…is that they’re rarely an outreach. I plan something fun, exciting, promote it as an evangelistic event and encourage students to bring their pre-Christian and non-churched friends for an opportunity to get to know us and hear the gospel, but when the event actually takes place, how many non-youth group kids are actually present? Zero or one. Yeah ok, some may argue that “even if only one soul is won for Christ, then it’s worth it” and I don’t disagree with that, but the point is, out of 100-some students who attend, why don’t we see at least 50 pre-saved and non-churched kids being invited? When an outreach event idea is proposed, I often ask the students, “Is this something you’d feel comfortable inviting your pre-saved friends to?” Even when I get a resounding “YES!” the actual results seem to indicate otherwise.

Why don’t our church kids invite their pre-Christian friends to come to these events? Is it a communication problem? Is it a vision issue? Is it a heart issue? Is it a value system? Or is it completely the wrong approach to evangelism? Maybe I’m making it too easy for them?

Somehow my approach to evangelism in our ministry needs to change. My natural inclination is to bypass my church kids altogether and just go straight to where the pre-saved kids are, but neither do I want to dismiss my church kids from the process of evangelism. My role is not to do it for them, but somehow to teach them and do it with them.

I know my ministry is not the only one that struggles with this. What insights can you all provide? How has evangelism been effective for your groups? What can you all recommend for me and others in my situation?

Posted on August 9, 2007