Pastor's Corner

To me the word evangelism denotes a sense of adventure, like entering into uncharted lands, meeting face to face with individuals we've never met who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This definition might seem fearful, even to a mature Christian. Webster's Dictionary defines evangelism as "the preaching of the Christian Gospel, missionary activities, or militant zeal for a cause." Biblically, evangelism represents a zealous and profound commitment to the great commission the Lord gave us in Matthew 28:18-20; "to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded."

Looking into how to evangelize, we are faced with many types of methods and models to choose from. Examples of some evangelistic outreaches are tent meetings, stadium gatherings, media, door to door, and giving out tracts, to name a few. But the key factor for a successful evangelistic outreach is to select the right method which can be a blessing for your church. As D. L. Moody stated, "There is no better way to wake up a church, then to set it to work."

Throughout my years working in the human service field, the Lord has given me success in many areas including youth worker, outreach counselor, coordinator for the Hispanic Prevention Education Program of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, and director of the North Clinton Ave. Family Wellness Center in Rochester, NY. The secret of our success was so nearby that I could not put my finger on it. Obviously, as Christians we know that our success comes from the Lord, but there was a missing element the Lord was trying to teach me: a common denominator, but what was it? I still was not grasping the total picture! Meanwhile the Lord was blessing much of the work in the community, and was allowing me to receive many awards which were given to me by three Rochester Mayors, the Rochester Fights Back Program, the Go Getter Award, and the Most Outstanding Leadership Award from the Urban League.

In 1994, that common denominator hit me like a ton of bricks. At that time, I was directing the Family Wellness Center on North Clinton Ave., which had only two and a half years of existence when I received notice from Albany that we were to receive an award for being selected as one of the top ten agencies in New York State in reaching families in our community. To God be the Glory! That common denominator which took me over ten years to figure out was "RELATIONSHIP." We as Christians are called to evangelize the world, but we need to start somewhere. That somewhere is our Jerusalem, our community, our own backyard...

When I was appointed to develop and run the Family Wellness Center, I knew that I had a task before me, which was to let the community know we were there for them. So I instructed my outreach workers and staff to go into the neighborhood knocking on doors, meeting each individual face to face, letting them know who we were and what services we were able to provide. We listened to their needs and we also came back time after time to ask them how they were. Our center became so crowded that we had to move to a new location, quadrupling our size within two years. What was the factor? "RELATIONSHIP"! We were consistently visiting families in the community. It was a wonderful feeling being invited to many birthday parties, and families bringing me lunch to my office. Our center was no longer a center, it became part of their home. We became family.

The Holy Spirit was whispering in my ears, "relationship," "consistency." Building relationship was the key factor, our common denominator of our success. We are effective Christians, not only because we know the Bible or belong to a specific denomination, but because we have a relationship with the Lord who makes possible our fruitful relationships in sharing witness and meeting the felt needs.

Pastor Wilfredo Irizarry.