Evangelism as spiritual conversations

Gary Rohrmayer shares some helpful thoughts on evangelism as spiritual conversations.

Evangelism has moved in the last 20 years from being a monologue (one-sided conversation) to a dialog (two-way conversation.)

There are people all around us who are receptive to spiritual discussions and open genuine spiritual guidance. George Barna sites, “That 62% of American adults consider themselves to be not merely ‘religious,’ but ‘deeply spiritual.’” This means that there is more than a 50-50 chance of getting into some type of spiritual conversation with people who travel in and out of your life. Learning to engage people in a meaningful, spiritual dialog is critical for a spiritual leader...

It is important for a leader to think strategically about their conversations throughout the week. If you don't plan it or make room for it, the likelihood is that it is not going to get done. I agree with Brian McLaren’s statement, “We should count conversations rather than conversions, not because I don't believe in conversions, but because I don't think we'll get many conversions if we keep emphasizing them.” The number of conversations you have is directly related to the number of conversions you will see happen over a year.

Last week we finished up a good week of doing a lot of evangelism with a volunteer team visiting from Texas. One of the things I observed during the many visits with not-yet-believers is that the times where we conversed, we connected. Our monologue presentations of the Gospel usually ended up rather flat and unfruitful.

What seemed to work best was (after introductions) for one of the visiting volunteers to share their story. We then encouraged the listener to interact with what they had picked up on from the story. By engaging listeners with the story, they were more open to sharing their own stories and struggles. The focus of the conversation quickly shifts from the one sharing, to the listener's own story. Heartfelt matters have a way of coming out when we have set the example by being open and transparent with our own stories. Once heart matters have been addressed it becomes easy and natural to apply appropriate Scriptures, prayer, encouragement, tears, hugs, and to offer an invitation for the person to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. During the week we had numerous people pray to receive Christ, including one entire household.

Many times people are not opposed to the Gospel message; rather, they have some obstacle or issue in their life they believe prevents them from being able to turn their lives over to the Lord. Spiritual conversations which have been initiated by the sharing of our personal stories opens doors for effective evangelism.

Teleamigo 14th Anniversary

Yesterday the Teleamigo ministry celebrated her 14th anniversary. Saturday morning we met for a time of thanksgiving to the Lord for all He has done over the past 14 years.

Literally thousands upon thousands of people have been touched and lives changed by this volunteer ministry that uses prayer and counseling to reach people for Christ. There are so many people to thank. So many whose lives, love, and offerings have gone into making Teleamigo the ministry that it is today.

As we sat in a circle, I was moved by all the stories of victory shared by people who are or have been a part of Teleamigo over the years. I was a "proud grandpa" as three different "grandchildren" ministries are today specializing in areas of helping people that go beyond what Teleamigo is able to offer. Each of the three leaders representing these ministries warmly shared how they "cut their teeth" with Teleamigo and today continue to impact people's lives with the love of Christ.

Jesus assured his disciples in John 14:12 "The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father." How true!

Over the past fourteen years the "five loaves and two fish" offered to the Lord on August 3, 1993 have been abundantly blessed by Jesus Christ. What began as something so small and insignificant, has touched the lives of over 2.5-million people. Untold thousands have been helped...Tens of thousands prayed over...Marriages saved...Babies born instead of aborted...The abused forgiving those who have hurt them...Alcohol and drug addicts loved and ministered to... Families restored and reconciled...The hopeless encouraged...Hundreds accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. Only eternity will show the full impact this tiny ministry operating on a shoe-string budget has had on the lives of so many who live here in Guayaquil. To God be the Glory.

Here is a 3:22 video about Teleamigo done by the IMB a few years ago. Thanks for viewing and especially for praying for Teleamigo as we begin our 15th year of ministry.


To read past articles in this blog about Teleamigo, type in the word "teleamigo" at the top of the page in the search box.

The Future of Missions - Four Questions

Ken Sorrell, Alan Cross, Bob Roberts, Jr., Tim Patterson, Ed Stetzer along with other bloggers have all contributed in an ongoing interesting discussion dealing with the FUTURE OF MISSIONS. Please take a moment to click on any of the above to read some of the issues involved.

Today I would like to invite fellow IMB missionary Ken Sorrell to be my guest on the "M Blog" and with his permission reproduce his recent, "The Future of Missions: 4 Questions" that was submitted to the IMB-SAM Region Church Planting Forum. His four questions reflect four issues at the heart of mobilizing Stateside volunteers/partners to the mission field. Please feel free to interact with anything shared in his post. These matters ARE the future of missions and will either advance or hinder the Gospel depending upon how they are handled.

