AMC
Go means go.
Go means Go.
Good things are happening in God’s church. COVID has closed a lot of doors. It closed the doors to Latin America during the summers of 2020 and 2021. But when God closes one door, He opens up another. Latin America Missions (Website) did not want to go two summers without campaigns. LAM reached out to Rob Whitacre and the House to House School of Evangelism to work together in a summer campaign called American Mission Campaigns (AMC). After the great success of our first campaign with the Oak Hill congregation in Rome, Georgia, we decided this needed to be a recurring event.
The purpose of American Mission Campaigns is to reach out to those in the United States. AMC is not a typical campaign where we just go out into the field. AMC is designed to train campaigners for successful door knocking with effective HTH strategies. We emphasize proper methods to knock doors, set up Bible studies, as training on evangelism. The program provides skills and tools for the workers who will then put their training into practice.
Doors Knocked
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People Talked To
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Contact Cards
(asking for help)
(asking for help)
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Baptisms
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Restorations
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The American Mission Field
It is time for the church of Christ in America to wake up! Unless changes are made, many of our children and grandchildren will not have congregations to attend. The church of Christ in the United States needs a cultural shift to focus on local evangelism. It is good for brethren to plan for foreign mission trips and spend countless dollars to go overseas, but say when plans are made for evangelizing local communities, workers are few and resources are scarce. Brethren, this must change!
Recently Latin American Missions and the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism joined together to conduct the first American Mission Campaign. Our goal is to duplicate in the United States what we do all over the world. We assembled a team of 150 Christians to work for six days in Rome, Georgia. We trained workers and went door to door with the gospel. When evangelizing in foreign countries, a simple invitation to a tent meeting can produce more contacts than a local congregation can bear. This is not how it works in America. Therefore, we are attempting a different approach.
What we do
First, we armed every participant with the tools needed to effectively evangelize the lost.
We cannot expect soldiers to fight unarmed. Thanks to contributions made by congregations and individuals, we were able to provide every worker with an AMC backpack full of door hangers, tracts, contact cards, study methods, House to House/Heart to Heart, bookmarks, and training manuals/books.
Second, we spent almost 25 hours training Christians how to evangelize.
Most congregations have an army of untrained soldiers. Some still try to conduct campaigns like churches did during the 1950s and 1960s—Christians are sent to the streets with meeting flyers and Bibles without training. This is a failing model in 2021, and it results in discouragement. AMC uses an approach adapted to our changing culture that has resulted in a 35 percent success rate for gaining a contact for return visits.
Third, we set realistic goals.
Many local campaign efforts end in “failure” because the expectations are not biblical. We do not come to baptize but to teach. The Great Commission is a reach and teach order. Our goal is to go into the local community and meet the people—develop contacts. Jesus said to look up as the fields are white unto harvest (John 4:35). Bringing the love of the church of Christ to every door in the community brings results.
Fourth, we followed Christ’s teachings to be “wise as serpents and subtle as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
Since forming contacts is the goal, we approach strategically, using kindness, gentleness, and love to till the soils of the heart. We bring these gifts in the name of the Lord to show compassion to those in need and to offer healing to those who hurt. By using the New Testament tools of benevolence, prayer, and simple gospel teaching, we appeal to those who are looking for answers to religious hypocrisy, confusion, and division.
Fifth, we practice what we preach!
HTHSOE is not just theory or trial balloon. Since beginning the school six years ago, HTHSOE has recorded 3,748 baptisms. We take the working model of the New Testament and demonstrate its power by practicing it all over the United States. We send out weekly reports (Reaching the Lost) not only to encourage others but also to keep everyone accountable. We seek cultural changes that produce lasting results.
