Bethany Baptist Church of West Covina, California successfully launches a brand new type of visitation evangelism . . . by Robert L. Owen 1 “ F i w e r e A C o m m u n i s t , I’d be scared to death of this type of evangelism going into effect,” said Jack Chick, creator o f “Operation: Somebody Cares,” a brand new approach to reach into com munities for Christ. Chick was referring to the concentrated, house- to-house evangelistic outreach effort used by the Bethany Baptist Church of West Covina, Califor nia, recently. Basically, the operation consisted of a handful o f dedicated laymen who visited 100 homes six times each in a three-week period. “ It was rapid-fire brainwashing with the Gos pel,” Chick said. “ And it paid off.” At the heart of the plan was the set of cartoon- type booklets, written and illustrated by Jack Chick, with such gripping titles as: “ Somebody Loves Me,” “Holy Joe,” “ This Was Your Life,” “ A Demon’s Nightmare,” “ Somebody Goofed,” and “ The Beast,” with a simple set o f instructions for their use. Instructions include such basic information as: how to make the master map o f the area; how to divide into teams; how to obtain permission for a religious survey; the mechanics of meeting and talking to prospects, and the keeping o f records. Workers are urged to : “ Choose your own sched ule, but come—-blizzard or flood. Don’t stop the pro gram once it starts.” At the outset, Pastor Joe Kirkwood, in charge of Bethany’s Outreach Program, contacted Jack Chick. The two o f them, with the knowledge and co-operation of Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson, pastor of Bethany, planned the. strategy for their program. They announced their need for several laymen who would co-operate in making an all-out attempt to win souls in the community. From the willing vol unteers, ten were selected: five men and five women. When instructing the group, Kirkwood and Chick told them, “We’re offering you a tough, thankless job — without glory. You’ll experience occasional rudeness and embarrassment as you talk to people. But you’ll also be overwhelmed with a
T H I KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs