Tract Evangelism
by
Kraig J. Rice

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Clicking on these internal links will move you down this page)

Introduction
The Dynamite In Tract Evangelism
The Power Of The Printed Page
The Benefits Of Using Tracts
There Is Power In The Printed Page
I Don't Have To Give Out Tracts
Cristian Literature Has Amazing Possibilities
What A Tract Can Do
Are you working for Peanuts?
A Love Letter From Jesus to You (on another web page)

Introduction

I want to encourage you to use tracts for evangelism purposes. I have been a literature evangelist for 40 years or more and it is a very effective method of evangelism. As Christians we have a mandate from our Lord Jesus Christ to share the Gospel with others. Our obedience must match our zeal. So many people keep having problems and they wonder where to turn to. At such a time a gospel leaflet (tract) at the right place at the right time can point them to Jesus. Let's keep pointing them to our Jesus.

The people of this world desperately need to know what you know about salvation through Jesus Christ. They desperately need that message! And because Christ has commanded us to go with that message, we are responsible to God and to our fellowmen to obey Christ and get that message out.

Not everyone will gladly accept the message, but we are duty bound to give them the message, nevertheless. For every one who will not listen we will find many more who will be glad to hear. Use your mouth to witness, but likewise use the printed page...

Below are some writings that will challenge you to do this. You can purchase tracts for your personal or church use from several great organizations. If you need help on this you can go to my links page
http://www.breadonthewaters.com/0098_linkselection.html
I have listed there several tract distributors that you can purchase tracts from. Bread On The Waters (BOW) only offers online tracts for you to download and print out- we don't offer paper tracts or gospel booklets. The fish are out there- let's go catch a few for our Master and in return we will be earning eternal rewards.

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The Dynamite In Tract Evangelism

by Mrs. A. L. Vess

"Tract Evangelism requires no rented buildings no cars, no bus or railway ticket to reach its audience. Tracts travel cheaply. They work day or night. They have free access to homes, prisons and hospitals at all hours. They reach audiences untouched by any other Gospel endeavors."

George Muller, himself saved through a tract, prayed for tract distribution every day for more than forty years. He said, "On every tract we give we should ask God's blessing that it may touch the heart of the one who reads it." We should give attractive tracts, suitable to those who receive them. Sending tracts in letters brings lasting results.

TRACT DISTRIBUTION DOES PAY

A famous actor one day was handed a tract. He put it into his pocket and forgot about it until later in the hotel that night he pulled it out and read it.

The next morning he found a minister who pointed him to the Saviour. He later entered the Christian ministry. That man was Geo. C. Lorimer. He had a friend, whom after weeks of pleading, he won to Jesus Christ. That friend was the great preacher, Russell H. Conwell.

600 YEARS FOR MISSIONS

A young physician picked up a tract on missions. The Spirit worked while he read. As a result he and his wife went to India as missionaries. Their nine children became missionaries, too. So the Scudders gave 600 years of combined missionary service to India.

SUICIDE SAVED

A laundry worker felt led one night to put a tract into a rolling basket which would be used the next morning. The next day the floor manager called him into his office and asked him if he was responsible for putting the tract into the basket. Confession having been made, the manager said, "Last night I came here discouraged and disappointed with life. I wheeled that basket under the middle girder of the pressing room, intending to hang myself from the girder and kick the basket from under me. I caught sight of the paper in the basket and picked it out. That tract saved me from suicide and also saved my soul, for I have accepted Christ as my Saviour."

Another man had been out of work for months, and his supply of cash was gone. He had had no food for three days. He was discouraged and saw no other way out. He was about to pull out the cork of the little bottle of poison in his hand when he noticed a piece of paper on the ground. He picked it up and read through the tract with its message of hope and salvation. He dashed the bottle against the wall and called on the Lord to save him. He turned back from death to a life of dependence on God.

The son of the chief of Burdwain was converted. He took a basket full of tracts, and with much difficulty he preached the Gospel at his home and was the means of hundreds being converted to God. He was a man of influence. People flocked to hear him. In one year about 1500 natives were converted and baptized as the result of his conversion-- all this through one tract, that cost one cent (at that time).

