Karratha Anglican Church used lockdown to kick off a program to evangelise their city.
Minister Frank Nicol said the congregation spent 12 months in preparation, trying simple things with the aim of leading up to an outreach event and a course for enquirers.
“When lockdown first hit in 2020 I thought, ‘Wait a minute, let’s make the most of this time and start planning church life,” said Minister Frank Nicol.
A small team began by reading the book The Vine Project and putting together a simple plan which they shared with the church.
“This helped get everyone on the same page – united around the desire to share their faith in Jesus with non-believing friends and family.
“We started by encouraging people to focus on being Christian in their daily life, at work and in the community. So, we did simple things like invite friends to join us on a church day out at Python Pool.”
People committed to praying regularly for each other to have opportunities to personally share the gospel with specific named friends.
“Separate to this, we have a young guy who is a natural evangelist and so a couple of us decided to try some walk-up evangelism. People were much keener to chat than you might think.
“Follow up conversations naturally occur because Karratha is not big and so we keep seeing people around town
“Our big activity was a Q and A event in a local bar which focussed on the topic of Christianity and suffering, and how Jesus is our hope in the pain.”
Eight non-believers came and there was a very positive response with genuine interest in the topic from guests. Frank said it was also an opportunity to show the local community that it was possible to have respectful conversations about controversial views – or even about taboo issues – and not damage friendships.
Finally, the church held Christianity Explored with six non-believers. Wonderfully, one person who had been investigating the claims of Christ for about a year, decided after the course that she was ready to commit to follow Jesus. We praise God that the church family will soon celebrate her baptism!
“We thank God for the way He used our simple steps to strengthen our little church and to encourage each of us to overcome our fears and share the words of eternal life with people who are without hope,” Frank said.