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Tracts - Don't Leave Home Without 'em
by Michael C. Tabor
Tracts played a large part in my salvation in Jesus Christ. As a
young guy in the military, I was very shy and talking about God
made me nervous and uncomfortable. I usually changed the subject
when people would witness to me and I avoided Christians for the
most part. "Those guys are weird," I thought. Whenever
the "God Squad" would come through the barracks with
their Bibles in hand, I would usually sneak out the back door.
But, thank God, I kept finding Christian tracts in the barracks and at the shop in which I worked. I would read them over and over. I remember wanting to throw them in the trash after accumulating quite a few, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I figured if they were something from God, He would really zap me for throwing them away. I just kept them tucked away in a drawer. But I couldn't get them out of my mind. God used the words and pictures on those little pieces of paper to show me how much He loves me, and also just how terrifying He can be.
After I finally got saved, tracts became my best friends. I learned a lot from them, including how to witness to people. I carry them with me everywhere I go. One of my favorite things to do is read about testimonies of people that stumbled onto a tract somewhere and got saved. God's Word will not return to Him empty (Isaiah 55:11).
This article was written to help you think about ways to incorporate tracts into your ministry and how to use them effectively. They can be a good tool for evangelism, but may not always be the solution to your ministries' evangelistic needs. They are a tool used to communicate God's message and possibly help people take a step toward Him. Therefore, people still need to be spoken to personally about Jesus Christ, or by some other media resource. Personal contact is essential in evangelism.
Tracts are easy to use. I recently left my native country and now live in a land that speaks a different language. At first I couldn't do much in this country, least of all communicate with the people around me. But I could still do evangelism by using tracts. And this has helped me get through a year of language study and do some type of ministry. Recently, the security guard on our street got saved; and I don't think it was what I said to him as much as what I gave him to read.
Don't underestimate the power of a tract. At times I have seen Christians scoff at the usefulness of tracts. Here's a short story to illustrate the potential that can be found in just one tract. James was raised in a Christian home. He went to church all of his life and interacted with Christians daily. But he doubted the Christian message about God. He was convinced that he could not be saved and that he would never go to heaven. Then he found a tract about "the finished work of Christ." Suddenly he realized that all he had to do was accept Jesus as his Savior for salvation. Later, James--James Hudson Taylor--went on to carry this message to Asia and became one of China's pioneer missionaries of the nineteenth century.
Tips on Tracts
As most of you know, abundant Gospel sowing is essential to making new Christians and starting new churches. Therefore, if you are in a literate society, you might want to use a lot of tracts in your mission field. I usually try to do my shopping, go to movies, and conduct other business in the area where we are planting a church so I can leave tracts where people can find them. Be creative. Never leave home without a tract. I use public transportation where I live so I give a lot of them to taxi drivers and people on the bus. Your circumstances are probably different, but you can give them to people you come in contact with on a daily basis, or leave them in public places like telephone booths or at ATM machines. You don't have to start by distributing hundreds of tracts a week. If you begin by giving at least one tract each day, you will be amazed as you see the Lord bless your efforts.
Some tips on daily usage of tracts include:
• Giving a tract to the cashier where you shop
•
Placing tracts in the dressing rooms and in the pockets of clothes
at the store
•
Hand tracts to the passengers on the elevators
•
Leave a tract in a phone booth
•
Place a tract under the windshield wiper on the cars in the parking
lot
•
Place a tract in the envelope when paying your bills by mail
•
Drop tracts in the video slot when returning a rented video or DVD
•
For more tips, visit the Chick Tracts website
An innovative way to use tracts is to match the tract to a corresponding company or occupation. For example, Chick Tracts at http://www.chick.com makes tracts on various topics, each with a story of salvation or even rejection of the gospel. If you have a sports bar in your target community, distribute the tract titled "Superstar," which is about a soccer player that comes to grips with his mortality because of a disease, and gets saved after talking to his gardener. Distribute tracts about the fallacies of evolution around college campuses and in the science section of bookstores. Tracts titled "Back From the Dead" and "Empty Tomb" could be given to funeral homes and cemeteries. "Titanic" and "The Long Trip" could be given to travel agencies. Give them out to children during Halloween, with candy of course. I read one story about a 12 year old trick-or-treater who received a tract and came back later to see if the man had any different ones. The boy said his dad liked to read them.
I also like to share the truth of God's Word with members of cults. Within walking distance of my house there is a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and a small Mormon annex, not to mention the numerous shrines to Mary that litter the parks in the neighborhood. I always make a point of having an appropriate tract with me when I go for a walk and casually place one as close as I can to that building or object. Plus, they're good to have near the front door when Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons come knocking.