Let each one who reads this get good, sound Gospel tracts and distribute them with a prayer. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good"
(Ecclesiastes 11:6).

"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 5:11).

The Power Of The Printed Page
by David Buttram

"Have you ever considered how powerful this printed page that you hold in your hand really is? It has been said that "THE PEN is mightier than the sword." This means that what a person writes can be more damaging (or uplifting than what a person can do in battle with a weapon. The written word is also mightier than the human voice. It will go where and when the human voice cannot.

Everyone is intrigued with the written word. As you sit waiting for a bus, as you relax in your home, as you have idle minutes in your work day, most likely you will reach for something to read- something to entertain you or enlighten you. This is why Gospel tracts are so important. They can reach those people who would never think of picking up a Bible or Christian literature. These attractive messages can be put in easy reach of those who need them.

The written word can say what you cannot say in person. It never flinches in the face of any man. It never intrudes on a person s time, but is picked up willingly by the recipient and carries its message in a straight forward matter-of-fact manner that can reach the heart of all. It preaches the message of salvation without condemning the person, but gently allows the Holy Spirit to do His convicting work.

Who knows how many have been won to the Lord, not by elloquent preaching but by the simple, prayerful placing of a gospel tract at the right time in front of just the right person

This New Year let's all endeavor to be more faithful in distributing our little messengers of the Gospel. Keep some with you at all times, so you will be ready with just the right tract. Then pray and ask the Lord for His direction. Remember the Bible promises that, "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).

Write and let us know (Gospel Tract Society) how your ministry with Gospel tracts is going. Share with us your victories and experiences. We have tracts on every subject including seasonal tracts. We would love to send you a sample so you can get started spreading the Good News."

This article quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester, February 1987, page 15

The Benefits Of Using Tracts
by David Buttram

An answer to a "question writer" from the Gospel Tract Society:
"Dear M. K.
You are not alone in your feelings of fear. Fear of man is one of the devil's best tools. It usually comes from a feeling of inferiority, but when we realize that we are Children of the King and all of Heaven is behind us we should put fear aside. Remember that you have the greatest thing that a person will ever need- a personal relationship with Jesus.

As you speak to others about Him simply give your own personal testimony. Tell them how you were saved, how much He has changed your life, how He has helped you in a time of need. People do not need great theological discussions on the Trinity, etc., what they need is to know that God loves them and wants to be their personal Savior, healer, provider, and friend.

As you speak from your own heart you will touch theirs and God will give you the words to say.

When it is hard to verbally witness to someone, a Gospel tract can be used to open the doors for a good conversation. Give the person a smile, a handshake, or a pat on the shoulder; along with the tract it can do wonders."

This article quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, January 1986, page 14

We are a small ministry
With
A large vision

There Is Power In The Printed Page

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a saying which is acknowledged by all for its truth. It is equally true that the pen is mightier than the human voice. The written word will go where and when the human voice cannot.

� It has no passport or visa problem.
� It travels cheaply.
� It leaps language barriers and is never influenced by prejudice.
� It will sail across the ocean, trek across the desert, and trudge down a narrow jungle path.
� It will go into a crowded city or sparesly settled countryside- into the mansion or the cottage.
� It will tell its story in home or shop, in factory or field.
� It will reach the most secluded village and dwelling; it will go where even the radio cannot reach.

The written word is often more powerful than the human voice. It was said of the apostle Paul, "His letters are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible"
(II Corinthians 10:10).

� The written word knows no fear- it flinches in the face of no man. It preaches the same message to the rich and the poor, the king and the commoner.
� It never loses its temper- never talks back in anger.
� It takes no note of scoffs, jeers, and insults.
� It never tires, but works 24 hours a day, even while we sleep and rest.
� It is never discouraged, but will tell its story over and over again.
� It will speak to one as willingly as to a multitude, and and to a multitude as readily as to one.
� It always catches a person in just the right mood to be receptive, for it only speaks as he chooses to listen.
� It can be received, read, and studied in secret.
� It gets undivided attention in the quiet hours.
� It speaks without a foreign accent.
� The written word is more permanent than the human voice.
� It never compromises . . . never changes its message.
� It continues to speak and make its message plain after audible words have been forgotten and lost.
� It is greatly appreciated by the nationals of any country.
� It is immune to all disease.