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Greetings to all from Mexico,

I have been and continue to be encouraged and troubled with current trends in missions. I want to say upfront that I am in full agreement that the local church, in the U.S. and around the world needs to participate in a much greater capacity than we currently see taking place. It is exciting to see the level of interest in missions at an all time high. My concern focuses on the issue, not of participation, but knowledge. What many churches, associations, and state conventions term as missions rarely resembles any model or example as found in Scripture.

In a recent blog conversation with Tim Patterson, I posed 4 questions that I feel must be addressed as we look towards churches being both, "churches who send and sending churches", as Tim describes it. As I stated in my response to Tim's latest post, I want to be extremely careful here so please bear with me. I am struggling with a series of questions as I give serious consideration to this issue. Here are but a few.

1. There are many in the evangelical community today that feel that the current model of church is broken and needs serious adjustment. Assuming that a great majority of churches have strayed far from the New Testament model of church, what exactly will we be exporting when churches begin to go out as lone rangers to other cultures?

2. Where is the accountability for the strategies and practices of a sending church's missions efforts? Are they free to do whatever they want to do without any type of checks or balances?

3. Who is better prepared to evaluate missions projects, the missions committee at a local church or someone who is or has lived incarnationally in another culture?

4. Is this move to more intimately involved churches in missions really an effort to impact lostness or give fulfillment to U.S. believers?

I really hate the negative tone that these questions project because as I stated earlier, I am not opposed to a greater church involvement in missions. However, what is done and how it is done will either advance the Gospel or hinder the Gospel. This is not just a church problem but everyone's challenge. I work with missionaries who are called by God, love the people with whom they work, and really want to see a movement of the Spirit among their people. And yet, the bulk of their time is spent on activities that keep them busy but produce little to no fruit.

U.S. churches are a tremendous resource to Kingdom growth...We must find a way to engage in conversation greater numbers of our partners in order that we may learn from them and so that they may learn from us. The four questions above only touch the surface of the issues that must be brought to the forefront and addressed honestly and openly.

One other comment related to Alan Cross's comments to Guy. Alan states the following: "I guess that I am a stateside local church pastor that believes that the Great Commission was given to all Christians and that every local church should play a part. And, I don't want to just sit on the sidelines while I pay others to do it all for me."

I find this comment to be incredibly insightful and right on the mark, but not in the way that most churches in the states would read it. If the Great Commission was given to all believers and that the local church should play a part in fulfilling this command, doesn't this then also include our national believers and churches? Is it right for "others" to do the task for them that God has also commanded them to do? Also, in many situations, a few are being paid to do the task while the remainder of the believers sit on the sidelines and watch, or they sit on the sidelines and watch others do the task of the church for them.

If we are going to form true partnerships between U.S. churches and national churches, then it is critical that this relationship be based upon vision and purpose, rather than a redistribution of resources.

What a difference you've made in my life

Hi! My name is Aneida. You'd be smiling too if, like me, the Lord was doing so many incredible things in your life. Where do I begin to give Him thanks?

--Jesus saved me...
--I was recently baptized in a nearby river...
--the man I was living with got saved too...
--he stopped his drinking and carousing and decided to marry me...
--my mom and dad get saved, baptized and married too...
--I saw my alcoholic dad stop drinking the day he accepted Christ...
--I helped my mom lead my older sister to the Lord (daddy got to baptize her in the river last month!) ...
--we started a new church in our living room with dad leading the gatherings (see photo below) That may not sound like a big deal, but less than a year ago my dad was known by everybody as the local neighborhood drunk...today people seek him out for spiritual help and counsel!
--my husband now goes with me faithfully every week to disciple my sister-in-law who just made her own profession of faith in Christ...
--we are working alongside my mom and dad and are close to starting two other new house churches with people we have won to the Lord and are discipling...

Can you believe all the above happened in just the first six months of this year? I can't wait to see what God will do the second half of this year!



This is our church. We meet in the living room of my mom and dad's house. Most of the people here are related family. BTW, the man with the checkered shirt is my abuelito (grandpa), he recently got saved too! Right now we're working on my brother-in-law who has a bad alcohol and drug problem. Will you guys help us pray for him?


This is one of my friends (on the left). She hasn't accepted the Lord--YET--but we are praying for her salvation too. This picture was taken as the Good News was being shared with her one afternoon. You can see the comprehension of the Gospel in her eyes as she finally understood for the first time how much God truly loves and accepts her. Pray that she too will soon find the peace and joy that comes from giving her heart to the Lord. The lady on the right was God's instrument to lead my mom, dad, and myself to the Lord. We love her very much!

