Field Schools of Evangelism—No. 5

The alarming death rate among our believers should cause deep concern and a prayerful restudy of our methods in binding off the evangelistic program.

By GEORGE E. VANDEMAN, Instructor in Evangelism, Emmanuel Missionary College

In our previous articles, attention has been directed to the part interns play in the field school of evangelism. We have discussed the value of these schools as a means of most quickly and efficiently orientating these new workers in the work of soul winning, both pub­lic and private. Of equal importance, however, is the instruction given in training new workers to handle the follow-up program. The alarming death rate among our believers should cause deep concern and a prayerful restudy of our methods in binding off the evangelistic program.

If there is any area of activity wherein a new worker needs mature counsel and sympathetic guidance, it is in this difficult and delicate task of building new members into strong Seventh-day Adventist Christians. Too often this task is left to inexperienced workers who do the best they can, but who are powerless to meet the needs of a growing work. It is altogether pos­sible for a young man to preach our entire mes­sage warmly and logically, and successfully pre­pare a group of people for baptism, but fail to conserve these results and build new people into strong church members.

Careful thought, months of planning, liberal budgets, and a strong corps of workers, as well as earnest prayer and consecration on the part of all concerned, go into making public evange­lism a success. But how little preparation is usually made for the second, or building, phase.

We are all tragically aware of the practice in the past of pulling out the working force too soon, laying the financial burden upon the church and new members, and carrying on this important follow-up work in a haphazard man­ner.

No one can say to whom the fault belongs. However, we cannot remain clear before God when we recognize this lamentable procedure and yet refuse to make changes in the right di­rection and instruct new workers properly in better methods. I feel deeply over this question, not only from the angle of public evange­lism, but from a sympathetic knowledge of the problems of the pastor. I can frankly say that if there be any human credit for the established souls of men and women in the churches where I have held evangelistic campaigns, it goes to the faithful pastor or worker who has followed up that interest. I recognize full well that after the enthusiasm dies down, the more difficult and thankless job is given to the man who follows. I am here advocating that a second effort be carried on with as much planning as the first, with nearly as large a corps of workers, and with a sufficient budget to make it a success. This effort might be held in the church. Its purpose is to bring these new babes in Christ into full harmony with our denominational pro­gram and establish them as mature Christians. Even as the evangelist who develops the in­terest needed to be mentally alert to make certain that every department of effort activity was functioning as it should, just so it is neces­sary that the leader of the follow-up campaign be mentally alert to the needs and details of this important work. There may not be as many public meetings, but every meeting is important. Let me summarize the factors which demand attention.

Regular attendance of the new believers at meetings is important, not only in the Sabbath school and worship hour, but in prayer meet­ing and other worship services. Other ques­tions to reckon with are: Is their experience carefully checked and guarded as to tithe pay­ing and Sabbathkeeping? Are they receiving the needed instruction in duties of church mem­bership? Are they becoming acquainted with the other church members and enjoying the fellowship that they need? Is their pastor sen­sitive in discerning the problems and doubts which oft times arise during the first few months? Are they receiving our church peri­odicals and reading our books faithfully? Are they beginning to sense their responsibility to­ward the unsaved members of their families? These and many other matters require careful planning to execute properly.

Mastering the Time Problem

First of all, the main problem to meet and master is the time element. It is the most diffi­cult to cope with. There should be no lapse of time between the close of the meetings and the follow-up work. The problem here is twofold. If the meetings have been held in a tent, it takes the greater part of the week to dismantle it and take it down for storage. There are a myriad of other items attendant to closing a series of meetings that should be attended to.

A church building may be needed to house the new converts, or a remodeling program may be essential. All this takes valuable visit­ing time, when visiting time is needed the Most. Not only do new converts require special help immediately following baptism, but there are usually a host of others who are on the border line, and who would make the right decision, if given the needed personal attention. Every ef­fort properly conducted creates an interest which provides work for months to come.

The second item which retards the follow-up program at this important time is the under­standable factor that the workers have pushed themselves to the limit during the strenuous weeks of the effort, and it is only natural that they need a little relief at the close. And yet there is a danger during this time that some will become discouraged and drop out if they are not visited and given the needed assistance.

I do not mean to condone loose, sensational evangelism, where people are brought in on a thread and need to be continually nursed along. No, indeed. The most thorough methods need to be employed to make certain that a sure work of grace is in evidence, and that the people have received a love of truth. Never­theless, strong evangelism does not alter the needs of careful postbaptism assistance. Note the counsel given in Volume 4 of the Testi­monies:

"After individuals have been converted to the truth, they need to be looked after. . . . These newly converted ones need nursing,—watchful attention, help, and encouragement. These should not be left alone, a prey to Satan's most powerful temptations; they need to be educated in regard to their duties, to be kindly dealt with, to be led along, and to be vis­ited and prayed with. . . No wonder that some be­come discouraged, linger by the way, and are left for wolves to devour. Satan is upon the track of all. . . . There should be more fathers and mothers to take these babes in the truth to their hearts, and to encourage them and pray for them, that their faith be not confused."—Page 68.

Too often workers judge a babe in Christ by their own mature experience, or more often church members hold too high a standard for these new believers. Please do not misunder­stand me. The standard must be high, but we must teach our people that new souls have to grow into the message in harmony with the paragraph just quoted. When souls are hand­picked—that is, when they come into the faith as a result of months of Bible studies, after an interest has been manifested—they do not need the attention that those need who come in through the net method, or mass evangelism. I fear that we have been treating those we get from the net method somewhat the same as we treat those who come in from the hook-and­line method.

