We recently received a brief update from Mark Sumpter about one of his “doorstep outreach” efforts in Wichita Falls, TX where there is a young church plant. Mark has routinely included this kind of outreach effort in his ministry and now as RHM in the Southwest, he employs it in multiple locations to help the church plants.
Here’s what Mark told us:
* 55 homes visited
* 17 conversations, 4 of which included reading Scripture
* 1 woman wants follow-up in order to attend a ladies’ Bible study
* 1 man said, “I think I’ll come to worship…. and HE DID!
* Mark described himself and the church plant people as “pumped” 🙂
* Mark did this outreach with a mother and her son and another man with him for this outreach effort
This kind of outreach can sound intimidating for church members. Mark had a pastor in Oregon that piqued his interest and he has consistently done this doorstep outreach on his own, with fellow officers, and patiently training people from the congregation to come alongside him. He talks about it at length in this podcast from 2 years ago. The segment starts at about the 13-minute mark and continues to the end of the episode. Mark talks about logistics, and how he does it, and shares several encouraging stories of results from his doorstep visits.