Adullam's Cave - a place for the desperate, in debt, and discontented

In May 2005 my wife Linda and I were privileged to attend a week at SonScape in Colorado. SonScape is a "small group spiritual retreat with personalized pastoral counseling for pastors, missionaries and their spouses. It is a week-long experience of exhaling the fatigue and staleness of life and breathing deeply of the Spirit of God. A place to rest, receive, and renew in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains..."

After a wonderful week of having a true "mountain top experience", the Lord didn't waste any time in letting us in on his intentions for allowing us to go. The descent was quick from our little "Mount of Transfiguration" back to the valley below...

At the end of our week at SonScape, as we were preparing to leave, one of the other men who had also been a participant at the retreat came to our cabin. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, but looked me in the eye and said, "I believe God has given me a word to share with you." I didn't really know what to expect, but politely sat down and allowed him to share what God had placed on his heart.

He began reading from 1 Samuel 22:1-2...

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David's brothers and his father's whole family heard, they went down and joined him there. (2) In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him...

The prophetic word he shared was that the Lord was about to make us a rallying point for those who are "desperate, in debt, or discontented." It would not be easy working with wounded people. I was stunned and speechless. Little did he have any idea how "right on" those words were to be for our us.

Indeed, our band of Guayaquil house church believers is made up primarily of these kinds of people. We feel God is using us to seek out, love, disciple, edify, and church the rejects, the losers, the marginalized, the forgotten...and yes, the desperate, in debt, and discontented!

As the years have gone by since this prophetic word was shared with us, I have been amazed at how literally we have become "caves of Adullam". Our house church network of approximately 100 "caves" is made up largely of women in prostitution, abandoned elderly, homosexuals, broken marriages, the sexually abused, drug addicts, alcoholics, kids from street gangs, the hopeless, the extreme poor, the financially indebted, the unemployed... all seem to gravitate towards one of our "Adullam caves." Even our leaders come from these kinds of backgrounds.

What is interesting about the desperate, indebted, and discontented in 1 Samuel 22, later become "David's warriors" in 1 Chronicles 11. The "rejects" become mighty warriors and men of valor. In chapters 11 and 12 these men are individually named. They are singled out for their valor and incredible deeds. This is our prayer too. That all the outcast, hurting people he is sending our way, will be transformed by the Holy Spirit of God into mighty warriors for the Kingdom.

Meet my wife

I'd like to take a break from the usual "M Blog" themes and introduce you to the most wonderful wife in the world, mother of our two children, and overall amazing person.

Linda has her own blog which she does completely on her own called A Foreign Life.

I would invite you to check it out and find out a bit about our home life in Ecuador, things God is teaching her, photos of our family, and some of her interests as a missionary wife and mother. She loves comments, so be sure and drop her a note!

Here is an excerpt from one of her recent posts...

It's really hard to put into words all the help and encouragement I received last week. There was just so much. There are, however, a couple of things that I wrote down to remember.

The first one is: "We have not been called to raise godly children, but to be godly parents." ...Dr. Meredith and his wife Kay were the kind of parents who basically did most everything right in raising their son. Yet, in spite of the godly instruction received all his life, the son became very depressed and rebelled against them and against God. Hearing about his experience with his children made me realize that I cannot make decisions for my child. I am responsible to God for what I do, not what my child does. My responsibility is to be a godly parent. I am responsible to God for what kind of parent I am, not for how my child chooses to respond to that.

It's hard to sit there and listen to testimonies from other miss'ys about their (what sounds like to me) "perfect teenagers." I am happy for them, but it always makes me feel like a failure because my children are not so perfect. Ds is struggling with life right now and most of the time doesn't do so well at it. He's angry with God and so his relationship to Him is not the best right now.

It helps me to hear that I am not alone in this. It's encouraging to find out that not all of my son's problems find their root in me as a parent. And that brings me to the second thing that made an impact on me.

Dr. Meredith's wife, Kay, gave a brief testimony and while sharing with us listed four things. She didn't elaborate on any of them, they were just things that she had learned. However, the first thing on her list of four things hit me between the eyes like a two by four! She said, "Too much introspection is deadly." I hardly heard the rest. She is so right! [To continue reading click here.]

"Sanidad Interior"

Recently on the Church Planting Forum that I moderate, one of the 100+ participating missionaries asked what we thought about the whole "Sanidad Interior" (inner healing) movement sweeping Latin America and rest of the world. My response to the forum was:

"Sanidad Interior" peaked as a movement/fad a few years ago here in Ecuador. While still alive and well in many evangelical circles (including Baptist churches), it is not receiving the same attention and emphasis it once was.

