You don’t need to be a rocket scientist in evangelism to do this!

When Barry* called the GoodSeed office to order resources, he asked if he could pop in for a visit. “I want to share with you what I’ve been doing since the TERM Seminar,” he said.

A short time later, he dropped by at lunch time. He had driven for over two hours but was eager to tell his story. Barry was a busy businessman but with a big heart for evangelism. He had been looking for a simple way to share the gospel but struggled to find the time to train himself to be an effective teacher. But after attending TERM, he realized that the Dynamic Leading-Reading-Modelling method that had been taught was something he could do.

“The first impact [of the seminar] was how it helped me. I’ve been a Christian for many years but never seen it put together like this. The whole concept of atonement, the tabernacle, Adam and Eve, the covering, all coming together is remarkable,” Barry shared with the GoodSeed staff around the lunch table.

He went on to say that, as he sat through the three days of TERM, his level of enthusiasm grew. He saw how easy it was to lead a group with the leader’s guide and after the seminar wrapped up, he asked to buy the curriculum.

Unfortunately at that time, the By This Name leader’s guide had not yet gone to press. So he waited. And waited. In the meantime, he bought copies of By This Name to give to others. When his first case of books arrived at his doorstep, he pulled them out of the box and started handing them out. He ran out before long. When he called to order more books, it happened that our proof copy of the By This Name leader’s guide had just arrived that day. When he learned that there was a physical copy in the office he asked, “Can I buy that one?”

Our office staff sold him the one copy we had. When he received it, Barry wasted no time in organizing groups to teach.

His first group was in the home of a couple. Though they were very elderly, they were just babes in the Lord. Barry used the leader’s guide while the husband and wife had the books and workbooks. They said to him, “This has come exactly at the right time in our lives when we have questions.” Between the weekly group sessions, this couple faithfully re-read the sections that Barry had taught and did the workbook questions. From their answers, Barry could gauge how well they were tracking along in the study.

“They finally understood the difference between a sinner and a helpless sinner,” he told us.

As the study went along, Greg, another elderly believer, joined the couple. He watched how Barry led because he wanted to lead a group too. He saw how Barry read the commentary in the book while the couple read the Scripture verses. What Barry had learned at TERM, he was modelling for Greg.

While this first group was ongoing, Barry started another study, this time in a nursing home. One of the participants was Steven. He was a young man who in state of depression had tried to kill himself but failed. Now he was a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair. Though he had been a violent, hostile man, when he became a believer his life changed a lot. Still, his knowledge of God was very limited and he was eager to learn through Barry’s study. Joining Steven was Lizzie, a lady also in a wheelchair. As Barry made his way through the book, he came to the fact that everyone was a helpless sinner. Steven commented, “We’re all hooped; we’re all sunk.” Lizzie added, “That is terrible news.”

Barry told them, “Wait, there’s good news coming.” In the past, he might have rushed to explain what Jesus did on the cross but now he knew better than to jump ahead in the narrative. He would be patient, follow the course of the book, and let the Holy Spirit do the work in Steven’s and Lizzie’s hearts.

As if those two groups didn’t keep him busy enough, Barry’s pastor asked if he could lead an adult Sunday school class through Worldview Rethink. Barry reluctantly agreed–not because he didn’t want to, but he was concerned about the time constraints of a Sunday morning class. But he did his best and there were on average 20 adults who attended each week. What was interesting was that five of them ended up following the study with their own copies of the leader’s guide as each one of them had a desire to lead their own groups in the future.

Three different groups with three very different groups of people. This was keeping Barry very busy but he was thrilled at these opportunities to share the good news.

As the GoodSeed staff ate their lunches, Barry shared, “I’d have to say that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist in evangelism to be able to do this!” He pointed at the By This Name leader’s guide. “With this, I feel that I don’t have to be anyone special. I can just show up and read and lead a group.”

Barry’s testimony was a big encouragement for us. The curriculum was created for ordinary believers with a desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ but who were struggling to find a way that was simple, doable and most importantly, accurate. We are thankful to God for Barry and that he has found the Worldview Rethink curriculum so helpful. It is our prayer that God will continue to use him not only to share the good news but to train others to lead as well.

(* All names changed as per GoodSeed policy.)