Preparing for evangelism is important. There are basics that you must do before you go out for an evangelism session.
Forgetting any of these essentials of evangelism will make your mission ineffective. Reaching out to others with the gospel is not a mere human act that anyone can do.
The gospel you are going to preach is of Christ and therefore, you must learn from Christ what you need to do before going out.
It is only when you evangelize in the pattern of Christ that you will fulfill the command that our Lord left us with. This therefore is how you are to prepare yourself for Evangelism.
What should I do before Evangelism?
1. Pray
Pray as your first step in preparing for an effective evangelism mission. Prayer not only paves way for your mission but it also builds you up so that you are effective in the evangelism mission.
Our Lord Jesus began His ministry by praying and fasting in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. His evangelism mission was great and it required a high level of sacrifice.
For us, our assignment may not be as great as that of Christ but it requires a level of sacrifice too. Some evangelists choose to pray and fast before they go for any mission.
Others pray without fasting. Others don’t pray immediately before the mission but they do pray at their own convenience.
Whatever you prefer, make sure that you invest in prayer as part of preparation to evangelize. Your effectiveness in the mission field is directly proportional to the investment you put in prayer.
What to pray about as Preparation for Evangelism
There are two main things that you need to pray for as part of preparation for an evangelism mission; yourself and the people you will meet.
Do yourself a favor before an evangelism mission by praying for yourself. Jesus made it clear to us that freely we have received, freely we are to give.
But how can we give what we have not received? And how can we receive what we have not asked for?
This is why as you prepare for evangelism, pray that God fills you with goodness. It is the love that you receive from God that you will share with those you reach out to.
The joy you get for spending time with God is the joy you will share with those you evangelize to. If you don’t receive anything from God, you will have nothing to offer to those you evangelize to.
2. Preparing for Evangelism: Pick a Strategy
When preparing for evangelism, pick a strategy that you will use. Evangelism can be done in many different ways.
If you are going for the evangelism mission on your own, pick a strategy that works well for individual evangelists. If you are part of a team, use an evangelism strategy that suits a team.
Different people have different approaches to evangelism. Some are more practical, others are more theoretical.
All these factors have to be considered when picking an evangelism strategy.
Place of Evangelism
One of the key aspects of an evangelism strategy that you have to consider as you prepare for evangelism is the place where you will go to evangelize.
Different places require different evangelism skills. Pick a place where it is easy for you to prepare and deliver God’s word.
One person may prefer to go to a park to speak to people who are relaxing. If a park is a place you feel comfortable to share the gospel, go there.
Another person may prefer to preach in the middle of a busy street to reach many people.
Whatever space you choose to go to, prepare yourself to evangelize in it.
Going to evangelize on a busy street will require you to raise your voice. That means you need to have a way to clear your throat. You can get yourself a drink that clears your throat.
You may also need a banner to let people know what you are talking about.
Preparing to evangelize in a poor neighborhood may require you to carry gifts to offer to the people you will find. You can buy a few bags of supplies and carry them along.
Time of Evangelism
It is foolish to go evangelize in a neighborhood of working class people during work hours. Proper preparation for evangelism should let you know that the best time to go to evangelize in such a neighborhood is when many people are at home.
If you barely find free time, it is best if you resort to evangelizing at the place where you spend majority of your time.
If you have a job, evangelize at your work place.
3. Preparing for Evangelism: Communicate
The third step in preparing for evangelism is communicating to other believers. If it makes sense, let leaders in your fellowship know.
Communication is for the purposes of accountability. We are believers and we are called to be our brother’s keeper.
When you get a great harvest and you need other believers to help you, it will be easy to get their support if you informed them of the evangelism mission you were taking.
Through your communication, other believers who are available may also join you. Others will learn from your communication that there are people out here doing evangelism and they will be motivated to do it too.
Therefore, as part of preparation to evangelize, make sure you communicate with members of your fellowship.
Preparing for Evangelism: Conclusion
Preparing for evangelism is a continuous process that every believer must go through. Since our entire lives are an evangelism mission, it makes sense to always be preparing to be better evangelists.
This is why Apostle Paul asks us to pray without ceasing. We are to share our faith in Jesus and defend it at all times.
It is only those who constantly prepare themselves to evangelize that become effective at winning souls to Christ. Preparation for evangelism should not be perceived as an event but rather as a lifestyle.
Let us be obedient to the command of our Lord Jesus by going out to evangelize.
All the best!