The Evangelism Ministry Director of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr. Amos Jimmy Markin, has said that the Church of God exists primarily for the salvation of souls and that any other assignment or responsibility comes to augment this core duty.
For this reason, he stated that the Church must not relent in her evangelistic efforts because sustaining the life of the Militant Church on earth depends on soul winning.
Apostle Dr. Markin made this assertion on Wednesday, January 28, 2021, when he gave a presentation on the topic, “Possessing the Nations through Personal Evangelism” at the Greater Accra Regional session of the ongoing Ministers and Wives’ Conference at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh.
In his exposition, he indicated that the prime aim for Christian evangelism is to give every person or peoples the valid opportunity to make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour irrespective of their personality, gender, race, nationality, place of residence, social standing or any such barrier.
He categorised the various types of evangelism into two – mass and personal evangelism. He explained that mass evangelism involves proclaiming the gospel to more than one person or a handful of people (Eg. rallies, crusades, Gospel Sundays, Digital Evangelism), whilst personal evangelism entails sharing the gospel of Christ with one person at a time.
He asserted that although both types of evangelism strategies should be employed by the church in pursuit of the Great Commission, personal evangelism (personal witnessing) is non-negotiable because it is the first calling of every Christian and the evident mark of a true discipled Christian. “It is the duty of every believer to preach the gospel message of Christ,” he reiterated.
Apostle Dr. Markin further noted that personal evangelism is important for every believer because it enables the believer to prove to be responsive or obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16).
Citing Daniel 12:3, John 4:36, 1 Corinthians 15:58 and Ephesians 6:8 as scripture references, he also stated that soul winning determines the eternal value of every Christian because the rewards of the soul winner are both on earth and in heaven.
“Every believer should win souls because there are special rewards and crowns for all who win souls into the Kingdom of God,” he said.
Among other reasons, the Evangelism Director said that Christians must evangelise because their Master, Jesus Christ, is a passionate soul-winner (Matthew 4:19, 1 Timothy 1:5), the harvest is very great and the labourers are few (Matthew 9:37-38, John 4:35), the blood of the unconverted will be required from their hands (Ezekiel 3:17-18), the horror of hell (Luke 13:5, John 3:16-18, Revelation 20:10), and the unfulfilled prophesies concerning Christ’s return (Matthew 24:14, Romans 10:14, Galatians 2:7, Revelation 7:9-10,)
Concluding his presentation, Apostle Dr. Markin observed that “during individual personal evangelistic engagements and in organised personal evangelism outreaches, people come to a place of frustration at certain points mostly after outreach when the fruits or converts are being followed up for discipling – either the individual (soul winner) hang their boots or express some frustration.
“The first truth is that unlike some other Christian endeavours, Christian Evangelism is of the heart and not of the mind. It must, therefore, become a lifestyle for any person who dares to undertake it. It is not a festival, nor a periodic one-touch programme, but a life-driven course as a permanent lifestyle.”
He, however, recommended some add-ons that are needed to make Christian evangelism more effective. He outlined biblical intercession (personal and corporate prayers for lost souls) and social interventions and social action (meeting the physical or social needs of new or potential converts) as some of the add-ons that facilitate the soul-winning enterprise of the church.
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