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Looking up, looking outActivate's vision to reach people with no church connectionAs the sound of 2,000 women’s voices filled the Westminster Central Hall last October for the London Women’s Convention, my mind was racing. It raced forwards to that glorious day when those whose hope is ‘in Christ alone’ will be with him — and my longing was for more to be added daily to that number. It raced backwards to my childhood memories of praise filling that very same Hall at the Brethren Missionary Meetings. For it was there and then that my earliest impressions were formed about our life and purpose. Speaker after speaker, many of them women, would describe a particular people laid on their heart, moving to live among them, becoming familiar with local culture, offering their professional and personal skills to make a difference in that community and in all things to reflect and articulate the changing power of the gospel. That is why I love working with Activate. It exists for one thing only: to encourage and resource believers to be who they are, where they are — for God. Its entire vision is for all to see that we are ambassadors for Christ, uniquely placed to connect with those among whom we live, move and have our being; our circle of influence. Over the 40 years of Activate’s existence (previously as Christian View-point) the world has changed enormously, as have opportunities in evangelism. Anecdotal evidence suggests that 21st century unchurched women are more likely to attend a course, a training event or a meeting which adds value to their already busy lives by addressing a felt need or a life challenge with which they struggle or for which they aim. This is why Activate women can be found running parenting courses, book groups, health seminars, lifestyle courses, relationship events, topical discussions, craft workshops, work-based get-togethers, professional support groups and far too many more to mention. Where is the gospel?I can already hear your question: where is the gospel in those things — are you not watering down the message which will really change the world? Let me be clear about our aim and purpose. Activate seeks to reach those with no church connection — many of whom have grown up in a world devoid of links with the historic faith. Few of them are looking to Christianity for anything at all; they know no Bible stories, have no image of Christians other than the negative media portrayals and are products of an age of instant answers and wanting to look and feel good. No mates?Combine this with the results of our informal research among believers from sound evangelical churches on the subject of outreach. A worryingly-high proportion admit to having few, if any, meaningful contacts with non-church people. Let me give you some of the other top answers to personal involvement in making the faith known: I am scared / it’s not my gift / too busy running church activities / people are not interested / I prefer to give them a booklet to read. I hasten to add that we found some wonderful things going on as well, but you will agree that there is cause for concern. You see, Activate’s prayer is that we will no longer need to exist because every believer is active in reaching out; that ministers and clergy will have the constant encouragement of a purpose driven congregation who take the truth of the word preached, grow in faith and seek to tell others the good news. Outreach whereverExperience shows that wherever we put on a training session, some people respond as if they had never realised they could make a difference themselves. Think of the years of sermons, prayers and missions that each of them has attended, only to result in ordinary members not knowing they could take the initiative to connect with outsiders? Even some churches have confined their outreach activities to putting on an evangelistic course each year — Alpha or Christianity Explored. These are excellent for those at that stage of enquiry but how will outsiders ever get to that stage without opportunity to help them think? That is why we define our target group as pre-such courses. If you know the Engels scale this would be for points one to five (those with no connection with the faith up to those who are starting to ask questions), after which a course would be ideal. Activate offers presentations to inspire outreach wherever an interested group can be gathered. Two presentations are combined in our recent book Unlocking the Door (Authentic Media). Our quarterly Activate magazine is a resource in itself as are the website and seasonal ideas packs. The annual conference tackles contemporary issues and highlights personal stories of outreach adventures. People reaching people; we know from Scripture this is God’s strategy to build his kingdom. Retired, working, parent, child, grandparent, young, sporty, health-challenged, rich, poor, academic, creative, energetic, tired, overworked, underpaid — whoever you are and whatever your circumstances, think of others to whom you could connect through what you have in common and ask God to take your desire to serve him and multiply its effect. Could you plan a simple shared coffee, a visit out together, a bigger event, a day conference; what would be appropriate for you and for them? Breaking new ground in a secular society may involve ways of communication or events which offend or scare believers of a traditional hue; but, with Jesus as our example in all things, we read that he met people of all sorts, listened, talked, gave time, shared meals, became a friend — and was criticised as inappropriate by the strict religious people of his day. Paul also took time to learn the habits, attitudes and language of the places where he worked and must have been thought oddly out of step with traditional Jewish methods of teaching. We must be prepared to put ourselves out, perhaps even out of favour with some critics, in order to win hearts and minds. As the Bishop of Lewes said recently: ‘We need a lot more apostolic daring to make the truth we love accessible to those we know’. By any meansIf you are in a biblical, culturally aware church, actively engaged in creative evangelism, you may wonder if Activate is necessary at all. We are always interested to hear of your experiences and encouragements — and covet your prayer for our work towards the day when making known the truth of the Lord Jesus is as natural to believers as the joy of their own salvation; the day we can gladly lay down the task. Meanwhile, we continue to encourage and inspire all efforts in order ‘by any means to save some’. People with a heart for the gospel and for the people around them can be full of surprises; you might wonder what on earth they will do next; they are not so busy that they cannot be spontaneous but they are always on the move in terms of making a difference. It is not always what they do but who they are which speaks loudest of the faith which drives them. They love the Lord and they love life. These are Activate people. Hazel Gaydon,
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