Kickstarting
As part of my involvement with The Last Reformation, I often get contacted by people who want to be ‘kickstarted’. This is a term used to describe a person wanting to live a life that resembles the early disciples in the book of Acts. Often they don’t know where to start. When I ‘kickstart’ people, I take them out on the streets of a town in NZ. Then we approach perfect strangers and offer to pray for them for healing and share the gospel with them.
The word kickstart comes from the analogy of a motorbike that has been left idle for a long time and won’t start by simply turning over the key. It needs a ‘kick’ to get it going. Many Christians feel the same as the motorbike and need a ‘kick’ to get them active in sharing their faith in both word and power.
I recently received an e-mail from a couple of young men from Perth, Australia named Keon and Marnon. They were going to be in NZ for a holiday and wanted to be kickstarted. After exchanging e-mails, we organised to meet up in Rotorua one day and see what would happen.
Preparation: Fast and speak in tongues for at least an hour a day
In the lead up to the day, I had a strong feeling that we needed to be as spiritually prepared as possible. I told Keon and Marnon to fast for a period of time and speak in tongues for at least an hour a day leading up to the day. I have kickstarted many people and this is the first time I have told people to prepare like this before going out. I was interested in seeing if there was a difference in people’s receptivity to our message.
I also invited another friend of mine who has experience in kickstarting to join us. The reason for this is because Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs and I wanted to go out in two pairs rather than a group of three. I have noticed in the past that if someone on the street is approached by three strangers, they are less likely to talk to them than a group of two.
On the day we met up, we split up into two pairs, prayed a quick prayer, then, away we went.
What happened next – an incredible adventure with God
There are some days that I go on the streets to share the gospel and encounter nothing but rejection. This day was the complete opposite of that. Almost everyone we talked to was open to discussing God. Even the few people that didn’t want to talk to us were very polite in rejecting us.
The first person we talked to was a man waiting for his bus and I asked him my usual questions:
“Do you have any pain?”
He said, “No,” then asked why. So I asked my next question:
“We pray for people and see them healed a lot of the time. I’ve seen back problems, knee problems and all sorts healed when I pray. But is there anything else I can pray for you? For example, do you have any anxiety, depression or an area you’re struggling to get freedom in?
Again, he said, “No,” and that life was pretty good so I asked my third question:
“Do you believe in God?”
Once more, he said no and we were able to talk to him about what he believed. In this situation I used the good person test to show him the bad news that we all deserve punishment for our evil deeds. Then I told him the good news about what Jesus did for us. He wasn’t ready to make a decision on the spot but he understands what he needs to do.
The seed effectively sown
We encountered many people like this who had no pain but were happy to talk. One man was a Sikh, so I asked him about his faith and what a person needs to do to be saved. Like most religious people, he couldn’t answer with any authority so I explained what we believe. Again, he said he understood.
Another man was a drug dealer who didn’t believe that he was doing anything wrong. We tried to explain sin and the cross to him but he was unrepentant. Again, we sowed the gospel seed and we trust that someone else will water it. The man appreciated that we weren’t Bible bashing him but simply showing what we believe. We know he will think about it.
It was about this time that we were due to meet up with the other pair so we wandered back to our meeting place. While we walked, I talked to Keon about how to approach people, how to share the gospel and what Jesus commanded. He was soaking it all up like a sponge and asking heaps of questions.
More success
We met up with the other pair and found out they had been even more successful than us. They were talking extensively with a security guard and made a plan to talk to him more during his lunch break. Marnon also got his phone number. I found out later that Marnon had prayed for his back pain which had gone instantly. The young man was amazed and wanted to know more.
By this time my friend needed to go. We then walked around as a group of 3 while waiting to meet up with the young man on his lunch break. We approached a Maori warden who also had a sore back. She was a bit wary of us and asked which church we go to. We simply said that we follow Jesus and do what he commanded. It’s not about religion for us, it’s about following Jesus. She allowed us to pray for her and she was healed. Then she mentioned that her 12 year-old-grandson was in hospital with a lung condition. She asked if we could pray for him. We got her to ring him up, but he wasn’t willing to receive prayer. We shared the gospel again then walked on.
3 circles
Marnon then started talking to a young Maori man on his bicycle and found out it was his 21st birthday. He talked to him for a long time and got his phone number to contact later on as he had to go. We wandered back to talk to the security guard and I explained the gospel to him using the 3 circles. He asked us why we followed Jesus so we were able to share our testimonies.
What an amazing morning we had! I see now that it is so important to prepare spiritually before going on the streets. I believe that we can find open people anywhere regardless. If we know that we will be going on the streets, I think we should take some time to fast and pray before going. Trust me, it works! We received two phone numbers, saw two clear healings, shared the gospel multiple times and engaged in plenty of discipleship training.
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