Evangelism is not an event, IT’S A LIFESTYLE! Evangelism simply means spreading the gospel of Jesus. There are many ways it can be done but it should be done by all believers. Jesus should be as much a part of our conversations as our spouses, children, families, friends, hobbies, or anything else that we love are. Why wouldn’t we talk about Jesus? We love him! He has saved us and set us free. We can’t help but talk about him every chance we get.

Harvest Day, our monthly outreach event, equips individuals to share their faith as they go out in teams together spreading across many different neighborhoods in our cities. Our greater desire is for this training to extend well beyond the reach of our monthly event and into the everyday circles of influence of all who attend. 

Our friends Adam and Saretta Wells, along with their three young sons, recently attended Harvest Day and took the training they received and the experience shared with the team into their own neighborhood. Saretta agreed to share this testimony with us. I hope as you read it you find strength and encouragement to begin your lifestyle of evangelism.

We came to our first outreach with Take the City in the beginning of 2022. We were placed with Ms. Maya and were blessed to go out in her area around Young Avenue. She made it easy for all of us, including our children, to be involved as the Lord led, and we had an awesome experience. The Lord gave our group many words of knowledge for one particular lady and others we spoke with. Something shifted in our family during this outreach. We realized sharing with people was more about listening for his promptings and how God was moving to make himself known rather than a plan of action we had to know and execute. As we reached our neighborhood after outreach, my oldest son asked, “So are we going in our neighborhood now?” Later that day, we did.

A little over a month ago, I felt prompted to walk to a certain spot in our neighborhood. We prayed as we walked and were open to speaking to people if they were outside, but as I got to the spot I was supposed to walk to, I felt a spirit of loneliness that I could not shake, even after praying. I felt I should go knock on the door, and a man answered. I shared why we had stopped by, and he came out and let us pray with him, and as we talked, he gave his life to Christ. He apparently had been asking for a sign the night before and our family was that sign. As my son prayed for him, I felt that he didn’t have a Bible, and after checking with him, we were later able give him a Bible we had at home.

 

Weeks later, we went to check on him, and while he didn’t answer, we saw that his house looked different. A welcome mat saying “This is My Happy Place” now sat in front of the door, and a sign saying “Peace” hung from the door. Sheets for curtains had become blinds. We were blown away by the physical changes that seemed to follow what we experienced with him. The next day our new brother in Christ walked by our house, said things were going much better, and he had just been sharing what happened with his sibling.

 

When I think about these events, I thank God because it had nothing to do with us, except that we were obedient to his promptings. The harvest, we believe, is ripe, just as Jesus said, and we expect him to move now, where we didn’t really consider that before.

 

Evangelism as a lifestyle is one of the most exciting parts of our lives now, whether he gives us a waitress to engage with as we eat somewhere or he highlights someone while we intentionally walk our neighborhood to share. In less than two hours with Ms. Maya, we learned the answer to the question my husband and I had asked ourselves before: “How do the people who started Take the City have all these stories from everywhere they go?” We learned that they are listening to God and being obedient to speak to others in faith. That ability is for all of us with the Holy Spirit in us, no matter our age! May the Lord continue to grow us in willingness in this area and give us all opportunities to be a part of his plan for our city, state, country, and the nations! 

Saretta Wells

We invite you to join us as we gather with the Wells and others to share the gospel with our friends and neighbors Saturday, June 18th, at 10am at 2910 2nd Ave in Columbus.