One of the 10 universal elements found in all church planting movements around the world is abundant gospel sowing. This is not to be confused with evangelism. Ken Sorrell posts a good article on his blog about this difference. Suffice it to say, abundant gospel sowing (or gospel saturation) is a key element in moving us towards a church planting movement.Here in Ecuador missionaries have employed many media over the years in the attempt to touch as many people with the Gospel as possible at an affordable cost. Some of the means used to abundantly sow the gospel include: radio, TV, literature distribution (tracts), films, parades, and many other ways with varying degrees of success.
For us, though, we have had the greatest success over the years with a prayer and telephone counseling ministry known as Teleamigo. I have previously posted on Teleamigo here (YouTube video), and here (ModernDay 'Five Loaves and Two Fish' story).
Not only is Teleamigo an inexpensive and cost effective way of reaching people, it is an EFFECTIVE way that has worked well for us over the years. I once calculated the cost per contact at $0.038/each. It has cost us less than four pennies to contact each of the 2.5-million Teleamigo contacts with the Gospel message!
Teleamigo functions as a wonderful "door-opener" for the Gospel by caring and listening to people and their problems. Spiritual issues almost always come to the forefront and we have an opportunity to share Christ and how he can make a difference in their lives. While there are certainly people who accept Christ directly through Teleamigo, our greatest result has been to draw men and women closer to a decision for Christ. After contacting Teleamigo, they are one step closer to making a decision for Christ. That to me is the definition of an effective "abundant gospel sowing" ministry. When our message holds people's attention and causes them to reflect and consider the implications of that message, that is effective AGS!
Without AGS leading the way (as John the Baptist did before the coming of Christ) there is often heavy resistance to the Gospel message. People do not see the relationship between their lives and the need of a Savior. They are usually content with their "own religion" and not interested in changing religions. This is where AGS comes in. It works like fertilizer in rough ground to prepare the heart soil for the seed which is to follow.
Enough talk about Teleamigo. Here is another short video done by the IMB several years ago produced for children's missions education in churches back Stateside, but still applicable and informative to show how abundant gospel sowing really works.
5 comments:
I really like the idea of the TeleAmigo. I do not know that we would be ready for it in it's entirety but for the most part the churches here buy up time on a AM radio station and maybe we could start there. Even if we could man some lines here for only a few hours a day, I think the benifits would be great. There has been a fair amount of seed sowing here but little done to nurish any sapplings that may have sprouted.
Guy do you think this is a need in the states? There is TV, Radio, and Web sowing all the time.
If you were here would you focus on AGS or would you focus on raising up workers and looking for the people of peace?
Thanks
Antonio,
We have tried radio here as well, both AM and FM. The problem we have found is that there is too much competition with other really great stations out there. By default we have to contract with the low end stations that don't have the audience that the big boys do. That is why Teleamigo has worked so well. It fills a niche that nobody else is currently filling.
Darrell,
All I can say is that abundant gospel sowing is a critical element if we are going to see CPM. The key is that this AGS actually be reaching our target audience (like Teleamigo does here.) Most Christian TV, Radio in the States has as its audience Christians. What we have to target are those who are not like us in such a way that their hearts are touched by the message of the Gospel. I don't know what I'd do if I were in your shoes. Maybe target a fairly unreached neighborhood and find something that truly impacts that community. As the Lord opens hearts (and doors) share the Gospel with those whose hearts have already been prepared by the AGS.
Loved the video!
What a revolutionary concept. Simply listening to people. That might even work here in Spain. :)
David,
Glad you were able to actually see the video. We've been having terrible problems with our internet service lately and have not been able to do much at all these days on-line.
Someone said, God gave us two ears to listen, but only one mouth. Does that tell us something? :)
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