I tend to hesitate over evangelism, as it always feels uncomfortable and difficult. In particular, the fact that I would be involved in door-to-door evangelism during this year’s ARISE program made me more nervous. Even moments before ringing the doorbell, I kept endlessly worrying about whether I would be able to communicate well in English. Nevertheless, I was filled with God’s love for everyone who answered the door and with the help of other Arise team members, I was also able to engage in meaningful conversations.

Everyone we met seemed so precious that I think it will be difficult to forget anyone. There was an atheist who believed in the spiritual world, but placed great importance on personal meditation; another who had left the church; a devout Catholic believer; an elderly man who refused to believe because he had a bad experience with a cult 20 years ago; a Russian lady who burst into tears when we talked about Christianity and asked a lot of questions about the church; others who had a misunderstanding about God’s love, etc… I believe that God loves these people so much and delights in saving them through the gospel that he sent a weak person like me to share the Good News.

There were three most memorable encounters during Arise door-to-door evangelism campaign. First person was a 87-year-old man with a terminal illness, who kept on insisting that there is no God, because he was badly wounded by a cult long time ago. One of the members of Gold Hill Baptist church had met the man before, but did not know where he lived. So it was by coincidence that we had knocked on his door. I thought that God must love him so much that he sent us to share the gospel before he dies. It was so sad to see him stubbornly refusing to believe that we were almost in tears. We had a long conversation with him, highlighting on God’s love and the gospel message.

The second person I cannot forget was a Russian lady who kept on crying whilst having a deep conversation about Christianity. I cannot but think that God was already touching her soul and that he used us to preach the gospel message and introduce her to the church. She said that she believed in the Russian Orthodox Church, but the fact that she still didn’t know much about God made her cry. She asked for the Goldhill Baptist church booklet and was keen to ask questions about the church. She also gave us her contact details as she was interested in joining courses to find out more about God. I hope you’ll pray together with me for God to guide her well.

Last person I’ll remember most is someone I was able to boldly preach the gospel to. He asked why there is so much injustice in the world if God was alive. This is a question that many people have. Firstly, I emphasized that God’s final judgment on the last day is therefore so important. Then, I explained that because God’s righteousness and justice must be satisfied on the day of Judgment, we need to receive forgiveness for our sins and that is why we need to believe in Jesus Christ. God gave me the wisdom and boldness to preach this gospel message to him.

Apart from these people, I pray that God will touch everyone that our team members met during the Arise campaign, and that the seed of the gospel will grow in them. We only spent a week in the neighbourhood, but it was amazing to be able to get to know the people in the community and to speak to them openly about God. We have just sowed the seeds, but I pray that members of Gold Hill Baptist Church will continue to follow up and share God’s love with the people we met and for God to work in them as well.