The Making of an Evangelist
Are evangelists made or born? Anyone who has met Marty Dupree would agree: Made or born, he’s an evangelist!
Marty has been a good friend of ours for several years now. As a consultant at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Marty regularly conducts evangelism and discipleship training. It’s a great fit because of his infectious enthusiasm for the Gospel! Every time we talk, Marty has story after story of Gospel conversations he’s had with people in restaurants, at football games, on airplanes—anywhere there are people. Marty is always ready to share God’s Story of rescue in Jesus. The friendly way Marty approaches strangers turns them into friends. And since Marty wants all his friends to know Jesus, he is quick to turn conversations to the Gospel.
To help us all be better evangelists, here’s one of Marty’s recent encounters along with three overarching principles we’ve spotted in his approach to evangelism:
// Make new friends.
“One evening, I was at a restaurant when I noticed a car pull up with a Vermont plate. My interest was piqued because I lived in New England for four years. The family sat next to us, so as we were leaving, I mentioned that I had noticed their Vermont tag and asked, ‘Have you just moved to town?’ They said yes, although the woman was originally from France—so I humorously spoke French to her. We reverted to English for introductions and had a fun conversation about our life stories and how we each ended up in the Raleigh area.”
// Turn the conversation.
“To switch gears, I simply asked, ‘Do you have any particular church background?’ The father jokingly said, ‘We are Holiday Catholics!’ We all laughed. The mother volunteered that the daughter was searching. The daughter shared about visiting a Buddhist temple. I asked what she thought about it, and she said she was not really sure but it was ‘interesting and different.’ ”
// Share God’s Story.
“Then to the family I said, ‘I have something that you might be interested in.’ All four leaned in to see The Story app on my phone as I explained creation, fall, rescue, and restoration. All of them said it was interesting, but I specifically asked the daughter if I could e-mail her the link for The Story so she could look at it again later. She quickly said yes. In closing, I offered a few churches for them to consider.”
Isn’t that a great encouragement? It was just a simple, friendly conversation that allowed Marty to share the film and e-mail the link.
All of us can become better evangelists using a similar conversational strategy. Our aim is to make God’s Story known to everyone, everywhere. But we can’t do it without you! Your partnership is crucial, because only you can reach the people God has placed in your path. We are here to maximize your Gospel reach, right where you are.
In addition, we need your gifts of support to multiply the reach of the Gospel worldwide. We use the tried-and-tested deployment channels of international partners—like TWR, JESUS Film, and YouVersion—but doing so isn’t free.
The Gospel can only go as far as donor giving allows. Will you consider a gift of support so the Gospel goes even further? Together, we can make Gospel Everywhere a reality!