Start your own outreach ministry

[baptistgal]

Witnessing using free gospel tracts. Lots of information here on getting started.
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/savedbygracealone/GT.html

How to use gospel tracts in personal soulwinning.
As a single mother who desires to honor God with my life & has a passion for reaching lost souls, soulwinning of course is always on my heart. But because of the constant demand of my attention that I receive daily from my kids, it can sometimes become difficult to find the time. Not just to get out and do soulwinning, but to even focus on it.

Over the years, I have found that gospel tracts are a priceless tool that can be used by Christians for reaching souls for Christ. This, of course, will never take the place of sharing your testimony in one on one soulwinning, so please understand that I am not trying to say that. However, what a thing it is, to be able to leave a trail of tracts every where you go! Not to mention, this is something that your children can do also! Its that easy.

Through prayer, God can use each piece of gospel material you have left to reach someone who is in need of hearing the words it contains. The words of hope, forgiveness, love, comfort & salvation! Tracts can sometimes go where you cannot. People are more willing at times to pick up a gospel tract & read it, than to sit and listen to you share God's words with them face to face. It is less pressure on them, and not to mention on you. Another good thing, is that they can take the tract with them, and possibly share it with others they know resulting in the furtherance of the gospel. The ways God can use tracts to reach folks is of course pretty much endless.

Through this site I would like to give a few examples & ideas on how you can use tracts effectively. Now, please bear with me, I am NOT a writer & my English is far less than perfect, however I trust with the help of the Lord, I can communicate to you a few ideas on how YOU can become more involved in personal soulwinning through the distribution of gospel printed literature.

We must first remember, sharing the gospel is not just something we "should do," however something we "MUST." We are commanded by God to do so, and will be held accountable. Please take that thought into consideration before reading on.

"First of all, what is a tract?" A gospel tract is simply a little piece of paper declaring God's words regarding Salvation. There are tracts available on many different topics, but each is pretty much geared toward showing folks out of the Bible how they can be saved.

Most tracts have the addresses of the ministry that printed them right on the back, so the person is able to contact them for further help if needed, or to let someone know they have received Christ as their personal Saviour as a result of them making the tracts. There is often a little space on the back of tracts for you to put your name & address too, if this is something that you would like to do. We at Sure Mercies Outreach receive several gospel tracts that have been returned to us in the mail as a result of us sending them out to people. But again, this is optional, you don't have to let anyone know you are the one who has left the tract for them.


"OK, now I know what a tract is ... but where do I get them?" I'm glad you asked!
Through the years I have found several WONDERFUL tract printing ministries. And best of all, they offer gospel tracts 'FREE as the Lord provides'. This means that you will be able to get free tracts directly from the Lord through the hands of his faithful children. Here you can find the names, addresses, email addresses & web addresses of some of the best gospel tract printing ministries in the world. (If you know of a few that I do not have listed, PLEASE email me and fill me in.) http://www.angelfire.com/mi/savedbygrac ... index.html

Take the time, if you would, to visit these folks and make a request of how many gospel tracts you could prayerfully use. Perhaps you can start off small and once you have distributed all they have sent, you can order more!

Another great idea would be to share this information with others! This obviously is something that I love to do. Let people know about how they can begin to use gospel tracts for the winning of souls & where they can get them freely. I trust more people would find soulwinning a huge blessing instead of a hindrance if they knew of the many wonderful ways it can be done. Make it fun!

Some ways you might share this information would be -

* Add a link on your website pointing to this information. Encourage other webmasters you may know to do the same. The more people learn about gospel tracts, the more likely they are to begin a personal ministry by using them. Lord willing of course.

*If you don't have a website, you might want to consider making one to use for this purpose. Pray about it. If the Lord would have you to do something like this, you can get a basic website that is free & easy to set up from several Internet sources. Just look around on the web for such services. Sure Mercies Outreach uses a free site provided by angelfire.com

* Share the idea of gospel tracts with other Christians you may know. (Bible study groups, church, neighbors, homeschool groups & so on.) Maybe even bring a bunch to start them off in their own witnessing & show them where they can obtain more if they feel it is something they would like to continue using.

