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Telephone Encouragers to Support Find it Here Outreach
10/05/2009
HARRODSBURG —Most Sunday nights, after the house gets quiet, Jerry Fowler goes to his kitchen table and talks to strangers.
Fowler does this so he can tell people from across the nation about Jesus. The construction supervisor volunteers as a “telephone encourager,” praying with people who call a toll-free number seeking spiritual information.
The encouragers are a strategy of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to both spread the message of Jesus and involve more Southern Baptists in sharing the gospel. NAMB sponsors a toll-free number—(888) Jesus2009—used for print and electronic media ads. It then routes callers to people like Fowler who are trained to inquire about callers’ spiritual condition and pray with them.
Telephone encouragers are also a key component for the Find it Here state-wide evangelism emphasis the Kentucky Baptist Convention is coordinating.
Nationally, nearly 3,900 Southern Baptists are trained telephone encouragers, according to N.S.R.K. Ravi, coordinator of NAMB’s Evangelism Response Center. Of those, approximately 850 regularly log on to take calls, he said.
In the Bluegrass State, 145 Kentuckians have trained to be telephone encouragers, and 25 or so regularly volunteer. Additionally, 24 Kentucky congregations have signed on to be “covenant churches,” promising a fast follow up to area residents who call the Evangelism Response Center.
KBC leaders are hoping more Kentucky Baptists will volunteer to help meet the need for more telephone encouragers.
Ravi said the response center is an ideal entry-level program for Christians to learn about sharing their faith. “Once they get into this and they see people get saved, they get bold and go knock on doors.”
Fowler, a member of Bethel Baptist Church near Harrodsburg, learned about the initiative last fall from a guest speaker at his church.
“I thought it would be a good way to learn how to witness,” Fowler said. He said he gives away Christian tracts but has been hesitant to witness one-on-one. “I’m a little bit shy about going up to someone you don’t know face-to-face.”
He completed an online training course in February and has been volunteering since the spring. Each time, he calls an automated service to log in to the system. He then spreads his witnessing materials on the kitchen table, prays and reads while waiting for a call. Many callers request prayer, he said. Some ask spiritual questions.
Fowler mostly volunteers on Sunday nights because his two children should be asleep. “I try to log on after their bed time.” Volunteers are asked to serve at least 35 hours a year, he added. “I try to do an hour a week.”
Callers often describe themselves as Christians, Fowler said, but volunteers are trained not to take it for granted. “You still ask the other questions, the more diagnostic questions to find out if they are or they aren’t.”
Fowler said he led one man to pray to make a profession of faith in Jesus. The caller had received evangelism materials from a coworker. The materials included the toll-free number. “He called because he wanted to know who we were affiliated with.”
Fowler said he explained the Christian faith and asked the man if he was ready to pray to receive Jesus as his personal savior. “That’s been the highlight of doing it. It’s been the greatest feeling in the world.”
KBC leaders hope many more Kentuckians call the toll-free number and telephone encouragers during the “Find it Here” evangelism emphasis. The effort is designed to help KBC-affiliated churches share the message of Jesus with every household in Kentucky. “Find it Here” includes neighborhood prayerwalks, advertising and door-to-door distribution of brochures explaining the Christian faith.
NAMB and KBC will jointly sponsor an advertising campaign to support the materials distribution in March, according to Ross Bauscher, KBC Evangelism Growth Team leader.
Ravi said the center received approximately 94,000 calls between 2006-08, or more than 600 per week. More than 5,000 callers made first-time professions of faith during that time, he added.
Fowler said serving as a telephone evangelist has made him less nervous about sharing his faith. “Any time you get to talk to someone you learn a little something,” he said. “I’ve learned not to be nervous when the phone rings.”
Kentucky Baptists interested in volunteering through the Evangelism Response Center can find out more at www.erconline.net. For more information about Find it Here, visit www.kybaptist.org/findithere.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
