The Heart for “Hit the Streets” Evangelism
“Hit the Streets” evangelism. The thing that I had been inwardly dreading all week.
Around eleven o’clock on a Saturday morning, about two years ago, I was greatly unsettled and beside myself. This overwhelming rush of fear and nervousness was not because of an approaching due date for a half-done school project, or because of a glimpse of bright patriotic colors flashing in my rear-view mirror. This all-consuming, grappling fear came from the potential of me opening my mouth about the Lord Jesus Christ.
I had never shared the gospel before, and all I really knew was the scatter-brained version of my testimony and the verse that unblinded my eyes — John 3:16. Thankfully, my brother, Lon, sensed my fear and had a conversation with me that I will never forget. It went something like this:
Lon: You feeling okay?
Me: Yeah. I’m alright, but I’m kinda nervous, man.
Lon: Well, you should feel some relief- because sharing the gospel isn’t about you. No need to come up with anything new. Share your testimony and if you’re too nervous, just share scripture from the tract!
From that conversation to now, my view of Biblical evangelism has drastically changed, and the Lord has used the ministry of Hit the Streets Evangelism immensely in my walk with Him. In this post, I want to share with you what the heart behind “Hit the Streets” is, in the hope that you would be encouraged, and that your desire for the expanding of the kingdom of our Father would grow.
Origin of “Hit the Streets” Evangelism
“With so many examples of evangelists that took me under their wing throughout my life and biblical evidence of evangelism in discipleship, I just concluded that evangelism and discipleship were inseparable.” – Mike Reneau
Sixteen years ago, Midtown Baptist Temple began as a bible study that had a battalion of men and women with a genuine heart for the lost in the metro Kansas City area. One of these soldiers was Mike Reneau, who was desperate to meet people in the Midtown area so that they would hear the gospel, get saved, and follow Christ with their lives as disciples. The only setback was there wasn’t a specific plan set in place for members of MBT to constantly meet the lost and share the gospel. With the burning desire to please God and the knowledge of His will that none would perish, Mike initiated a ministry that emphasized sharing the gospel door-to-door in local neighborhoods throughout Kansas City.
“We wanted to trust the Lord for ways to obey Him, and “Hit the Streets” was that for us…I used to pull-up MapQuest [you probably have no idea what that was] and print out maps of 50 zones that were made of an eight-block radius. Our body went out together in multiple groups of four to five every Saturday, and shared the gospel in those neighborhoods.” – Mike Reneau
As time has moved forward, this ministry has been used greatly in the lives of people in our church, an easy stepping-stone to become more acquainted with the lost and casting seeds of the word of God into their hearts. But this ministry goes a little bit deeper than that.
What “Hit the Streets” does
Hit the Streets evangelism happens monthly every first Saturday for approximately an hour and a half. This sums up to 18 hours of evangelism over the course of an entire year. To say the least, Hit the Streets is not meant to be your main source of evangelism in your walk with the Lord, but instead it is the springboard that enables you to practically become a bolder witness in your everyday life. Below are a few of the ways that “Hit the Streets” does this.
Casts Down Presumptions
We have all been there. Without fail, our carnal minds jump to conclusions. The clothes people wear, the car people drive, whatever, all plays a role in our presumptions about that person, but after we were born into our new life in Christ, we are commanded to lose this pattern of thinking.
2 Cor 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
As we are evangelizing during Hit the Streets and seeking to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, we do not have any time to think more of or lesser than anyone based on outward appearance (James 2:1-9). As ambassadors of Christ, we now have been called to see every man as a soul that God desires to reconcile to himself (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, Colossians 1:20).
Reinforces the Urgency of the Gospel
The hope is that the more you come to Hit the Streets, share Christ with the lost alongside the rest of the body, and see the Lord continue to soften hearts, you will stay soul conscious in the fields the Lord has specifically placed you in. With this said, as I built relationships in school and in workplaces, it is easy to fall into the trap of having a “See you tomorrow” mentality. We are patiently waiting for the seeds we have sown to grow, and some of us even get to water those seeds with one-on-one bible studies and Creation to Christ, but the sad fact is that there are still people in our field of Kansas City, who have never been given a chance to hear a clear presentation of the gospel. These people have never heard of the forbearing, unearnable grace of God.
In Hit the Streets, we get to pray that the Lord would quickly lead us to these people, and we could share the gospel with them with the hope that they could be translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13).
Prepares You for Church Planting
“Evangelizing on the streets of Boston has been essential, and it has reinforced our faith that the power is in the gospel, notwithstanding the bridges we build (however important and faithful). As a missionary, you get air-dropped into a location with sometimes no natural connections. And that’s awesome – the Bible tells us to go, after all. Without it here, we wouldn’t have had our very first converts, and several other partners in the faith after that. We definitely pray for bridges, but I firmly [believe] that not having them should never be an excuse to not go to a total stranger with the gospel. ‘Going’ implies being in a different location than where you are now – and likely that means to a place where you may not have those deep roots and natural bridges already built.” – Mike Reneau
At every new church plant I have been privileged to go visit, the leaders told us that our main job was to evangelize to the lost and spy out the field. The thing that I always have to be reminded of when going on trips to new church plants, is that they are new! In the word and through the leaders of the local church, the Lord had burdened and confirmed to these church planters that they are in the right place, at the right time, but fishing holes for the gospel, and knowledge of the inner workings of the new city/area have not yet been fully established. For this to be established, it requires complete reliance on the Lord, but it also requires getting out of our comfort zones and going to meet people where they are.
Our field of Kansas City is so awesome because of how many cultures and ethnicities are jammed into our local communities. It seems like every block that we travel there is a culture change. We get to encounter people that do not adhere solely to the American culture, with some communities having little to no English speakers. In our own city, we can experience “the going” of a missionary.
Hit the Streets taught me that with a willing heart and leading by the Holy Spirit, everyday of your life can be a missions trip.
Impact of “Hit the Streets” Evangelism
After coming to MBT and hearing about the “Hit the Streets” ministry, I automatically wrote it off and assumed that it wasn’t for me because I wasn’t outgoing towards people (especially complete strangers) and it didn’t suit my personality. For as long as I can remember, I have always been pretty reserved and haven’t really had a whole lot to say. From my early childhood up to college, if I wasn’t on the basketball court or giving a school presentation, I would most likely have my head down and my mouth sealed. In all honesty though, as I reflected on the pattern of what settings I spoke in and what subjects I spoke about, it clearly gave a reflection to what was really happening in my heart.
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
If my heart was abundantly full of God’s word and the gospel, it would come out of my mouth (regardless of the personality that I had in the flesh). After meditating on this, I came to the realization that the root issue of why I was hesitant to share the gospel wasn’t because I had a personality conflict with strangers, but because I actually had a heart conflict with the Lord’s Word. I had set aside the sacrifice of Christ and the will of God, and put my preferences and my will on the throne of my heart; hardening my heart towards those he died for. It was “Hit the Streets” that exposed this and drove me to my knees in repentance.
Michael Black is a member of Midtown Baptist Temple and is a part of C&YA. He is a part of the Postscript team, the Tuesday Night Meal team, and he is a leader in the Hit the Streets Evangelism Ministry. He is also a part of a men’s Bible study at the KU School of Medicine.