When an effort is over, the work for a soul is just begun. As a disabled ship is towed to port, it is safe, but not sound. Repairs have to be made. It is safe in port, but not sea­worthy. Just so, the soul brought to Jesus and this message has come a long way. He is safe in Christ and in the church, but repairs have to be made. The process of sanctifica­tion needs to be taken by short steps at first. How good God is not to reveal all our defects at once. Why should we measure a new in­dividual by the same standard we ourselves were never able to reach during the early days of our experience? Some people are men and women of great faith ; others need to build that faith.

Now to come back to some of the aids in soul building, mentioned earlier in this article. Throughout a public effort the young workers have visited their prospective converts. When questions arose, they answered them, and Bible studies were given-when needed. But the visits were largely to remove doubts and to encourage people to continue at the meetings. Now the meetings have closed, with the possible ex­ception of a Sunday night series. It is at this time that younger workers should make ar­rangements for a series of Bible studies. They need not go through the entire series of truth from the inspiration of the Bible or Daniel 2 on, but they should wisely choose a short series of fundamentals and items on which the people need a serious review, as well as help on how to keep the Sabbath, on the Spirit of prophecy, on healthful living, etc.

It is well to urge that several families of new converts meet together for the benefit of these follow-up studies. There is great value in these new people gathering about the dining room table with their Bibles open before them, to study more thoroughly the faith they have newly espoused. In these weekly contacts the worker is able to ascertain any new problem or any doubt, and handle it before it ripens into discouragement.

During the effort people seem to be carried along with the inspiration of a nightly meet­ing program. When this is cut off, they have more time to think and to question. Many see the evidence of truth when it is presented. They recognize the validity of the arguments and believe the Scripture that is read, but un­less these people see in their own Bibles the evidence of truth and have the privilege of further study together, they might forget their arguments when opposition presents its side.

A large cross section of humanity does 'very little deep thinking. Surprisingly few people spend much time further investigating the things they have heard. The majority believe what the evangelist says and take their stand on it. True, they read the sermon lectures, the crisis books, and other literature, but when a former pastor or some friend presents an argument with appealing force, and miscon­strues truth so as to make the truth appear false, there is danger that these people might become unsettled. It is to safeguard against any such reaction that a series of Bible studies should be carried on in these new homes. In­variably the people will appreciate and receive more lasting benefit from these sessions than from any two or three public sermons. Why ? Because they have seen the evidence of truth in their own Bibles, and have learned the joys of Bible study. Such Bible studies cannot be the rehashing of a sermon. They must be searching Bible studies in every sense of the term.

Then there is the problem of consistent Sab­bath service attendance. Have you ever deeply lamented that you did not notice the absence of some quiet person one, two, or three Sabbaths, and then called to find that discouragement, trial, or temptation had taken too great a hold on someone who might have been saved to the message had that absence been noted immedi­ately? May I cite an example from a recent effort. A fine lady, not yet baptized and who was not on our list for attendance checkup, was missing from our Sabbath services for four consecutive weeks. It was impossible to spot any one person unless a systematic check was made on interested people, as well as newly baptized ones. The worker responsible for this woman had been called to labor in another city. However, on the fourth Sabbath her fail­ure to appear was noticed by one of the work­ers, who immediately felt a burden to call. So strong was the impulse that she asked to be released from attendance that Sabbath morn­ing and sought out this woman.

She found that discouragement had set in, and that procrastination in her decision had caused her to cast about for some way out. She had become confused in reading the books of a popular opposition, and had been working on the Sabbath. An earnest session that after­noon, one the next morning and a session with the evangelist the next afternoon saved that woman to the cause. Her objections have been removed, and she has frankly taken her stand. But how many slip out from our fingers in a large evangelistic program who might be saved to the cause had we used the fine-toothed comb process.

I follow the plan of asking one of our, workers to list all new members on a chart, with squares designating each Sabbath for a three-month period. Of course, the chart is not in evidence, but certain workers who know each of the new believers quietly check their attendance or absence. During our workers' meeting workers are assigned to give the needed assistance. As a result of this plan, we find that whenever there is a slump in the attendance at the Sabbath service, it is often caused by the carelessness of older members.

Perhaps solicitude for their interest might prove just as helpful in holding them. One writer has pointed out that the shepherd certainly could not have known at a glance that there were ninety-nine sheep in the fold and that one was missing. There must have been a careful count.

As to denominational periodicals, I seldom find people becoming discouraged or apostatizing when they faithfully read the Review and Herald. There is every danger that our young men, crowded with a scholastic program during their college years, do not get into the habit of reading it themselves and do not appreciate the rich deposits of blessing this periodical can leave in the lives of our people. The publishing house has been very co-operative in send­ing free copies of the Review over a period of six weeks for each family represented in the baptismal class. The people thus become ac­quainted with the paper, and it is not difficult to secure their subscription. Some confer­ences subsidize the first year's subscription for new members.

Another item of importance is the reading of our evangelistic periodicals. Our brethren have prepared in the Signs of the Times, Our Times, and like papers an evangelistic presenta­tion of our prophetic message. This will satisfy their desire for more evangelism, and be an avenue for soul winning among the uncon­verted members of families. The operation of a church library is a good idea. I have fol­lowed the plan of circulating copies of The Great Controversy, and urge the people to read the last portions. The people willingly read, and often purchase, the book recommended.

Participation in such a program is inval­uable training for younger workers. The need and seriousness of this matter is expressed in the following stirring lines :

"The work should not be left prematurely. See that all are intelligent in the truth, established in the faith, and interested in every branch of the work, before leaving them for another field. And then, like the apostle Paul, visit them often to see how they do. Oh, the slack work that is done by many who claim to be commissioned of God to preach His Word, makes angels weep."—Evangelism, pp. 337, 338.


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By GEORGE E. VANDEMAN, Instructor in Evangelism, Emmanuel Missionary College

February 1947

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