Youth learn new methods to share their faith

There are many people living in Portugal who don’t have a relationship with Christ, but sometimes believers find it hard to know how to share their faith.

Pastor Samuel Santos, of Centro Evangélico O Caminho church in Porto, invited OMer Richard Sharp to do training on evangelism for local pastors and leaders, as well as teach at a youth camp 10-11 February.

Givas José, with OM Lifehope in the UK, led the youth camp devotions each morning. Richard spoke to the church Saturday morning and to the youth group that afternoon, before he and the participants went for a prayer walk at the local shopping centre, and to meet people to share their faith in town near the local train station.

“I really enjoyed being with Richard, knowing him better and hearing his personal testimony and experiences,” said Daniel, a Portuguese young man who belongs to the youth group. “It was very inspiring to hear those amazing stories of evangelism. I realised, in those stories and experiences, that he uses a different type of evangelism that I was unaware of. I found it very interesting and current in our time.”

Richard uses a simple method of sharing the Gospel that begins with asking people what their “one wish” might be. Saturday afternoon he taught how to use this method for both sharing on the street and in everyday life, before sending participants out in pairs to talk to people in the street and at the local train station.

Daniel and Helder, another participant, were able to pray for two men. Daniel said at the beginning of the conversation with one man, he started to reject them in their approach and said he was an atheist. But, in the end, he allowed Daniel to pray for him.

This weekend of training at the youth camp was definitely a time God chose to teach him and speak to his heart, Daniel said, adding that he’s very thankful for the time with the two OMers.

“This way of evangelism is much more personal and, in a certain way, not so forced—more intrinsic and usable in our daily life,” Daniel said. “The way I look to evangelise changed, and my way of evangelising will never be the same. Richard showed me that the message of the Gospel is simple, so sharing this message should be simple and easy to do.”