*Bring a bunch to church, ask permission from your Pastor or Youth Pastor to set them out for others to use as they prayerfully could & make it your ministry to keep the supply fresh! You can do the same in local Christian book stores. Set them out for people to obtain freely.

*Start a "Tract Distribution Team". This can be a group from Church, school, a group of mothers, fathers, teenagers, or who ever you can round up! Take charge & do what it would take to start a soulwinning machine! Of course, this should be done through much prayer & Lord willing.

"OK, I got my tracts, told others about them, now what do I do with them?" Hey, I am beginning to like your questions! The answer is of course "The sky is the limit"!

There are so many ways you can use tracts, it is pretty much impossible for me to tell of them all. I guess what I'm wanting to do is encourage you to be creative! I will give you some great ideas to start you off, but don't just limit yourself to these.

A dear Christian lady has recently suggest to me that I mention the importance of how we must be sure NOT TO VIOLATE ANY LAWS when distributing tracts. So be sure you are acting in accordance with the law before you make your first move. Also, make sure what your doing is not done in a rude or distasteful manner where others may find it offensive. Pray first & ask God how He can use you to share tracts, you will be surprised with the ideas He will put into your head. You might also want to pray that God will give you the boldness to share tracts & that He will open new doors of opportunity for you to be a witness.

Some ideas & examples would be:

* Leave a gospel tract with a decent tip at restaurant for your server, regardless how good/bad the service. It will be a testimony of God's grace & love to the person who will be receiving it from you. (It don't hurt to be extra kind to them before hand.) You also don't want to miss out on the chance to leave a few tracts in the restaurant lobby, bathrooms, & phone booth. Many restaurants also have tack boards for you to leave things on for others to see (such as business cards, ad's & so on). This is a good place to put a few tracts, as well as on the gum ball machines some restaurants have.

*Those donation boxes you see all over the place, PERFECT for leaving a tract in. It is almost an open invitation to stick one in. (Don't forget your donation).

Depending upon what type of restaurant you are at, there may be other places you can think of. If it is a children's fun zone type place, there are of course tons of places you can leave tracts. Again, BE CREATIVE! You can even stick a tract in the ash tray they usually have sitting outside the restaurant before the entrance. Hey, people will look there! Or what about by the pop machine, condiments table, salad bar?

Another idea would be for drive thru restaurants, it is easy to hand someone a tract while telling them thank you for their service & your food. If you have an extra buck, stick one in with your tract. People will take it & it will be easier for you to give it.

The best way to make sure you have tracts with you, is to place a stack of them in your glove compartment for easy access! You will know that if ever a moment comes up, you will be ready to hand one out, or two, or three! Make sure to keep a good supply on hand. If you are one who carries a purse, diaper bag, brief case, wallet & so on ... you can also keep a handful in there. Be ready at all times!

Something else you may want to do is leave tracts with people you speak to briefly, such as a cashier at a store, restaurant, gas station, bank, car wash, check out lines, DR's office, hospital, schools, nursing homes, hotel front desks, libraries, biker rallies & other such places. These are people God's puts in our path and we must use each opportunity to share the gospel with them. Something you might say is "May I leave something with you for you to read when you get the time, it was really nice speaking with you" Or something to that effect, of course depending upon what type of conversation you made prior. Something better could be "Excuse me, did you get one of these?" This will save you from hearing "What is it?". Most people will just reach out and grab it while saying "No, I didn't... Thanks" like they were missing out on something.

If you are a people person, take time to care! If you see a lady with children at a local restaurant having a tough time and/or looks like her hands are full & could use a bit of encouragement, ask the Lord how He could use you to be a blessing. An example of this might be to ask this ladies server to give you her bill and volunteer to pay it without her knowing & give the server a tract to give her in its place when they are finished eating. You can even stick around to make sure it is done. The blessing of this could lead to the salvation of this entire family! God will take your gifts & use them to His honor & glory.

