By Jennifer Davis Rash and Brittany N. Howerton
Evangelism efforts by Alabama Baptists are once again “plowing new ground,” said Sammy Gilbreath, director of evangelism for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
“We are in a high-tech age … and we are trying hard to stay current and cutting edge and have enough options that if anyone wants to do evangelism, they can do it,” he said.
One of those new ways to do evangelism is through an electronic tract, a DVD offering a story or stories that prompt questions and thoughts about the gospel.
While the traditional paper tract will always have a place in spreading God’s Word, the electronic tracts should offer a new style to this proven method of sharing.
“So much of our society has ‘chosen illiteracy,’” Gilbreath said. “They choose not to read.
“But we are finding that this group of people will watch a movie or a video, so we started developing gospel tracts on DVDs.”
Gilbreath suggests handing the DVD to a “lost” friend and say it is a DVD you want him or her to watch. Mention that you need the DVD back and will come to get it the next day or within the next few days. Note that you want your friends’ opinion of the DVD. When you go to pick up the DVD you have an opportunity to share your story and talk about the gospel.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “We just started this year and it is going well.”
Northside Baptist Church, Jasper, where David Byrd is pastor, is one church that has taken advantage of the new tracts.
With traditional paper tracts, one has the convenience of leaving the tract on a bench or in a bathroom for others to see and examine at their convenience, said John Jaye, minister of education and outreach at Northside.
“With the DVD, what we encourage people to do is to build relationships, build friendships,” he said. “Whether that be at the convenience store where you buy gas or at the place you stop to buy a biscuit on the way to work, build a relationship where it’s OK to hand them a DVD and say, ‘This is something I’ve watched and can you take a look at it and give it back in a few days and tell me what you think?’
“They may say ‘I don’t believe this’ … or they may say ‘that third segment is where I am and I want to know more.’ But it requires a delivery process.”
While some people may not have a DVD player nor a computer that plays DVDs, Jaye said the advantages still outweigh this potential disadvantage.
“It’s new and cutting edge,” he said. “People like to be in on that kind of thing and you get to see the people who are telling you the story.”
Jaye led a six-week training session for more than 60 Northside members in May.
“We usually average about 240 in Sunday School so about one-fourth of our congregation was involved,” he said. I think they were very receptive.”
But the concept is still in the “catching on” phase.
“It takes time and effort,” Jaye said. “No one wants to be rejected. … And most of us are very busy people. To break out of those routines requires some effort.”
In many cases, it also takes effort for Christians to socialize with nonbelievers and build those relationships. “Most of us in the Christian life are in an insulated world,” he said. “Our friends are people we go to church with.”
The DVD Northside is currently using is the More to Life DVD, which includes nine vignettes of individual’s testimonies, from a math professor desiring proof of Christ to a lady who spent time in prison for drug abuse to a man who was a radical Muslim.
“Each of them is telling their story about how they came to faith, and it’s pretty much nine very different stories from people of all walks of life,” Jaye said. “It’s the facial expressions and the sincerity that these people are telling their own stories.
“To read that is one thing but to see them and feel their emotion and see the emotion in their faces as they tell their story is very catching and appealing to me.”
The More to Life DVD is one of three available through the evangelism office. Another one is Gilbreath’s personal testimony, detailing his current health crisis and the fact that he has outlived all medical professionals’ predictions.
The third one is the Passing Hearts DVD.
“Some are free and some we provide at cost,” Gilbreath said.
For more information, call the evangelism office at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 245.
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