By Mike Goodwin, President • Evangelistic International Ministries
God’s heart is to bring many sons and daughters to glory (Heb. 2:10). As believers, we understand we have a calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ. Over the years, I have seen many methods and programs developed to help the church reach others with the gospel. I have also met others who had no need for a program because of their passion to see people come to Christ. One thing I’ve learned is that whether you have been trained to be a gospel witness or simply have a burning desire to be one, your gospel presentation must be intentional. It must have a purpose.
Evangelistic International Ministries (EIM) is driven to share the gospel intentionally and purposefully. Through Shepherd’s Bag distribution, Overseas Bible Schools, medical and dental teams, house-to-house evangelism, showing “The Jesus Film” or through crusade preaching, we are focused on preaching a clear gospel message with the purpose and intention of seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
When EIM goes into a country with the purpose of doing evangelism, we work directly with a pastor or church planter to help build up the local church. Recently, we took a team to Tanzania to conduct an Overseas Bible School. We worked in the village of Bubiki (Boo-Be-Key), where a new church is being planted. The Bubiki church planter had completed an extensive Bible course and was then trained in evangelism by his pastor, Renatus Kanunu. (Pastor Renatus serves as EIM Director of Tanzania, as well as Country Coordinator for BMA Global.)
The first day began with house-to-house evangelism. We sent out five teams, each with an interpreter and someone from the local church plant. When someone accepted Christ as Savior, the person from the local church plant wrote down their names so they could make follow-up visits after we left. In the afternoon, we conducted our Overseas Bible School program. When we conduct our Bible School for children, we also teach the parents and adults the same lessons.
The curriculum we used was created by EIM and starts with creation, ending at the cross. In the evening, “The Jesus Film” was shown at four locations in and around the village. During the five days we worked, we had the privilege of sharing the gospel with over 4,000 people. Everyone who made a profession of faith had their name and home location written down. Each person will receive a follow-up visit from Pastor Emanuel and the church members.
In September, we hope to return to Bubiki with a BMMI team and an EIM dental team. We plan to follow up with those we made contact with in June and conduct further evangelism. Our goal is to saturate the village of Bubiki with the gospel. Pastor Emanuel and his team will have many people to contact and disciple. We pray that by this time next year, he will have baptized hundreds and will be running over 500 each Sunday.
This is what the purpose and intention of evangelism is for EIM. We strive to never do evangelism where there is no opportunity for follow-up by a local congregation. Of course, there have been times when this was not possible, but we aim to make that the exception and not the rule.
Finally, I was told recently by a pastor who traveled with us on our last trip, “Mike, I know of no other mission organization who does evangelism like EIM. Especially, the house-to-house evangelism.” If you would like to be part of an organization whose purpose and calling are to do evangelism, contact us. We can share with you how you can be used in the ministry of global evangelism.
You may contact me at mgoodwin@eimworldwide.org or by phone at 870-904-2091.