Of course you don't have to use money with your tracts, that was just ONE idea of literally millions. Perhaps you can open the door for a stranger & say a few kind words of encouragement to them while giving them a tract & inviting them to your church. Kindness goes a long way! Again, I suggest that you pray & ask God how he can use you. He will answer.

OK, now for some more great ideas!
If you are at a bank, leave a few tracts here & there. Even if your in the drive thru, stick a tract in your empty tube before you leave. If you are at a post-office, stick a tract next to the pen where people come to fill out paper work before heading to the counter. If there is an opportunity, you can even leave a tract on a few cars on your way in. No one has to see you, just leave it and go. God will do the rest.

Yet another idea would be to enclose a tract with every letter, invitation, bill & so on that you mail, if you are enclosing a tract, please be sure that the content of each piece of mail is God honoring giving a good testimony to the receiver. If you don't do much mailing, START! Think of all the friends, neighbors, coworkers, family members, old class mates & strangers you "know but don't know" who are unsaved. You can pick up a few greeting cards & send them off with a tract. You can even send tracts through the mail without them knowing you sent it. Something I like to do is send a card that says "Jesus Loves You" with a gospel tract. Again, God will use it.

Some people you might include would be teachers, paper boy, mail man, girl/boy scout leaders, DR's, elderly folks you know of, parents of your children's friends, garbage pick up workers, cable TV man, pharmacist, local grocer, class mates & more!

An idea that I got from Fellowship Tract League is to make use of your junk mail! This can be done by sending a gospel tract in every postage paid reply envelope you receive & are not using. EXCELLENT THINKING!

You do not have to limit this idea to postal mail. You can also enclose a gospel tract with each piece of email you send. There are many gospel tracts you can copy & paste into the end of each piece of email you send. If your needing one, please let me know, I'll get one to you, or you can even make your own. Encourage others to pass it on once you send it, you'd be surprised at how many actually do.

How about using the idea of e-books to share your own personal testimony tract or what about message boards, forums, chat rooms & other like tools for sharing the gospel. (Please be sure to follow all rules to avoid a bad testimony or getting into trouble.)

*When your on vacation, send a few tracts back home to your state. The unsaved person you choose to send them to will never know who sent it! Again, it is always a good idea to enclose a few words like "Your special to God!" this always helps.

*If you are in a position at work to do so, bring a few dozen donuts for everyone at the office, plant, break room or so on. You can leave a stack of tracts in with the donuts with a sign that says "Compliments of Jesus." Be creative, this certainly isn't the only way this can be done to reach people.

*How about having a special place somewhere near the door of your home for easy access to gospel tracts for when you have company. If you are not home, place the tracts outside your door with a small message saying "Sorry we missed you, please take one & call again." You never know who the Lord will send your way. It is always best to be ready!

Another thing I have found helpful is to leave myself a note near the door "Did you forget the tracts?" I get so mad at myself when I get 5 miles from home & realize I have forgotten my tracts! This helps me to remember.

You can leave tracts at rest stops, county fairs, main events, ball parks, beaches, corner stores, on parked cars along streets, pass them out to folks you see walking down side walks, news paper racks, elevators, public restrooms, libraries, parades, coat rooms, YMCA's, local gyms, work out clubs, day cares, parties, leave at friends homes while visiting, funeral homes, weddings, play grounds, school, school buses, lunch room tables, bowling alleys, roller skating rinks, local book stores, cafeterias, any counter top at any place where people will be, taxi cabs, airplanes, trains, bus stops, the factory work place, airports, t-trains, locker rooms, movie theaters, laundromats, court houses or county buildings & hospital waiting rooms.

More ideas would be to use tracts when visiting your pets vet, parking lots, golf courses, lodges, resorts, public swimming areas, auto shops, camp grounds, bottle return departments, you can even use tracts when you need that "quick piece of paper" to give someone your phone number! This works better than gum wrappers!