The American Tract Society (www.atstracts.org) has been making tracts for over 177 years and has some good suggestions on using tracts. They suggest you be PRUDENT with them. Being PRUDENT means to:
Pray before giving out tracts
Read each tract and know it well
Use the appropriate tract
Don't force tracts on people
Establish a relationship with the recipients
Never give up! Don't get discouraged
Teach others to pass tracts along
You cannot "save" anyone and neither can a tract. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Be sure to pray. Pray you will be a faithful and effective ambassador of the Gospel. Pray the Holy Spirit will speak to the recipient's heart so that he or she may understand the message and receive Christ.
Become familiar with the tracts you use. You might want to categorize them in your mind so that you use the appropriate tract for the occasion. A tract should fit the needs of the person it is given to. For example, don't give a tract that was written for Muslims to a Roman Catholic. Always carry several different types of tracts with you--so you can match the message to the person.
Listening will help you learn the person's needs and stimulate interest. Most people appreciate when others listen to them. Build a relationship with the people you are giving tracts to. Try to steer the conversation toward spiritual issues or share your testimony before offering your tract. Ask the person to commit to reading the tract. Genuine smiles are rare these days, but they can create an opening for giving a tract. With love in your heart and a smile on your face, ask kindly, "May I give you something to read?" If a person refuses or wants to argue, remain pleasant.
When tracts are distributed to every passerby, many get discarded. A sidewalk littered with tracts cheapens leaflet evangelism and gives poor testimony to the Lord. I would prefer to distribute a dozen tracts carefully, prayerfully, and judiciously versus handing out a hundred indiscriminately.
If possible, invest in the best tracts available. People will judge you and your Lord by the equipment you use. I have noticed a lot of inexpensive tracts littering the ground the day after an evangelistic campaign or film. I have never seen people discard Chick tracts because of the way they looked. Their slogan is true, "Chick Tracts Get Read!" But that's not to say that Chick tracts are always the best. I have noticed a few people immediately look at the address of where the tract was made. When they see it came from the United States, they hand it back to me without reading it. Therefore, I carry tracts made locally as well.
Use well-illustrated tracts that grab people's attention. Be sure your tracts are well-written, contain a clear Gospel presentation and move the reader toward a decision for Christ. Also, make sure you stamp tracts or have them printed with an address, phone number, and/or email where you can be contacted. You want to follow-up new converts with sound discipleship and allow them the opportunity to join your church.
Make sure your tracts are clean and fresh when you hand them out. A day or two in your pocket will make them dog-eared and unattractive. Use a tract wallet to keep your tracts looking crisp.
Teach others to use tracts. You might be able to distribute a lot of tracts in a lifetime, but you can distribute a lot more if you train others to do the same thing.
Digitracts
Digitracts are cool, there's just no other way to say it. Digitracts
is actually the brand name of a company that makes electronic tracts
that can be e-mailed to people. They are free and a high quality
item. The bad thing is, right now they are only available in English.
But, fear not, you can make your own digitract in the language you
choose.
Digitracts (www.digitracts.com) has three easy ways to share your
faith online: iTestified.com, MyDigitracts, and Faith Cards.
iTestified.com (www.itestified.com) allows you to write and post your personal testimony online. MyDigiTracts (www.mydigitracts.com) lets you build your own evangelistic web page. Faith Cards allow you to preview and send the card of your choice.
Talking Tracts
Another interesting way to share God's message of salvation is with talking tracts. Galcom International (http://www.galcom.org or galcom@galcom.org ) has created credit card-sized units that play messages in different languages. This might be a better solution for evangelicals working with people in an oral society in which reading is not emphasized.
Websites and Addresses
I could list several different tract-manufacturing agencies with
websites and addresses, but I recently received one website that
is as comprehensive as I have ever seen, the World Christian Tract
Directory. It's located at http://www.tractlist.com. It lists tract-producing
organizations around the world, including their addresses, emails,
telephone numbers, websites, etc. It's exhaustive. (I was particularly
surprised and delighted to see how many tracts and booklets are specifically
targeted to cults.) I can't say enough about what you can find at
the World Christian Tract Directory. And if you can't find it there,
you can email Ken at ken@missionresources.com for help in locating
what you need.
From the World Christian Tract Directory's website, you can go directly
to the website of several tract-producing companies and view their
tracts online.
I certainly hope that this article helps you in your ministry. Please feel free to correct me or send me information that I may have overlooked at tabor@terra.com.pe. Below is another article illustrating the power of God's written word.
