I recently watched a YouTube video from the Verge Network that really caught my attention. The presenter, Dave Ferguson, shared a study that followed two teams of missionaries in Thailand for two years. They had two different missional strategies to share the Good News. One team simply went to bless people in whatever ways God lead them. One team focused on converting people only through spoken word evangelism. Here are the results:
The “Blessers” group: 1. accomplished tremendous social good, and 2. saw 100 conversions. The “Converters” group: 1. accomplished no social good, and 2. saw only 2 conversions!
Out of the results of that study, these are the 5 recommendations for effective ways to bless your neighbours. The simple strategies come in an easy to remember acrostic: BLESS.
B – Begin with prayer
L – Listen
E – Eat together
S – Serve each other
S – Share your story of how Jesus changed your life.
This summer, my encouragement to you is to try this strategy in your own family and neighbourhood. I’m sure that you’ll see many examples of God transforming lives; both your own and your family and friends.