International (MNN) — This June, FMI is headed back to Bangladesh and Indonesia. But, when the ministry goes, it hopes to take multiple copies of its evangelism tool, Snapshot, to hand out.
The Snapshot Tool
A pastor and a church member role-playing during the conference in Bangladesh to practice using their Snapshot packets. (Photo courtesy of FMI)
“Snapshot is a tool that helps the person doing the evangelism listen first to the stories of the people they’re engaged in conversation with,” FMI’s Bruce Allen explains.
“So, it’s just a series of several dozen beautiful pictures that were taken inside their own countries. And the evangelists use the pictures to ask questions of that person they’re speaking with. So, everyone has their own story and they’re using these pictures to help tell the story of their life.”
In other words, if the Snapshot tool is delivered to church planters and congregations in Bangladesh, then the images in the tool will feature Bangladeshi life. If the tool is delivered in Indonesia, then it will feature Indonesian life. The same goes for Pakistan and Pakistani life.
The Snapshot tool can also be used by and with anyone. It doesn’t require the ability to read, only the desire to share Christ’s Good News with friends and strangers. Also, the Snapshot tool helps evangelists stop and better engage with others while sharing the Gospel story.
Another neat feature of the Snapshot tool is how it helps not only engage individuals in conversation, but helps them open up on their personal beliefs about God. As Allen says, members of any group of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and even Atheists, will have slightly different beliefs or perspectives from others in their religion.
“So we want to hear what is that own person’s thought about things and what do they want out of a relationship with God,” Allen shares.
Using This Tool
Hearing people’s stories gives evangelists the opportunity to hear clues into other peoples’ lives that they can use to form bridges to share the Gospel through. And really, that’s what the power of the Snapshot tool comes down to — listening.
(Photo courtesy of FMI)
“Often, while we are eager to share the Gospel with people, and that’s a great thing, often we just riffle off Bible verses or a memorized pattern or dialogue that is our Gospel presentation. And we’re not really listening to other peoples’ stories first, and gaining that credibility and trust with them.”
The Snapshot tool also helps take the responsibility of evangelism off of just the pastors and church planters, and distributes it among the congregations.
The tool is handed out to each pastor and church planter that FMI works with in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan. FMI also likes to hand out another ten Snapshot tools, if possible, to each congregation.
“The whole church gets strengthened both qualitatively, in terms of development of the people in the congregation, and quantitatively, as more people come to faith in Jesus Christ through these conversations [using the Snapshot tool],” Allen explains.
How to Help
You can help provide Snapshot tools this summer in the countries of Bangladesh and Indonesia. FMI will be providing its first round of Snapshot tools in Indonesia and doing a reprint of the tool for the people in Bangladesh.
And since FMI doesn’t keep a stockpile of Snapshot packets, this means the ministry’s inventory of this tool has already been depleted. But, this also means that every Snapshot tool the ministry prints is put into the hands of Christians to use for evangelism.
“We would love to make sure that ten or more packets get into the hands of each church,” Allen shares.
Furthermore, FMI also invites people to onsite training of the tool when FMI is in these countries.
A gift of $50 to FMI’s “tangible resource” fund provides ten Snapshot tools for a church. However, a gift of $100 supports the resources to provide onsite training, in addition to the ten packets. Click here to provide churches in Indonesia and Bangladesh with Snapshot tools!
How to Pray
And, even if giving isn’t a possibility, will you pray?
- Pray for people to have open and sensitive hearts for conversations with the Snapshot tool.
- Also pray for the people doing the evangelism with this tool. Pray for them in building these relationships to share the Gospel and for them to also be willing to be vulnerable with the people they’re sharing with.
- Another prayer request is for the encouragement, empowerment, and strengthened faith of the Christians and evangelists in Bangladesh and Indonesia.
“I know a story of a rickshaw in Pakistan who, because his passenger was willing to engage in conversation…a friendship developed….and that rickshaw driver became a follower of Jesus Christ,” Allen shares.
“And now, [that rickshaw driver] wants to share with his passengers the news he heard from a passenger.”
Needless to say, relationships, like the ones built by using the Snapshot tool, are powerful for sharing the Gospel.
For more ways to pray, click here!
