Local Church Uses E-LIFE Witnessing Tool at Convoy of Hope
By Lisa Jayne, Grace Church, Rogersville, Mo.

In March 2007, Grace Church, a church plant in Rogersville, MO, invited Convoy of Hope to partner with the city of Rogersville to reach out to the hurting and the poor in the area. A Convoy of Hope event gives hope by providing free groceries, health and dental screenings, free haircuts, games, and activities for children and all ages. Connections are established through job fairs, churches, government agencies, and community service organizations. 

One of the services offered to guests at the outreach is a chance to pray with them about their needs and the opportunity share Christ with them before they receive their groceries at the end of the day. In the Prayer Tent, while local volunteers from churches around the area talk with the guests, the children’s tables were set up to provide parents the chance to give their full attention to the conversation. The children’s tables included a wide variety of activities provided for kids while they waited—coloring, making crafts, watching a video. In addition, we also wanted to share Christ with the children as well as the parents. Our goal was to emphasize the gospel message the families heard in the children’s ministry area prior to entering main activities of the Convoy of Hope. So we decided on using the E-LIFE Witnessing Tool. 

The greatest thing about the tool was the easy training on the day of the outreach to present the gospel to children. Usually we have adults communicate with the children during this time, but some young people enjoyed the tool and wanted to share it with other children. Most of the children who were the guests took the witnessing tool with them as their parents came to pick them up before exiting. For our time needs, the helpers could share as brief or as long as they needed while the children waited for their parents. The E-LIFE Witnessing Tool helped by automatically bringing the message of salvation to a child’s level.