Wales can celebrate a long tradition of having effective public preachers or proclaimers of the Gospel but we have not been so comfortable at bearing witness to the love of Christ on a one-to-one basis.  That was one of the key messages of guest speaker Lindsay Brown, head of Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe, at the online Spring meeting of the Gwent Baptist Association on 24 March.

“Effective evangelism is also a matter of gossiping the Good News of Jesus and his saving power every day with our families, neighbours and friends. The practical, simple approach is often far better and God can use anyone provided they are obedient to Christ”, Mr. Brown said.

Referring to the Book of Acts chapter 8  and the account of Philip being led by the Spirit to witness to the Ethiopian,  Mr Brown highlighted a number of other key principles of evangelism including: being open and sensitive to the Gospel every day; asking God to lead us to individuals who have the potential to do a great job for God; using questions to draw people into discussion and self-examination of their own beliefs; recognising the danger of drifting away from focussing upon the person of Christ and asking God to lead us to people ready to receive the Gospel.

“Please do not give up on family, friends and neighbours because God can and will open hearts”, said Mr Brown who also served as the International Director for the Lausanne Movement for World Evangelization.

More than 50 people attended the event at which a book written by Blackwood-based evangelist Ron Spillards – “How Long?…Until!” – was officially launched. Others taking part during the evening were The Revds. Tim Moody, Richard Miles Marc Owen, Huw Stephens and Jonathan Forman along with Mr. Geoffrey Champion.