Evangelism

Introduction

This article presents a practical model or method for dental and medical evangelism in foreign countries used most effectively to help establish and grow local churches. Of course, it is ultimately God who works in people’s lives to draw them to saving faith in Jesus Christ (John 6:44). No evangelistic formula or technique will save anyone. But God expects us to be wise, prepared, faithful servants when we take the gospel to another country.

The model for effectively using field teams of health professionals discussed below is a proven way to help fulfill our part of the Great Commission as we look to God to work a miracle in people’s hearts to draw them to salvation. Ideally, a missionary or national local church hosting a field team should be involved in all parts of the model. Where it cannot, the field team can fill in some of the gaps. But the best path to success is when national pastors and local church believers actively participate in each step of the process.

“You can’t get wisdom from a screen!” My Greek professor made this adamant assertion to a class of young preacher boys in January 1992. He was responding to a question regarding the new Bible study software named Logos. Version 1.0, a forward thinking shareware product designed by two Microsoft employees, had been released in December 1991. Little did my professor know the technological tsunami that would soon pound the cultural landscape in the form of the World Wide Web and its home, the Internet. As with all big waves, some watch, some run, and some grab 12 foot boards and head into the surf.

You might be wondering why I would discuss the Internet and New Communication Technologies (INCT). Isn’t this the 21st century? Isn’t this a tired subject? Am I just transitioning from cassettes to CD’s? There are a few reasons why I think this topic is pertinent. For one, conservative Christians are generally the last adopters of technology because of the fear of the unknown, or a general lack of understanding. Why fix it if ain’t broke? How do I get on The Twitter?

Beyond that, Paul advised that in everything we do, we should have a kingdom purpose in mind, and glorify our great God. I believe this applies to our engagement with INCT. We should have a philosophy and integration of INCT into our worldview.