There are five important facts that should dominate the thinking and motivate the actions of every Seventh-day Adventist worker. They are: first, that God has a special message to be proclaimed to our world today; second, that every soul in the entire world needs to hear this message; third, that God has committed the task of proclaiming this, message to His church; fourth, that the time allotted for proclaiming that message is very short; and fifth, that there still remains an enormous segment of our world population who have not yet received the impact of that message.
The millions of people who crowd the urban areas of our lands and live in our mountains, plains, jungles, and deserts pose an almost overwhelming challenge to the gospel worker. We have sought to reach these millions by different methods of evangelism. These are all good methods but none can compare in effectiveness and in lasting results with the heaven-ordained plan of personal testimony by a united and militant church membership.
The church of Christ on earth was organized for missionary purposes, and the Lord desires to see the entire church devising ways and means whereby high and low, rich and poor, may hear the message of truth.—Christian Service, p. 72.
Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church, so that every one shall be working for Him according to his ability.—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 111.
We have sought to lead our laymen in South America into a new concept of the Christian's responsibility toward his neighbor. During recent months forty schools of lay evangelism have been conducted in the countries of our territory during which four thousand laymen have gone through an intensive program of preparation with classes in Methods of Personal Evangelism, The Art of Obtaining Decisions, Denominational History, and Bible Doctrines. This training has been given in the environment of solid classroom instruction in which student application has been most gratifying. Regular attendance and a high standard of attainment have characterized each school.
The immediate results have been most satisfying. Whole churches have sprung into action and have maintained a high percentage of personal witnessing.
We are wholly convinced that the greatest height of evangelistic attainment will be reached when all realize that "every follower of Jesus has a work to do as a missionary for Christ, in the family, in the neighborhood, in the town or city where he lives."--Christian Service, p. 18.
In Welfare Ministry, page 97, this pertinent question is parleyed: "How can the great work of the third angel's message be accomplished?" The same divinely inspired pen gives the answer: "It must be largely accomplished by persevering, individual effort, by visiting the people in their homes."
There are families who will never be reached by the truth of God's Word unless His servants enter their homes.—Evangelism, pp. 435, 436.
Wherever a church is established, all the members should engage actively in missionary work. They should visit every family in the neighborhood and know their spiritual condition.—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 296.
What a task!. In South America alone there are 30 million homes, but if each one of our members would visit just four homes a week, within a year we could visit every home in each of these lands.
This is the challenge that the Schools of Lay Evangelism are presenting to our believers, who are meeting that challenge on the crest of a wave of unparalleled personal evangelism.
