At a Glance
Finding the Hope is highly flexible. In collaboration with you, and any other churches you are working with, we will help tailor it to your context. A Finding the Hope outreach can proceed as follows:
1
Getting Started
Identify the participants and area to be reached, assemble the coordinating team, and develop your local strategy. Our Campaign Coordinator will provide you with a comprehensive outreach resource guide to assist in this process.
2
Mobilizing Prayer
Establishing a prayer team has been shown to make evangelistic efforts much more effective. Many churches plan prayer walks to take place ahead of the evangelistic packet distribution.
3
Saturation
An evangelistic packet is mailed out, or hand delivered, to all the homes in your target area. It includes a letter of introduction, an attractive gospel booklet, and further materials as to promote related events.
4
Cultivation
Effectively reaching your community requires an ongoing process with many points of contact. Some churches have hosted music nights, breakfasts of hope, and offered services & seminars to assist people in their area of interest and need. The possibilities are endless and can be included in your ongoing outreach plans.
5
Discipleship
Every person who responds to any aspect of the outreach is provided with our free follow-up book, 7 Days with Jesus. We encourage local churches to engage new believers in ongoing discipleship. Examples are included in the outreach resource guide.
6
Ongoing Process
Our evangelism and discipleship materials will remain available to you and individuals in your church for your ongoing outreach efforts.
With decades of hands-on experience and research across many cultures, we are eager to assist you in reaching your neighbourhoods with the Good News of Jesus. Every home in your target area can be reached for as little as $0.50 per home. This includes the evangelistic packet, and 7 Days with Jesus for all who respond. We will provide you with the Finding the Hope Outreach Resource Guide which provides a comprehensive plan of engagement with your community.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will people receiving the packet know about our church?
We make it easy for people to learn the name of any and all participating churches:
- The Finding the Hope packet has a response form that people can use to ask for contact from a local church. We forward all requests to your local campaign leadership.
- Everyone who asks for follow-up resources also receives the contact information of all sponsoring churches in their area, along with a letter of invitation to make contact.
- Every participating church and its contact information, including a link to its website, is listed on our evangelistic website that accompanies your campaign.
How much notice do you need to coordinate the mailing?
In general, we need a minimum of 6 weeks to identify the mail parameters and assemble the mail-out packets. If the outreach includes many customized features, add-ins and coordinated events, it will take considerably longer to prepare all aspects. In some areas of the country, an additional 2 weeks may be needed so Canada Post can deliver the packets to the homes on the chosen mailing date.
If a number of churches are participating, how do we decide who covers what area?
As noted, the campaign organizers in collaboration with our coordinator decide on how many homes can be reached.
When it comes to prayer and promotional initiatives, such as placing door hangers or sending out the postcards, the local committee and churches can easily decide who will focus on what area. In our many years of evangelism work across the world, we haven’t experienced conflict or quibbling over who covers what territory. The primary objective is that people in every home in the community have the opportunity to know who Jesus is and how to experience His transforming life.
How should we raise and process the funds?
Some churches set aside an amount from their missions’ budgets. Others receive special offerings. We have recommendations and coaching tools available to help you in this regard.
What if we want to do things our own way?
No problem! The outreach can be tailored to your specifications. If you would rather have the booklets hand-delivered by volunteers, that can be done. If you would rather not host an event, no problem. Everything you see on this page is just a snapshot of the possibilities.
We really like your evangelistic website, and we like that it lists us a place for people to find hope. Can we keep sending people there?
Yes! We are more than happy for you to keep sending people to the website follow-up, for as long as you want. Your church will remain listed on the website indefinitely so that anyone who visits the site can come across your church’s listing.
Can we purchase copies of the evangelism booklets and follow-up resources for individual use?
Yes! Special bulk prices are available for churches that have partnered with us. We want to raise up caring people who will happily sow the seeds of hope in Christ as an ongoing practice. You can also stock some of these booklets as part of your assimilation or discipleship ministry.
Is Finding the Hope effective?
The Finding the Hope method is very effective in sowing the Gospel message, using the only mechanism available to place the message in every home in Canada—the postal service. A Finding the Hope campaign makes the Gospel present to every home in a community, creating significant opportunities for response beyond the normal reach of the local church.