ideas for following up planner and survey contacts

One of the passages of Scripture I keep going back to this year is 2 Chronicles 20:12.  When I start to feel overwhelmed at the ministry that the Lord has called me to and when I think of how little and limited and ‘resource-less’ I am, I pray the words of Jehosophat back to God:  We are powerless…nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.  I pray that you are keeping your eyes on Him as well.

As promised I would like to give you some ideas of what to do when you meet with student contacts from the planners or from surveys:

-for those who are interested in participating or organizing a discussion group about the Bible and Christianity (from the planner survey).   You can meet with them and ask any of the following questions:

                •   What was your religious background as a child?

                •   Was your experience positive, negative, or neutral?

                •   Where are you now in your spiritual journey?

                •   What words would you use to describe your life spiritually?

                •   How would you describe your belief in God?

                •   Where would you say you are at with God?

It makes people feel safer when you share brief answers to these questions first, then give them the opportunity to fully answer the questions themselves.  You basically want to show them that you are open to a two-way discussion about God and the Bible as well as get a basic idea of where they are spiritually. 

It would be good to bring along an example of what you will be discussing in the study.  The Agape ministry in the UK has an evangelistic Bible study called Connect that you can use with seekers.   I will try to find you other resources to use in this kind of a setting. 

Of course you will want to have a few times and places to suggest for the discussion group to meet.  I would suggest starting it right away.  If you wait too long to start the group, your potential group members may lose interest or fill their time up with other activities.  You can always continue to add new people to the group as you continue to meet with your survey or planner contacts.

-for general discussion groups (a spiritual discussion group or ideas of material to use in an English club): try these Focus Group questions for a 1-3 week discussion that can help to lead toward spiritual conversations. 

-if you have the opportunity to simply share the gospel with someone, then I would suggest going through the Four Spiritual Laws.  Please go through the booklet as a discussion and don’t use it to ‘preach’ to them!  You find out more by asking questions as you go through the booklet about their beliefs about God and where they are right now in their relationship with Him.  This should give you a better idea of what they need in order to move closer to God.