On April 24th, Steven and Johanna took advantage of their visit to New York to meet with a ministry that has been stablishing different apologetic tables outreaches worldwide. It was our interest to explore how these table outreaches are carried out so we participated with her at a table outreach within the Long Island Rail Road in NY city.

During our 2-hour work, We had many great conversations with Christian believers and non-believers. There were many people who were curious what the sign ‘Have you heard the good news?’ meant, which helped us strike up a conversation about Christ and other religions and beliefs, as well as touching doctrinal topics.

Many people were interested in specific topics so it was very useful to have material — a great variety of tracts, CDs, panphlets and books, all for free — available in each of the different topics for those interested.

Steven’s comment on Facebook aptly summed up our experience: “Evangelism in the heart of New York, underground in a major subway at rush hour. We were very busy with people and they were mostly receptive. Why? Because we merely shared Christ’s compassion with gratitude for each person. No man-made techniques, no alienating apologetics, no fanatical concepts, no scripted methods, no bible thumping… people are hungry, no, starving for love and hope with simplicity. It was never meant to be complicated.” 

Steven went on to later comment “We were not particulary inspired to replicate the method we witnessed. Verse arming ourselves with materials to contest with faiths, beliefs, and sins… the canonical Scripture reveals the proper mode of evangelism is the presentation of Jesus and his finished work on the cross. As Paul aptly wrote in I Corinthans 2:4 ‘My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.’ and again in 1 Corithians 1:17 ‘For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.’ “

The experience was very educational and rewarding, and we at Messiah Missions will be exploring the possibility of implementing a carefully developed table outreach in our board meeting early May, according to God’s will and direction. Please keep this project in your prayers and contact us HERE if you are interested in participating in such an outreach with us!