Daniel Webster Said:
"If religious literature is not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is to become of us as a nation. And the thought is one to cause solemn reflection on the part of every patriot.

If truth is not diffused, error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his work will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will.

If the power of the Gospel is not felt through the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end."

This article quoted from The Life Messenger, February 1984, Volume 40, Issue 2, page 3

"Love never asks how much must I do,
But how much can I do"
-Frederick A. Agar

I Don't Have To Give Out Tracts

"I attended a large Christian meeting the other evening in a hotel ballroom. The speaker was telling about how God was using him in so many ways, speaking to large audiences everywhere. Then he boastfully said, "I don't have to give out tracts." He explained that his work was above that. His ministry was such a powerful one that he didn't have to stoop down to reach the one's and two's with the printed witness.

I challenge that statement. In fact, I am writing a letter to the President of the organization that sponsored that speaker. Here are my observations:

God has enlarged this man's ministry to where he is speaking to audiences in the thousands, but how about the rest of us who don't have that privilege? Why should he discourage us from witnessing for the Lord by every means possible? He has no right to disparage the ministry you have of reaching the lost with the printed message. By doing so he is belittling Martin Luther and many other Christian leaders who have written and published and distributed tracts and witnessing booklets by the millions. Untold numbers of souls have been saved as a result. Christ wasn't always speaking to crowds of thousands. Many times He spoke to individuals.

It is true that we should speak to the unsaved, but it is likewise true that we should leave them the printed message after we have spoken to them. This gives us a chance to have a follow-up visit with them by means of the printed page. Giving out witnessing booklets and tracts is a very effective means for multitudes of us to serve the Lord.

Also, I claim that anyone who is ministering to audiences of thousands is likewise responsible for the individuals he can touch along the way. How about the man who steps into the phone booth after him? He has an opportunity to witness to him if he will leave a witnessing booklet or tract in the booth. There are a multitude of other places where this man will be going where he could leave a printed witness. He could also send the hearers in his vast audiences home with packets of Christian literature to give out during the next days. He would thereby multiply his audience and his effectiveness.

Don't let anyone belittle your ministry of witnessing by means of the printed page. We have the privilege, the opportunity and the responsibility to get out the Word by every means possible. There are many people to whom we cannot speak, but we can leave the message where they will pick it up, or we can hand it to them in a friendly manner. Many folks will never hear the true message of Christ and His salvation unless they are reached by the printed page. They won't listen to the message on the radio or television, they won't go to church, and they may not even be willing to listen to a personal testimony, but many times they will read a printed message. Be sure to always have printed messengers with you, and continually give them out.

"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."
Ecclesiastes 11:6.

This article quoted from the The Life Messenger, February 1984, Volume 40, Issue 2, page 2

This ministry
Owes
No one but Jesus

Christian Literature Has Amazing Possibilities

"Christian literature has amazing possibilities of fruitfulness because Life is in the seed, not in the sower! The printed page travels frugally, requiring no spacious auditorium; it never flinches; is not overcome by timidity; it is never tempted to compromise; it never tires, never grows discouraged; it works around the clock and long after the giver is gone; it never loses its temper.

The printed page will reach those otherwise utterly unreached, and may be the only chance they will ever have of eternal life, for it is a visitor which gets inside the home and remains there, catching a person in the right mood, for it speaks to him when he is reading it. It always sticks to what it has to say and never answers back; it is deathless in that should one tract be destroyed the press can reproduce millions.

Tracts are of convenient size and can enter doors locked to the missionary or evangelist. They can be enclosed in letters; they can preach in the factory, on the railroad train, in the airplane, on the bus and in the hotel lobby. They visit the hospital ward and the convalescent home and are no respector of persons."