One Little Tract that Changed a Life
As I said, I love reading about how God uses tracts that people find in various places. Below is one man's testimony taken from the Chick Publications website.
"The Vietcong were closing in. He was trapped and thought he
was about to die. In desperation, he cried out to God. Then it happened...
When he landed in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam in 1968, 18-year-old
Paul Tribus was a machine gunner with the 26th Marines. He remembers
his first day like it was yesterday.
" I was literally scared to death thinking I'm going to die. When I saw the first man killed, I knew I would never forget it." The first night we were hit pretty hard, and I thought, 'if I have to go through 394 more days of this, I will never make it.'"
During his first 30 days in Vietnam, his squad was involved in firefights three to four times a day. In the midst of all the chaos and tragedy, something happened to Tribus. It all started with a tract named HOLY JOE. I remember sitting by some sandbags or some duffel bags waiting for a truck to pick me up and all of a sudden I looked down and this HOLY JOE tract was there, so I picked it up, read it. It was a testimony and it explained the plan of salvation. I never heard of salvation before.
" I think it was about 2 or 3 days later when I found myself overrun by a bunch of Vietcong and they were coming up the hill and we were getting shot and there's mortars and there's tracer rounds going all over."Tribus cried out to God. "God, I am not ready. I am not ready to die. Whatever that tract says, whatever Holy Joe had, I need. I need to make a commitment.
" I felt something happen to me there. I'm not saying that I had this great flash of light or anything, but I felt something happen that changed my whole life."
Paul served his country well. He risked his life to save fellow soldiers who were wounded. Later, he was awarded, not one, but two purple hearts. After returning home, Tribus attended Bible College and today, over thirty years later, he is still in the ministry, serving God as the pastor of Rock Church in Newport News, Virginia.
This testimony graphically illustrates the fact that you never know how God will use the tracts you leave behind or give to people.
Testimonies from World Missionary Press
The following are testimonies from World Missionary Press (http://wmpress.org/wmp_main.htm).
NYC Visitor Finds Christ
" [Last summer] I was in the U.S.A., in New York City. I happened to get your booklet, The Way to God. After reading carefully this booklet, I changed my life. I accepted God as my Lord and Jesus Christ as my Savior! Since then I am a new person in Christ. I read the Bible daily, I visit the church weekly, and I started witnessing to others. "I feel I can become a pastor one day. I'm deeply interested in the literature you produce because I need sources for understanding the verses written in the Bible and for teaching the Bible to others. This is very important for my growth in Christ. "Would you send additional Scripture booklets? Is it possible to have a catalogue of booklets you produce in order that I could order some?"
V.K., Russia
Will Give All Her Heart to God
" I am a young educated somebody who wants to know more about God's work. I am twenty-three years old, and I live in Botswana. "May you please help me on how to study the Word of God and send me some guideline booklets. I am looking and searching for Jesus with all my heart, but it's only that this world contains a lot. But with your help, I think I will give all my heart to God and obey all His commandments. Please help."
B.G., Botswana
Felt Refreshed and Loved by God
" I'm so glad and thankful to you for the work you are performing as world missionaries.... "Beloved, I happened to come across one of your small books, The Way to God, when I was in a hopeless state of loneliness. But after reading it prayerfully, I felt refreshed, loved by God, and I could not hold back tears of joy. "I am therefore interested in receiving additional studies of God's Word."
B.C., Uganda
Learned How to Pray
" I borrowed one of your booklets entitled ‘Joy'–Meditations in the Psalms from my friend. Truly I enjoyed reading it very much, especially the front cover page where you have written ‘How to Pray' and also Psalm 51. It has really taught me how to pray.... "I am a girl of sixteen years old, a Ghanaian and a Catholic. I am very sure that if only my letter reaches you, you would be able to help me study the Word of God."
A.H., Ghana
Literature Reaches Eskimos
" We are a small ministry in northern Minnesota that travels throughout Canada and the Arctic Circle doing God's work. A few months ago you sent a few boxes of different booklets you print. We thank you for them and want you to know that some of them have reached the Eskimo people in the Arctic. We supply missionaries in remote areas with all the Christian material that we can so their job of doing God's work can be made much easier. This is very special, to be able to give to others as God gives to us."
P. & S.T., Minnesota
Booklets a Vital Part of Ministry
" Praise the Lord for your precious gift of Help From Above Scripture booklets received yesterday. You have no idea what this means to me, as it is a vital part of my outreach ministry. Many, many thanks and God bless you. Be assured that each one will be used wisely as I visit hospitals, old age homes, and do street work spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever I can."
C.F., South Africa
"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55:11