You can tape them to pop machines, vending machines, gas pumps, trash cans, light posts, pay phones, in the back window of your car & any thing else you can stick tape to! Did I mention elevator doors?

If you are at the mall, you can leave tracts on benches all down the main hall. You can even place a few tracts in the dressing rooms of your local department stores while visiting. Leave them in shopping carts you use, or see on your way into a store. You can even push a few carts back into the store while sticking a tract in it, making it ready for someone to use. How about the mall's game room? Literally every where you go, you can leave a tract. It is so simple.

*Give a tip to a person you normally wouldn't consider giving a tip to. Cook, bus boy, carnival ride operator, guard at an event, greater & so on. Include a tract of course. When giving tracts be sure to remember people you normally DO give tips to also. Such as your delivery boy or hair stylist.

*Read a short gospel tract over your telephone answering machine.

*Before you return your books to the library, stick a few tracts in the books.

*Drop a few tracts in the "Video Return" box outside of a video store or any other type of drop box you see. This will work even with suggestion boxes at some businesses. You can even leave a few tracts in the photo development drop box.

EVEN MORE GREAT IDEAS!
*Stick a tract on flowers you send to a friend at the hospital. (What about a stranger)?

*If your having a rummage sale, garage sale, yard sale or bake sale, set up a pile of gospel tracts to give out in each bag full of stuff you sell. Encourage Christians you might run into to take a handful with them! You can even stick a tract in a few of the items you are selling, such as books & desk drawers.

*Mail a tract to a prisoner or shut in. You can obtain this information on the Internet, alot of inmates have their addresses online. Good thing about this - usually more than one person will read it!

*Stick tracts in public phone books or other public information books. You can even leave a tract in the menu your server takes away, or stick a few tracts in the napkin holder.

*Sunday school teachers, give tracts to your students. Encourage their use.

*Leave a few tracts on your desk at work, perhaps it will bring up conversation.

*Have a church/youth group "TRACT RACE." This can be done like some scavenger hunts are, but alittle different. Divide your teams up into 4 + 1 responsible driver. Each team has 5,000 gospel tracts. They have to create their own game plan & try to outsmart the other teams. The first group to distribute them ALL wins!

*Walk down the side walk & leave a few tracts on each front porch you come to. If your in a city, stick a few tracts near alleys or places where homeless people might find them. You may also see the occasional street corner act seeking pocket change for providing your entertainment, don't pass this up, stick your tract & donation in. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel!

*Graduation parties are perfect for tracts! Loads of places to leave them! How about family reunions, picnics, Christmas parties & what about birthdays, anniversaries & retirement parties? If you are at someone's home & if you get a chance, leave a tract in the pocket of a loved ones coat, or stick a few in magazines you may see laying around the places you visit. Often times, there are so many people at parties, the chances you have of doing this are wide open! Maybe even stick a few tracts in places they would not look until they do some heavy duty cleaning, like on top of the fridge.

Earlier I had mentioned leaving a tract in a loved ones coat pocket. Other ideas here would be for a parent to stick one into their teenage son or daughters coat, backpack, lunchbox & so on. This could be intended for a witness to them or simply to remind them to be a witness to others. We can also turn this idea around, a Christian teen can keep a tract in his/her pockets. Perhaps while unsaved Mom or Dad does laundry that week, the Lord will use the tract to minister to them!

*At some big attractions they offer lockers for storing your items in while visiting. You might find them at local roller skating rinks, swimming parks, children's fun zones, malls, amusement parks & so on. Stick a few tracts in unused lockers, & of course leave one in yours when your finished. You may even have a locker room at work?

*Do you work in an environment where you share company cars, trucks, copy machines, folders, tractors, work spaces, desks, tool boxes, computers or like items? Perfect places to leave tracts!

*If you are sending gifts to people, include a tract. This can go for any occasion! Perhaps you can make cookies or a fruit basket & take it next door to your widow neighbor along with a gospel tract & let her know your there for her if she needs you. Maybe even offer to pray with them about their needs.

