says in their language. I guess ESL has proved most positive for me hence Illustrations from that area but the same principles apply whatever area of work we are in.. I have taken students to different places such as Canberra or the blue Mountains or Bushwalking etc, it is spending time with people that is the areas we need to work on... I guess if I would summarise what I have written above in point form to help you .... I. Sharing the Gospel is a question of growing in our own experience and knowledge of the Lord.. 2.Ask God. I have asked and God has answered.(to share my testimony or meet and make friends.) 3. Be friendly and complimentary. (And genuinely interested in people.) Even when going shopping or out for a meal. If you have enjoyed the meal say so and you can then give a tract or booklet. 4.Be prepared to use your home.. I have had people stay who were students who were not Christians..Coupled with this of course is having meals or cups of coffee in the home or even in a restaurant. Appreciate other cultures (Get your friends to cook a meal or they may want to take you to a particular restaurant..) Be adventurous in trying other foods. I guess this comes back to using ESl, crafts, preschool or kids club activities as a means of befriending people but I have students who bring me little nick nacks from their countries or even food dishes to try.. 5.Make us of hobbies and interests..(Gardening is one I use or Sports (as I mentioned above ten pin bowling..) 6. Use the local Church. There are people of different interests within the local church. Invite them to meet other Christians,and of course usually other activities such a playschool etc. About following up New believers It takes time and effort but that is part of sharing ourselves with people be it initial contact or follow up and a lot of prayer, there are no short cuts to any of these matters.. There are lot's of good materials around in this area. I use the one mentioned above. "Steps to following Jesus". Well I trust this is helpful
Eating Dinner Together	bob prouty	August 26, 2001	Recent migrants really enjoy coming over for dinner. This gives them the opportunity to see how we live. It also communicates that they are acceptable and valued.
Helping with Paperwork	bob prouty	August 26, 2001	Recent migrants find it very difficult to fill out paperwork for the government and job applications. We take time to help our neighbours fill out the simpler forms -- and let them know when it is too complex for even us.
Ideas	Tom Kammel	August 31, 2001	I have had the greatest success just staying in touch with the needs of the Mainland Chinese here at Indiana University through the "chinalist" e-mail list. I subscribed to this page to see what the Chinese are talking about and then doing what I can to meet their felt needs. As I have opportunity to help them is some practical way, i build a relationship with them that always leads to an opportunity to share Christ with them. I also attend Chinese events taht are already organized. This way, I don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Credibility	Dave Stockamp	September 04, 2	In sharing my faith with others from other cultures I look for ways to know them personally and demonstate that I respect them and their culture. If given latitude, I do not emphasize the fact that I'm a missionary untilrelationships are established. Establishing relationships takes time and it's good that these relationships are fostered in multi-level circumstances. Crediblity is key. If they see me as a personal of integrity they are drawn to study me more closely. That's when some serious dialogue can begin!
cross culture out reach	Ivy Hoech	November 01, 20	Praying for open doors and opportunity to express interest and love toward the person If you are in the dominant culture, offering language lessons is always welcome. It does not have to be structured lessons. Explanining the humor or idiomatic phases could be fun and helpful. * Inviting the person to celebrate your holiday and taking interest in his / her special holiday celebration. * Keeping in mind that talking about religion is not a taboo in most of the culture around the world. In fact, many "foreigners", "alliens" and immigrents are very open to spiritual topics and God. * Including the person to your family celebration is a great way to let him / her know you and your faith. * Seeking opportunity to help out of your way and to do a favor would impress the person about the kind of love God has in you.
cross culture outreach	Ivy Hoech	November 01, 20	* Praying for open doors and opportunity to express interest and love toward the person will be the first step. * If you are in the dominant culture, offering language lessons is always welcome. It does not have to be structured classes. Explaining the humor or idiomatic phases could be fun and helpful. * Inviting the person to celebrate your holidays and taking interest in his / her special holiday celebration. * Keeping in mind that talking about religion is not a taboo in most of the culture around the world. In fact, many "foreigners" and immigrants are very open to spiritual topics and God. * Including the person to your family celebration is a great way to let him / her know you and your faith. * Seeking opportunity to go out of your way to help out and to do a favor would impress the person about the kind of love God has in you.
Cooking	bob prouty	August 25, 2001	Our neighbours love to show off their cooking skills. They often bring non-Christian friends of their same ethnic group for "moral support"
Starting a conversation	Graham McDonald	September 11, 2	Often when I am talking to some one from another culture I often comment to them something like " I do not know what you believe or think about God but my experience has been" and then I go on to share about my conversion. Then I try and find out what they believe and why they believe.
Breaking Stereotypes	Steve	Sept 11, 2002	One of the best ways to create an interest in the gospel is by breaking the stereotypes that the non Christian has of the Christian. This can be done in a variety of ways. One way is saying something unexpected. One Christian speaker used this principle when he addressed an evangelistic talk. "You need to be bad to get to heaven and you may not be bad enough. Many non Christians think that getting to heaven is based on good works, so any comments you make that contradict their expectation may create an interest to know more. Another way is doing something unexpected. This can create a curiousity about what is different about this person. Acts of love prompted by God within us have an impact of people.