While we are not into the whole sanidad interior movement, I do have respect for those who seek to minister to the inner healing needed in the badly damaged lives of those coming to faith in Christ. I see sanidad interior as the church's attempt to respond to the inner wounds found within the Body of Christ.

While the common Third Wave/Renovación methods often employed to achieve this inner healing seem to go a bit beyond what I see in Scripture, I do acknowledge that "inner healing" is an important part of making disciples. Jesus, himself, was into healing and I have no problem with understanding the need for healing wounds of the soul.

One of the things we discovered early on in working with lay leaders in church planting is that they often come into the faith with an enormous weight of past baggage. While "saved", they still have emotional, psychological, family, and spiritual issues in their life that are deeply implanted and need the healing touch of the Holy Spirit.

To ignore or try to hide from them is clearly more harmful than to deal with them in the Light of Christ. These things have a way of coming back to haunt once the honeymoon period of first love in Christ begins to fade. These lay servant-leaders have all the desire to win others to Christ, disciple, and plant new churches, but are overwhelmed by their own inner wounds that continue to bleed.

Here we are as missionaries pushing disciple-making and church planting, and yet have no clue to all the inner turmoil going on in their souls. It isn't enough to tell them, "read your Bible and pray". They need loving, understanding, non-judgmental brothers/sisters in Christ to help them deal with the repressed pain in their lives.

Helping our brothers and sisters through some of their issues is something too few of us are willing to invest our time and selves into. It is very messy and time consuming, and frankly, way over most of our heads. And yet if we don't dirty ourselves by being there for them, these new believers and leaders usually quickly fade back into the masses huddled in some church pew where they can hide their issues and not have to deal with them.

Other than the occasional one-on-one counseling, the way we seek to address this whole issue in people's lives is to encourage the "one another's" in Scripture. We teach that at least 1/3 of every meeting be spent ministering one to another. These are open times of sharing, of being transparent, of taking our masks off, and being "real."

Of course for this to work, those teaching/leading, must set the example. We M's must be transparent, real, take off our own masks, and allow the local believers to minister to us in our own needs and struggles. This is threatening and intimidating for many of us, but if we don't do it, how are they ever going to learn how it is done and the powerful ministry this can be in the life of a new church?

So, sanidad interior is something very real that needs to be on our "making disciples" plate. The "how to" is something I would welcome hearing from others. Let's not throw out sanidad interior unless we have something better to offer in its place.

Prayer for 'laborers' yields church plants

The following article by IMB staff writer Marie Travis is about the beginnings of our house church work in Guayaquil seven years ago. It appears as a July/07 IMB news story here.
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As he left the building, Guy Muse, strategy coordinator for the Guayas Mestizo people of Ecuador, felt someone tap him on the back. That someone turned out to be a pastor – and an answer to prayer.

“I hear you guys are willing to come and help train people in evangelism and church planting. Could you come to our church and train our people?” the pastor asked Muse.

Before this encounter, Muse and his team had been discouraged by the lack of church-planting opportunities among the Guayas Mestizo, a population segment of the Ecuadorian Mestizo people group. The population in this area is 3.3 million; however, only 3 percent are evangelized.

“When we first began our church planting back in 2000, the Lord led us to Luke 10,” Muse says. “This is where Jesus sends out the 70. In the first nine verses are a series of instructions Jesus gives the 70.”

The first instruction to the disciples was to pray for workers. So the team began praying for workers in March 2000. July came and with it no response to their prayers. The team began to question whether they had accurately interpreted Jesus’ literal command.

“If [the command in Luke 10] was applicable for us today, where were the laborers?” Muse questioned. “Just as we were about to give up on this approach to find workers to train, the Lord opened a door.”

Muse could barely contain his excitement the day that pastor tapped him on the shoulder.

“[I] remained cool and took out my blank agenda and checked to see if we had any open available dates,” Muse said of his empty calendar. “It didn’t take long to agree on a date and time for the training.”

When the team arrived at the church with their box of training materials, the group of new trainees was not what they had expected.

Among the members were several elderly women, a blind woman, another woman who had physically lost her voice and could only whisper, a 2-month-old Christian and a man whose house recently had been burned to the ground.

Despite these beleaguering circumstances, the team presented the church-planting materials to the small group faithfully gathered there.

“God works in mysterious ways. It was more a lesson for us as a team than it was anything else,” Muse said.

Within eight weeks that resilient group of believers had begun six new Bible studies. Today – seven years later – four of those six are active churches ...

Mission leaders are encouraged by the evidence they see of an emerging church-planting movement among the Guayas Mestizo people... --story by Marie Travis