*Some other relating ideas would be to prepare a home cooked meal for a family going through a tough time. Drop off your meal items to them, let them know your praying for them & somehow include a tract. They will be blessed to know you cared.

*Perhaps you know an usaved family struggling with financial situations. If the Lord would move you to purchase a bag or two of groceries for them, you can stick a few tracts in & drop the bags off on their front porch.

*If you are donating household items/clothing, stick a few tracts in along with the items. Again, think of someone you might be a blessing to when giving & PRAY about it.

*Stick tracts in each item you rent or loan. This would include videos, bowling shoes, skate rentals, car rentals, games, CD's, audio tapes, or anything else you can think of.

*On Halloween, give tracts instead of candy or with candy. One year my kids & I went out for Halloween, instead of trick or treating, we went to people's homes giving out gospel tracts. Make the most of things like this, see what you can do to get the gospel out there!

*Have a missionary you support? Send them an occasional fresh supply of gospel tracts in which ever language they are needing. They will use them!

*Give tracts to toll booth workers, parking garage attendants, bell hops, valley parking attendants & gas pumpers. You can also leave tracts with a tip for your hotel room maid or at the hotel ice machine.

*In your state you may have people collecting donations for different charities. (Holidays, hospitals, firefighters & so on.) Stick a few bucks in with a tract! The Lord will bless your witness in some way.

*If it is a possibility for you, distribute tracts from a booth you set up a local flea market, county fair or bazaar. You can even ad tracts to your already existing displays if you are a merchant.

*Saved spouse, stick one in your unsaved spouses lunchbox. Maybe a personal note along with it.

*If your state has a huge 4th of July celebration, you can get a friend to join you in passing out thousands of tracts to people you run into. This would also be good for families to do together. If people refuse them from you, don't take it to heart, just remember they did the same to Jesus. You plant the seed, God will bring the increase.

*Parents get your kids involved! Plan a day out loaded with "SOULWINNING" fun! Have your kids make "Tract Packets" or something like that before you go. They can color them, stamp them with stampers, and stuff each packet with a few tracts. Explain to them why sharing the gospel is so important! Perfect learning experience for them,(and for you!)

After you finish, plan a few places you can visit where your kids can leave their packets. (You'll notice how proud of their packets they are as they distribute them!) This might include any fast food restaurant, park, relatives homes you visit or even pass them out at Church! Christians from church can take the tracts your children has given them to use in reaching others THEY know. Make a fun day of it! Have your children each think of their own idea, they have AWESOME imaginations!

*Here is a terrific idea! Attention parents, children, families, individuals, youth groups or entire Sunday school classes - this is a FUN creative long term project you can all work on for the reaching of lost souls! Here it is,, ready?......PLANT A GARDEN! This garden can be full of ANYTHING! Flowers, tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, melons, green beans, you name it! You can call this "The GARDEN Of Souls."

Here is what you do. After you have all tended to your gardens & the items you have planted are ready for picking, prepare some paper sacks, baskets or anything else you can use to put them in. However, BEFORE you fill them up full of goodies STICK A TRACT IN!

Here is a for instance: A bag of tomatoes. Stick a tract in the bottom of a white paper sack. On top of that tract, place 5 nice shinny tomatoes & fold the top of the sack down.

After you have finished this, place your items a few at a time on a table you have set up close to the road & put up a sign that says "FREE VEGETABLES!" People will LOVE THIS! As they come & receive your free gifts, they will be taking the gospel home with them. Not to mention they will have a good & open attitude about your tract when they find it. If the person is already a Christian, perhaps they will replicate your idea next planting season!

Some idea's with the flowers. On a good day when you have lots of time to spend on the activity, pick a bunch of your flowers. Prepare ahead of time some gospel tracts with a hole punched at the top corner of each. Take some white Christmas ribbon and tie 1 tract to each flower with a nice pretty bow. You & your children can take these flowers & distribute them anywhere! Some places might be nursing homes, hospitals, parks or on special holidays like Memorial Day.

