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Rescue 101 Focuses on Youth Evangelism
ROSEMONT, IL (February 1, 2002) - Sharing the gospel to all nations has been a goal of Christians throughout history. Two departments of the Evangelical Covenant Church have combined resources to create a program that will help teens do it more effectively.
The Department of Christian Formation and the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism have developed "Rescue 101: Evangelism for Normal People," a series of four sessions for churches to use as a weekend retreat or one-day presentation. Marti Burger, director of youth and
family ministries of the Department of Christian Formation, said that the Rescue 101 speakers team of Chris Pappenfus, Kris Causton, Tim Ciccone and Angie Tate will introduce the program at the YWC/CAMC Connection at the O'Hare Hyatt this weekend.
"Going on campus and evangelizing to friends is a scary thing for most kids," said Pappenfus, a youth pastor at Bethany Covenant Church in Bedford, New Hampshire, and one of four Rescue 101 Speaker Team members. "The seminar empowers them to be more proactive and to look for
additional ways to evangelize. I think what I enjoy most about it is that it takes a subject that, quite frankly, a lot of people are freaked out about and makes it user friendly."
Pappenfus will speak at most Rescue 101 seminars on the East Coast. Causton and Ciccone of Minnesota will speak at the Midwest sites. Tate of Redwood Covenant Church in Santa Rosa, California, will speak primarily on the West Coast.
The speaker team met with Burger and Art Greco, Department of Church Growth director of evangelism and prayer, last spring in Colorado to coordinate Rescue 101. They took "Bringing My World To Christ" evangelism materials used by the Department of Church Growth and
Evangelism and altered them to better fit an adolescent audience. The original work for Rescue 101 was done by former Covenant administrator Lon Allison, who served as part of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, and Chuck Wysong, formerly with the Department of Christian Formation (the Education and Discipleship), according to Burger.
Rescue 101 revolves around three main principles: prayer for friends, caring for friends and sharing one's faith story with friends. The sharing principle involves conversation about God, one's own testimony or "rescue story" and the gospel story of Jesus Christ as told in the
Bible. Burger and Pappenfus admit that a key component to the seminars is dispelling myths about evangelism.
"When you think of evangelism you often think of a Billy Graham who does it and (with that reasoning) you're not responsible for it," said Burger about communicating Rescue 101 to teens. "But usually, it isn't the evangelists who bring you to faith - it's your friend."
Often, once students understand how important they are to the spiritual life of their friends, they're more likely to become excited about sharing their faith, Burger added. "We try to create a hunger in them to share Christ with their friends. We ask them, 'What is it that makes you excited about your faith?' And then we ask them to share their own testimony in three to five minutes."
Pappenfus led a fall retreat in Riverside, Rhode Island, and said he received positive feedback. He believes that breaking down evangelism into smaller steps helps Christian teens become more passionate about how they can impact their world for Christ.
"The statement, the hinge pin we use is this: 'evangelism is everything I do in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and others, to help someone take one step closer to Christ.' That's our definition and we find that it's really freeing. Most think that evangelism is leading people through 'the sinner's prayer' through Christ. But we see people as just one other person leading them to Christ.
"Many students, especially if they grew up in the church, don't feel they have a testimony," he continued. "We try to put to words their experiences, their encounters with God. And we help them see that the Holy Spirit will connect with people. Our job is to sow the seeds."
For more information about Rescue 101, call Burger at 773-583-0220 or email her at MartiECC@aol.com.
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