Portable Bible School Evangelism Lesson Thirteen

Evangelism Lesson Thirteen Where to Evangelize? “The field is the world” (Matthew 13:38). FOCUS: Explain the various fields available for evangelism. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED Where do we begin to share Christ? Start at home. We first share the truth where we are and with those closest to us (our area of influence). “If a person’s Christianity isn’t believable at home, then there’s no sense taking it on the road” (Acts Commentary, page 10). The Lord established this pattern in Acts 1:8. Notice the direction given. Take the message where you are right now and start moving outward. It becomes like the ripples caused by throwing a stone in a lake. The ripple continues to move outward. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus told a story of a farmer that went out to sow his seed. The means of sowing at the time was to dip one’s hand into a sack of seed and then disburse it in a spreading motion. Other farmers held their seed in an upturned garment, casting it out as they walked. Some grew. Some did not. Where should we evangelize? Everywhere. Anywhere. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen” (Mark 16:20). Since the field is the world, we should sow the seed wherever and whenever we can. Over fifty per cent of the world’s population lives in cities. There are five hundred cities in the world with a population greater than one million people. Seventeen of these cities have populations greater than ten million. Seven are in the Muslim world. Throughout Paul’s ministry, he planted churches in cities. He was looking beyond the city to the surrounding region. These cities were strategically located on major trade routes. This helped to speed up the spreading of the gospel. Cities: 1. Are open to change. 2. Have the necessary resources (including people). 3. Have potential for contact with the surrounding region and quicken the sharing of the gospel with the masses. Jerry Richardson in his seminar, “Waking the Giant,” stated that we must “train men to meet the challenge of a new day. Rural evangelism is needed in many areas. However, more and more of the population are no longer in villages, but in large metropolitan cities. How will we meet the challenge? If we are going to reach the people, we will have to go to where they are.” Village or Rural Evangelism Villages or small, rural towns should not be left out of the evangelism picture. Jesus cared for all people, regardless of their status in life, or where they lived. Ghana alone has nearly 15,000 villages without a Protestant church. “And he went round about the villages, teaching” (Mark 6:6). “And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole” (Mark 6:55-56). “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village” (Luke 9:56). “And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans” (Acts 8:25). Each person we pass is a soul for whom Jesus Christ died. Try repeating that in your mind each time you see a person on your way home today. Say, “That is a soul that Jesus Christ died for.” By the time you reach home, you will likely go to your knees, burdened for lost humanity. Jesus reached for the lowest. He was not content with reaching the religious people. He went out of His way for those that were despised and rejected in society. “So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:21-23). The Modern Translation Streets Inner City Lanes Residential areas Poor Homeless, poverty-stricken Maimed Hospitals, sick Halt Elderly Blind Handicapped Highways Neighboring areas Hedges Countryside, villages LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOWS OF EVANGELISM To find the lost start looking for them (Luke 19:10). Pray that the Lord will give you sensitivity for those who need to know Him (Luke 15:1-10). Look out the window to a lost world. Go ahead, and take a look. What do you see? The 10/40 Window The majority of unreached people in our world live in a rectangular-shaped window referred to as the 10/40 Window or the Resistant Belt. The window extends from West Africa to East Asia, from ten degrees north to forty degrees north of the equator. It includes sixty-one countries. The Christian Information Network website (accessed 4/9/99) in an article by Luis Bush (“Getting to the Core of the Core”) suggests that this window confronts us with several considerations: 1. It contains thirty-seven of the fifty least evangelized countries. 2. The dominance of Muslims (700 million), Hindus (700 million), and Buddhists (encompasses all of China with a population of 1.2 billion), representing billions of lost people. 3. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives in this area (four billion people). 4. Of the world’s poorest, eight out of ten live in this area. The gospel is for the poor (Luke 4:18; 6:20; 7:22). 5. Unreached people groups. 6. Least evangelized mega cities. All of the top fifty least evangelized cities are in the 10/40 Window. 7. The stronghold of Satan is within the Resistant Belt. 4/14 Window Gerry Dueck of the Children’s Mission Resource Center believes that reaching children is the key to reaching the 10/40 Window. He calls them the 4/14 Window because 86% of people who become Christians do so between the ages of 4 and 14. This makes children and young people the “world’s most fruitful field.” Children are the adults and leaders of the future. To impact the future, reach the children now. Consider the following:  Every day 35,000 children die of malnutrition.  Every year 40 million are aborted. Twenty-nine percent of all children are never born.  In Africa alone there are 322 million children under the age of fifteen. This represents forty-four percent of the population.  In South Africa 60,000 babies are infected with AIDS each year. Most of them will never see their second birthday.  