Creating an interest with Musllims	Dave	September 18, 2	It has been said that often the best way to create an interest with Muslims is simply to say 'hello'. Many Muslims do not expect to receive much in the way of warmth from their western neighbours. Often Muslims will already be interested in spiritual things so our job is to direct this interest to the gospel. From the point of first contact I encourage people to simply build friendships in which the gospel becomes the centrepiece: 1/ Ask questions: Do you believe in God? (Some Muslims are near atheists!) What do you think he is life? Who do you believe Jesus is? Why do you think he cam? These questions are not a formula and very often, or usually, my 'create an interest' questions will be quite different. The point is to solicit what they are thinking and to encourage their thinking. The more we show an interest in the spirituality of others the more others will be interested in hearing of ours. 2/ Christian materail, be they videos or tracts, can be a good catalyst to conversation. 'I have this tract/video/book and was wondering what you would think of it.' For some of my other thoughts you may wish to check out my thoughts on 'declaring the gospel' which very much overlap with these brief thoughts.
Two Questions	bob prouty	August 26, 2001	I like to ask people these two questions: 1. Have you had much to do with Christian things? 2. What did you think of it? This gives me pretty good insight into where they are coming from and the opportunity to talk further.
gospel	clay	August 28, 2001	i like the "trilemma" and the probability of any person fulfilling all the 300 prophesies Jesus did. i approach some stubborn people, "you are making an emotional decision not to follow Him, not a rational , logical, informed decision".
Re: gospel	Jeff Terrall	August 31, 2001	When working with foreign students, we have found it helpful to start in Genesis to lay a foundation for the Gospel. They gain an appreciation for God's power and the consequences of sin in chapters 1-3. Moving next to Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments reveals God's standards and helps establish their need for a Savior.
Absolute Truth	Ian	August 31, 2001	I work with University students and find that their post-modern mindset makes it difficult for them to believe in absolute truth. Since Christianity claims to have the only way to salvation (through Christ), I ask questions to overcome this. Often students will have some sort of concept about spiritual things. I simply ask them questions to make them think about their believes and direct the conversation to creat doubt about their ideas. This is usually pretty easy as many students have not thoroughly thought about these issues.
Re: Two Questions	Pastor Robyn Peebles	September 05, 2	In befriending non-Christians we get involved with what the community is already doing e.g. At the Granny Smith Festival, we provide an area with free children's activities and a free cafe nearby for parents/adults to sit and watch and relax. Bi-lingual gospel tracts and Jesus videos are freely available.. We've also initiated a number of community events e.g. Chamber of Commerce and from that an annual Easter Parade and Fair, once again offering free gospel tracts and Jesus videos. We've found that doing acts of kindness works really well at festivals e.g. offering free cool drinks or shining shoes. We're big on Acts of Kindness and do them regularly e.g. car washing atMcDonald's, free drinks at the railway station, helping people with theirtrolleys at the supermarket - showing the love of Jesus in a practical waywith no strings attached. Playgroup, English Classes & English Conversation Classes are wonderful opportunities to meet people, finding out their needs and meeting them where possible, at times praying with the non-Christian of any ethnic background. We also pray for general community needs and specific ones when we know about them at our daily 5.30am prayer meeting. At all times we have a good supply of the Jesus video & gospel tracts in a number of languages. Whenever there is an opening, we visit people in their homes, and invite them to ours. We enjoy sampling foods from other countries, but more importantly, we get to meet their family and friends, genuinely caring for them. At times we've visited them in hospital or transported them to shops or the airport. Wherever possible we put them in touch with community organisations e.g. library or financial counselling. We always try to honour their culture, find out their interests, learn some greeting words in their language and their real name. We encourage them to mix cross-culturally as this will be most beneficial to them. In all of our contact with non-Christians, we seek to introduce them to our best Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, but we do this in a natural way, never forcing our beliefs on them.
Personal Testimony	bob prouty	August 26, 2001	I like to visit people in our community. It is so natural to share stories -- about their country and my country. In this context it feels quite natural to share my personal testimony. I keep it to less than four minutes, or whatever length they are using for the stories they have been telling.
Declaring the Gospel	John Hemans	August 28, 2001	It has been my experience that preaching the Gospel is all about simplicity - communicating the love of Jesus to someone who doesn't know Him, in terms they can relate to. The Gospel is simple, and our declaration doesn't need to be complex. I do a lot of preaching in prisons, and I find that if I focus on how Jesus changed the things that were fundamentally wrong in my life, and how he changed those things that I couldn't change myself, that people listen, and are challenged. Sin is universal, speaks all languages and is known by all cultures. Each of us as Christians has a powerful testimony of redemption, and God's transformation of our lives. By conveying that testimony in honesty and simplicity to others, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and repentance.
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