This article quoted from the Attempt the Impossible booklet, World Literature Crusade, pages 25-26

On a hot day
This ministry is
Prayer-conditioned

What A Tract Can Do
by Herman Bartel
    
    A silent missionary
    A faithful missionary
    A sower of God's Word
    A tireless worker
    A continuous worker
    A very economical worker
    A worker that repeats many times
    A worker that never gets angry
    A worker that never contradicts itself
    A worker that may touch multitudes
    A worker that can go any where
    A worker that stays on the job
    A worker that needs no vacation
    A worker that is fearless
    A worker that goes where you cannot
    A worker that needs no salary
    A worker that never gets sick
    A worker that needs no building
    A worker that is easily available
    A worker that heeds no opposition
    A worker that travels in pockets
    A worker that persists in calling
    A worker that is always obedient
    A worker that speaks many languages
    A worker that takes no offerings
    A worker that has much patience
    A worker that depends on the Holy Spirit.
    Why not put him to work!
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, February 2002, page 15.

You are saved to SERVE
Not
Saved to SIT

Are you working for Peanuts?
by Dr. Muriel Larson

"Buy some peanuts to help the Lord's work?" the neatly dressed young man asked as he approached the minister.

"Which Lord's work?" the discerning man of God asked.

"Just the Lord's work," the young man evaded.

But the minister would not be put off. Finally the young man admitted that he was collecting the money for the Unification Church.

"You're a "Moonie" then," remarked the pastor. "I guess that's what we're called," said the young man. "We're followers of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon."

The minister then began to talk to the young man about the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation, and the Bible. To his surprise he found that the youth claimed to believe all the biblical truths he presented, and claimed to have received Jesus Christ as his Savior when he was younger.

"Well, man," exclaimed the minister, "what are you doing out here selling peanuts for Moon when you can be telling the world about Jesus Christ and salvation?"

The reason the young man was selling peanuts instead of helping others come to know Christ as Savior was that he had been led astray by a big lie: Sun Myung Moon claimed that he came to do the job on earth that Jesus failed to do!

WORKING FOR PEANUTS

Are we "working for peanuts," instead of for Christ, our Lord, and eternal rewards?

How do we spend our time? Are we so wrapped up in non-essentials that we find no time in which to serve the Lord? Or are we crusading for some pet doctrine instead of pointing people to Jesus Christ?

One time an acquaintance of mine was asked to help with a Bible club for children. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "but I have so much to do, I don't think I can find the time!"

Yes, she had a lot to do. She went back to bed for an hour after she got her children and husband off to work and school. Then she talked with friends on the telephone for an hour. She straightened up the house, had lunch, and then watched several TV soap operas, after which she picked up the kids and shopped for a while. Most of them were her "peanuts." Even though she and her family faithfully attended a Christ-centered church and tithed, her "peanuts" took up so much time that she had no time in which to serve the Lord.

WAKE-UP CALL

The Bible says, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil"
(Ephesians 5:14-16).

Personally, I'm not a bold person! I'm mostly the creative type, and our type of people have a certain amount of natural shyness. But the more I grow to love my Savior, and the more I realize what will happen to people who die without Him, the more earnestly I desire to reach everyone who crosses my path with the Good News, as well as to encourage fellow Christians to live for Him. So I look to the Lord for opportunities to speak for Him with everyone I happen to meet. He supplies the wisdom of what to say to some particular person, and His Spirit supplies the boldness I lack.

We can find all kinds of things to talk about with people. Food for the conversation of most people, however, consists mainly of peanuts. In view of this, it's good for us to remind ourselves frequently of Jesus' words: "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned"
(Matthew 12:36-37).

The most fruitful type of talking is that which edifies, builds up in faith, and points people to Jesus Christ. And yes, even our fellow Christians need to be encouraged to keep their eyes on Jesus! It's so easy for us to get our eyes off Him and on people, and then we stumble and perhaps backslide. We all need to be reminded to keep looking to Jesus, the only Perfect One.

As the Bible says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him"
(Colossians 3:16-17).

If we obey this advice from the Lord, we'll waste less time on "peanuts!"
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, February 2002, page 7.

presented to you by the Bread On The Waters Ministry
of Kraig Josiah Rice
www.breadonthewaters.com


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