Day two of mission found the Naremburn-Cammeray engaging commuters at bus stops.
“We were handing out invitations to people for an Easter event,” explains Yoke.
“We tried a few different approaches,” adds in Jonathan, who was leafleting with Yoke, “I felt that people were more receptive and honest without the spiel. It’s not a sale, you’re just introducing yourself. Felt more comfortable than a ‘slick’ response.”
Of course it would be tempting to just stuff the invitation in someones letter box, so why the personal touch?
“It’s one step up from putting leaflets into a letter box,” says Yoke, “reaching people who don’t normally engage with the Church.”
“Because we were told to,” laughs Jonathan, “but in the end I found it a quite joyful experience.”
“One man I approached,” continues Jonathan, “a guy in a pink shirt, tall, overweight, responded with, ‘I know where the Church is, I’ll bring by kids along at Easter!’ Another man with his daughter asked about the Gospel of Luke and started flicking through it with his daughter.”
“Felt worthwhile,” he added.
Nevertheless, this kind of evangelism remains a challenge for Yoke.
“I think doing this in short spurts is actually okay but if we had to do this daily over a number of hours and you keep getting rejected it would be really hard,” admits Yoke.
“Not really evangelism just the first step,” she suggests.
Jonathan has similar feelings.
“Part of me really enjoys it, there’s the thrill of the chase. I feel anxious before hand, but enjoy it afterwards. I know if I was in there position I wouldn’t want to be engaged. I don’t feel I’m being consistent,” he muses.
“I still struggle with the ethics,” he admits, “but in the end I think they would want to know.”
So what keeps Yoke and Jonathan on the street?
“I was being a friendly loving person, and that’s how God’s been to us. It gave me an awareness that the gospel was the method as well as the payload.” concludes Jonathan.
“It’s a gospelly method.”