Evangelism exploding among Chinese-speaking Salvos
Evangelism exploding among Chinese-speaking Salvos
1 June 2022
NSW/ACT Divisional Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Miriam Gluyas (centre) and Area Officers Lieutenant-Colonels Laurie and Simone Robertson (far right) with graduates of the Evangelism Explosion program at Bankstown Corps in Sydney.
Sharing the gospel with others can be hard work and quite stressful. However, four corps in Sydney have found a way to train and support their Chinese-speaking members, with outstanding results, according to Bankstown Corps Officer Captain Frank Wang.
In two years, 26 corps members have been trained to share the gospel in Chinese through a program called Evangelism Explosion. As a result, 65 people have committed their lives to Jesus. Two-thirds of the new believers are now actively attending a Salvation Army corps.
“It pushed everyone over their limits,” Frank said. “Through training and support from others, they became confident and on fire.”
Many graduates admitted they had concerns about understanding and explaining the gospel well and finding people receptive to its message. After graduating, a common theme was how they are now confident in the gospel message, the power of prayer and their capacity to make a difference for the kingdom of God.
Some graduates from the first session in 2020 became team leaders for the 2021 session, and some have expanded into discipleship to embed the gospel for new believers.
Evangelism Explosion is designed to help laypersons systematically share the gospel. The training involves 13 weeks of learning to help Christians distil the gospel message down to a one-hour explanation.
New life
Susan Gong, the primary trainer for the first two sessions, said most Christians hear and know different aspects of the gospel but have rarely heard it fully. She likened the Evangelism Explosion training process to having all the necessary materials for a new building lying around but then systematically joining all the materials together until a house stands completed.
“I really think the training brought lots of new life to the corps,” Frank said.
“So many people are involved in supporting each session. Trainees recruit 2-3 prayer partners who pray for the training and for people to approach with the gospel message. Each team is formed of participants from the different corps. Small groups connect online to support one another and pray together.
“Everyone involved has seen the results, and they see their prayers answered.”
Campsie, Bankstown, Burwood and Hurstville are the four corps involved. He explained that one corps wouldn’t have enough resources to run a Chinese-language version of the program, but they are reaping the benefits with all four pooling their resources.
The four corps have committed to running the training for five years. “Even if we only have one trainee, we will go ahead with the next session,” Frank said.
Frank said they are trying to explain the benefits of Evangelism Explosion to other Chinese-speaking officers and members of other corps.
The next training session starts in September 2022.
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