It is estimated that by 2010 there will be 40 million AIDS orphans in Africa. George Barna in The Habits of Highly Effective Churches writes, “Highly effective churches are strategic in their evangelistic efforts . . . They devote most of their evangelistic resources to reaching kids. Our research shows that a majority of people who accept Christ as their Savior do so before the age of eighteen—nearly two out of three believers. Thus, focusing on young people is a wise investment of the church’s limited evangelistic resources . . . These churches want to maximize their influence for Christ and therefore make the most of the apparent opportunity. Across the board these churches note that evangelism among adolescents and early teens is also a much simpler process than trying to penetrate the hardened hearts of adults.” Jesus is concerned about evangelism among the world’s children. “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (Matthew 18:14, NIV). Parents and pastors need to be concerned too. A national church survey conducted by the Ghana Evangelism Committee found that “no provision for children and youth” was one of the major reasons that people stopped attending church. 15/45 Window One of the largest unreached people groups in the world is in the 15/45 Window. These are the people infected with HIV/AIDS, most often between the ages of 15 and 45. Ninety percent of these people are without knowledge of the gospel. They die without a personal relationship with the Lord. Regardless of the circumstances that have caused them to become infected, they have a right to hear the gospel. The need is urgent.  Worldwide 36.1 million people have AIDS and 26.1 million of them are in sub-Saharan Africa.  It is projected that by 2005, more than 100 million people will become HIV positive.  Only 10% of the world’s population lives in Africa, but it is home to seventy percent of the world’s HIV infected people.  Already, 13 million Africans have died of AIDS. In the next five years, 10 million more will likely die.  In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 5,500 funerals a day.  AIDS kills 8,000 per day globally. How are we doing with getting others to join in the Christian race? Islam is reaching out to the entire world. We must reach the world with the liberating, life-changing gospel. About 1.7 billion people in the world claim to be some form of Christian. Statistics show that Islam is increasing by 16% per year, Hinduism by 13%, and Buddhism by 10% and Christianity by only 9%. What is the fastest growing religion in the world? Ouch! We must “go” and establish churches if we expect to evangelize the lost world. T. F. Tenney once asked, “Which part of the word ‘GO!’ don’t you understand?” Taking the “whole gospel to the whole world” is the task of the entire church. The focus of the gospel is outward to a lost world. We come to church to fellowship and worship our God. However, we should not become inwardly focused by placing too much attention on maintaining programs inside the church. We come to church to worship, but we leave the church to witness. Once we walk out of the doors of the local assembly, we are in a mission field. Here we meet unbelievers where they feel comfortable—on their grounds. We cannot expect the sinners to come to the gospel. We should take the gospel to the sinners. We must be like a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:15). Reinhard Bonnke wrote, “Observance of the Apostolic Ministry.” In it he states, “The apostolic ministry can be summed up in one word: ‘Go!’ Our task is no smaller than that of the first apostles nor is it any different. Indeed, we can be sure of one thing: If we go as they went we shall get what they got. The task remains unchanged, and neither has God changed in the slightest degree. God will do for us what He did for the apostles if we do for God what the apostles did, because God never changes.” “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? 1. Why should we start to share Christ close to home? __________________________________________________________________ 2. Where should we evangelize? _________________________________ 3. Where does over fifty percent of the world’s population live? _________________________________ 4. Why did Paul choose cities as the place to plant churches? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Why does Jerry Richardson feel that it is necessary to train men to reach cities? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. How many villages in Ghana are still without a Protestant church of any kind? _________________________________ 7. According to Luke 14:21-23, where should we be conducting evangelism? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What does the 10/40 Window mean? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. What does the 4/14 Window mean? __________________________________________________________________ 10. What does the 15/45 Window mean? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. How many people live within the 10/40 Window? _________________________________ 12. Why is it considered to be the Resistant Belt? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Where do most highly effective churches place their evangelistic emphasis and resources? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. What is the fasted growing religion in the world? _________________________________ 15. What are you going to do about this statistic? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16. Reinhard Bonnke claims that the apostolic ministry can be summarized in one word. What is it? __________________________________________________________________ 17. When will God do for us what He did for the apostles? __________________________________________________________________