outwards from the church, and have set up Share Jesus teams. These teams are working to cover areas including, communicating with the wider community, community relationships, local mission and gospel events, schools and children, service and witness at work and everyday lives. We hope Share Jesus teams will equip new leaders and find and release those who are passionate for outreach and gifted to do it. Community visiting has a good biblical basis. Jesus visits people’s homes, sometimes being invited to do so and other times when he invites himself (Zacchaeus - Luke 19 v 5, 6). In Acts, Paul in Ephesus preaches ‘from house to house’ (Acts 20:20). There is also encouragement to think of imaginative ways to share the gospel - as Paul commented ‘use all means to save some’ (1 Corinthians 9 v 19 - 23). Often churches are very good at inviting people to come to things but to ‘go’ as Jesus instructed is more problematic. To ‘go’ to the streets and markets, to homes and everywhere people are is, I believe, what Jesus meant by his command and this is lived out in the early church in Acts. One passage that stands out for me is Luke 10 where Jesus sends out the 72. There is so much in these verses to encourage us in personal evangelism to our neighbours. We could see a collection of homes representing villages in the Bible sense, each area is often its own little enclave and community. In my hometown we have several large new housing developments and they have a character of their own, each with their own local needs and issues. Luke 10 is also significant to me as here I read that Jesus indicates that we should be looking for the ‘man of peace’. In my weekly visiting I can be sure that in any street the Lord has gone before me and my task is to find the person ‘of peace’ in that road. It is very rare that I do not find them. Last Saturday I was greatly encouraged when I was asked to go out with a church locally. This church has a real passion to reach out to the local community and cross-cultural barriers. We went out in seven teams of two by two for an hour only and in that short time we found 8 contacts that want an ongoing relationship with the church. I myself had three good conversations and was invited to go back and visit a gentleman soon. My approach in visiting is to set myself as far apart from the cults as I can possibly do. I visit on the basis of a good
neighbour, speaking about the community and trying to find out what are the concerns and motivations. As I am led I give my testimony and ask if they want to keep in touch. This can be with the Good News evangelistic newspaper or information on an event or activity. In Dunstable I now deliver 120 Good News each month. When I called on Julian* (above quote) he was a full-time carer and isolated. He came out with the church-walking group and soon attended regular Sunday services and an Alpha course. There are other examples but none has touched me more than that of Bill. Bill was in his late 70s when I first called on his door. He said “I am an atheist” and I was not to preach at him. As time went on I found he was the one who did the preaching! Over the years we became friends and he even made me lunch on occasions. After years of hearing my arguments and testimony I began to despair, as he was still an avowed atheist. He died suddenly but I was so pleased to hear at his funeral that before his death Bill had commented that he liked these Christians and now believed there was a God! What if the UK church rediscovered community visiting as a mainstream approach to outreach and became excited about the possibilities? Imagine how this would increase the average church fringe. When there is a guest service or other event the number of potential visitors could increase a hundredfold! What needs to happen? How about a 21st century re-launch? A tailored new approach depending on community type and need. The Lord is working in our neighbourhoods, in streets and homes. We will never find out where unless we call and seek the person of “peace”. Let’s not look for the one off visiting projects but the regular commitment. Let’s look not for the glamorous events, the instant results, but for faithful and persistent commitment to our neighbourhoods. I hope in this short article that I’ve convinced you that door to door visiting is still relevant for today. Why not give it a go? I’d love to hear how you get on and if I can help please get in touch. If becoming an evangelist or getting support from a network of evangelists interests you please contact Counties www.countiesuk.org Colin Johnson Evangelist, Counties & Community Worker, Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, Leighton Buzzard johnson@countiesuk.org
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