According to Jeremiah 16 there are at least two kinds of workers for the Lord. One group is called fishers and the other hunters. I have always thought of the public evangelist as the fisherman, and of the colporteur as the hunter. Both types of workers are important, and should be more closely united for efficiency in the winning of souls.
Every evangelist has dozens of names of interested people who have come to his evangelistic meetings, but who do not accept the message, and who do not return to other meetings he may hold. The effort closes, and nothing more is done for these souls. We satisfy our selves by saying, "Well, they had their opportunity." Lists of names furnished by colporteurs can be used by the evangelist at the beginning of his meetings, and the colporteur can also be of help in the follow-up work of an effort. To make concrete my suggestions in a few words, I shall relate an experience which has demonstrated the efficiency of this plan.
In a certain northern city which was pre dominantly Catholic the evangelist had many people who attended but once or twice. Upon discovering that the meetings and lectures were conducted by Protestants, they became afraid, and the fear of being misled overwhelmed their interest. After a time these names were handed to the colporteur working in the city, who called on them with his books. Hundreds of dollars' worth of books were sold to these people, and many were interested in the message. In the second effort in the same city these people were again visited by the evangelistic company, and the workers found that their interest had not died, but that the books placed in many of the homes had developed an even greater interest. In one instance a whole family of strict Catholics were brought into the message largely as a result of the influence of the literature and books placed by the colporteur.
I find that the tendency among evangelists is to seek to get the names from the colporteur and have him help in the winning of souls, for getting that the evangelist or pastor can help to keep shoe soles on the colporteur. The evangelist can ask the colporteur to follow up interests, and at the same time furnish him with names of good prospects for books. He can also enroll many in the Bible school or pass out radio cards and other material that may help to keep these interested people in touch with the message.
I recognize that this plan demands representative, tactful, and judicious colporteurs. But I believe that if we would work more closely with these faithful hunters for God, many capable and tactful laymen in the ranks of our churches would also take up this important work. Many more would be less discouraged, and would find this work soul winning as well as remunerative enough to provide a sustenance for their families. By this plan the evangelist would have more baptisms, and his converts would be more solidly grounded in the third angel's message. We have hundreds of people dropping out of the church because of a lack of adequate knowledge of the message. People are grounded in the faith by the reading of our books and periodicals.
I wish to say that I have tried this plan of close cooperation and unity with the colporteur, and have found it very productive of souls. It brings together the work of these two departments of evangelization. Hundreds have been enrolled in the Bible correspondence schools, and visited from time to time by the colporteur. Many have come to meetings and been baptized as a result of these colporteur contacts. Space does not permit the relating of other experiences where this plan has produced results; but I am sure that if others would try this plan, more books would be sold, and more people would be enlightened concerning the great truths of God's last warning message.