PLEASE, don't limit "free gift/tract" giving to just planting gardens! There are so many other ways to use this concept for the salvation of the lost. It don't have to cost you money either! Like what you say? How about if your church youth group puts on a "FREE CAR WASH" for the purpose of getting people to read tracts. Each car that pulls up, give them a tract & treat them like kings & queens while your 'spoiling them' with a free car wash. You may also offer free cookies & snacks while your working away to make their day alittle brighter! This will be an OUTSTANDING testimony of the grace & love of God. I'm a single mother, I KNOW how something like this would bless my day! People are deprived of kindness & heartfelt giving these days. Not to mention this will be an AWESOME godly lesson for the kids in the youth group!

Ok, here we go with some more thoughts!

*Pick a few names out of a phone book to send tracts to with an invitation to your church event.

*ATM? Stick a tract in with your deposit & leave one for the next person to use the machine.

*Pay day? KEEP YOUR BANK ENVELOPE! This can be an excellent tool for reaching souls! Stick a dollar in with a gospel tract & leave your bank envelope somewhere where someone will see it & PICK IT UP! Don't tell me you have not checked a few empty bank envelopes you have seen laying around.

*Go to a main event in your area where tons of people will be. I remember going to the Boston Music Awards before I got saved. Before I went in, someone handed me a gospel tract in the middle of a mob of people. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but now looking back, I thank God He took the time to think of me that day! YOU can be that someone God sends!

There are so many ways you can use gospel tracts in your everyday life. I hope this was a help & encouragement to you in some way to get you on your feet & on your way to sharing Christ with someone who needs to hear it from you. Anyone can do this! You can make it as simple as can be, or you can dedicate yourself to giving it your all! This truly can be a full time Christian ministry for anyone willing to give it a shot. Many souls are dying & going to a devils hell daily! We must keep this fresh on our minds & consider how thankful we must be that God took the time to send someone faithful our way to share the good news of the gospel with us.

[TheBibleSender]

I actually contaced them awhile back for some info and to perhaps give them some info but I never got any response are you invovled with this ministry? God bless. :)

[baptistgal]

I actually contaced them awhile back for some info and to perhaps give them some info but I never got any response are you invovled with this ministry? God bless.

Hi.. I'm not sure what might of happened if you haven't gotten a response. Did you order the free materials from Sure Mercies .. or from the printing ministries like Fellowship Tract League? Either way, I apologize for whatever might have happened. Let me know and I'll try and take care of it.

[TheBibleSender]

I am not sure it was a few months ago. But I really liked the ministry I think I was going to see if they had a banner or something that I could add to my website to help others know about them. God bless. :)

[baptistgal]

Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed the site. We don't have any banners at this time made up.. it's actually kinda crazy because all of are so compute illiterate (it's a miracle we're getting by --- haha) and wish we could even update the site but none of us know how.. It really hasn't been updated since we started back 11 years or so ago and compared to other sites, it still looks quite ancient.. but, we figure the orders keep coming in, so I guess why try and fix what's not broke..

Either way, thanks for visiting there. I'll let ya know if we ever get a banner made up. Maybe I can work on that over the next few days or so.

[Kayla]

So here's an idea. If you have Reformers Unanimous at your church, put the tracts for RU in the top of Beer Cases at the grocery store or 7-11 or something. A very wise friend of mine did this and we got a lady at RU that way.(she got saved too!!!) :Green

[Kayla]

Oh yeah and when I see a homeless person I always keep a ziploc with a tract, and several non perishable food items inside in my car. And when I see them at an intersection I give it to them.

[jchahl]

So here's an idea. If you have Reformers Unanimous at your church' date=' put the tracts for RU in the top of Beer Cases at the grocery store or 7-11 or something. A very wise friend of mine did this and we got a lady at RU that way.(she got saved too!!!) :Green[/quote']

That's seems like a good idea.

Praise God that you can't by alcohol at grocery or convenience stores in PA, though.

[Kayla]

Oh yeah that's right I forget PA was a dry state.