Free Gospel Literature for Prison Ministry

Our local congregation has been involved in outreaching to our state prisons. Using Gospel Tract racks and tracts we send them in boxes to all the county jails and prisons; addressed to either their social workers and chaplains  free of charge. This program has been in operation in Wisconsin for 15 years. More states and congregations need to be a part of this program. What better way to rehabilitate prisoners than to provide them with solid Gospel literature that points them to the Word of God. We send a letter and two four pocket racks in a specially sized box provided by Gospel Tract in Moundridge KS. This is done once a year. If more tracts are needed our personalized stamp on each rack or the Gospel Tract address on each tract gives them a source for more literature or info. This is a rewarding work for the tract worker and helps keep the congregation in touch that there are people ---that we do not see that we can reach out to.

For more info on Gospel Tract and samples: http://churchofgodinchristmennonite.net/node/29
Peace of Mind in a Troubled World [text]: http://churchofgodinchristmennonite.net/node/23

Facebook Page? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gospel-Tract-Bible-Society/168457219833751

Van der Sloot gets Gospel Tracts: Gospel Tract in Peru

This Janurary three brethren flew down to Lima Peru in South America to investigate the tract work. Millions of Gospel tracts have been distributed by the Peru Police force. They visited a few of the police outposts and met a number of contacts and preached a few messages. It is amazing how the Lord works! During the trip and visiting the police officers in some of the upper rooms they requested for the officers to deliver some Dutch tracts to Joran Van der Sloot who had just been sentanced to 28 years in prison for murdering a young Peruvian woman. The officer said that getting the tracts to him would not be a problem. May the mercy and peace of God find a way into his heart. 
 A few snatchets from the report....
 In Peru there are 110,000 policemen. In Lima there are 25,000. 5,000 are Christian.
An interesting man named Orlando had come to Montreal, Canada as a refugee in 2006 and met two sisters in the metro and went to church a couple of times. He went home and for his own reason got rid of his television and radio and has not had them since. They went to his house and met with twelve other people and had a service. They also had a long period of questions and answers about topics like the Holy Spirit.
The next day they listened to the experiences of two ladies and seven men.
If I understood the report, they went back to the headquarters of the Cristopol project in Lima that has been responsible for passing out tracts for a service. They watched a twenty minute slideshow on where all the work has gone. It made the tract man emotional to see how far the distribution was going. The tracts had been even introduced to other South American countries. In that meeting they asked all those that had recieved tracts to stand up and 22 people stood. 


They also wanted to travel to a city named Sullana to meet some contacts, but everyone from the ticket counter and others asked them rather to have their contacts meet them in another city. They visited with a school teacher for two hours as she shared her Christian experience.
A Peruvian minister in that same meeting told them a story about a farmer that was burning a pile chaff. He noticed a worm trying to climb out and away from the fire. The farmer held out a stick to him for the worm to escape. That was for a comparison to the Compassion of Christ is that he is there to make for us a way of escape.


And so that is a little about the spreading of Gospel Tracts to a world that needs a way of escape into the arms of a loving Savior.


  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.   Isaiah 61:1

Plain Old Day Trip-- Don't Forget Gospel Tract Boxes

       Took my family to the zoo the other weekend. It came to me that adage, "You are not a tract worker unless you have a tract in your pocket". Availability is the key. I knew we would be passing a town I had been working near during the week. It had come to me to put out some tract display boxes in a few of the businesses along the road. So we took along three boxes to get started. When we stopped for gas, I put one in the gas station and walked across the street to put one in a laundromat. The idea here is not to tell you what I did as much as------ I was impressed how easy it was ---just to have tracts available in my vehicle to be able to take few minutes of a day trip and make it a small tract run. The difference could be that it might be in the right place in the right time for somebody. It is a must to have packets in the car also for handouts.
      On a different day I put some tracts in my pocket on the way to work. Later in the afternoon there was a time were it was the perfect time to hand them out. If they had not been there --I would not have used them. Trust me --I need more spontaneous tract work in my life. It is a small thing to do, but with a prayer it may do so much for yet another. It all starts with just having a tract in your pocket..........

Tract Work: Preparation for Rejection

I guess being a social person, I cringe the most about being rejected when passing tracts. Most people want to enjoy acceptance of others. At worst I like people to just go about there duties and they let me go about mine with no ado. However in tract work there is a dimension that you have to open yourself up to others indifference,  ignorance, or hostility of something you hold special and want to share with them. It changed our life and we desire others to receive the same blessings we have received from the inside out. Going on a tract run with two other brethren through the Bay Area. specifically Oakland left me physically exhausted after visiting people that would tell you off or laugh in your face. At times I would find it amusing that I was taken for  some different sect or promoting some other message than the "tried and true" Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
What happened to that fervency that I had after my New Birth when "old things became like new".As a boy, I had prayed the Lord to forgive me and went to sleep. I awoke that night with a great joy and freedom from guilt or sin. I wanted to go right there and then to church or anywhere and tell the world that I was different now. 
So what about this trying to "save face" scheme that wants to keep me from whole heartily, unabashfully pass out Gospel literature. I definitely do not need to feel ashamed of the "Good News". I personally know what good it did for a sinner like me. Just think of the opportunities that I have to share the opportunity with others around me. With tracts you can impact lives that you never see. Put out a box and multiple people may be warned, encouraged, or set-free. Small price to pay for a little personal discomfort if it could effect somebodies eternity for the better. Perhaps some that may read this suffer  more severe persecution or trials for the name of Christ. May God strengthen you and share with us that grace that helps you. 
That brings us to the point that Christ needs to be the main foal point and centerpiece of our effort. Forget yourself and put your best foot forward for Christ. He was rejected and despised of men. The life he lived for our sakes:
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isa. 53:3)


 He bore it all and carried on to the bitter end of dying on the cross.


 And imagine after all that he suffered he choose to come back and resurrect for us in victory. How could we deserve such favor and love of God.


On the attitude of the world towards the Christian, Jesus says: 


The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7)

If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you (John 15:18-20)

Finally the Battle is the Lord's and not our own and he wins our battles not our own strength:

When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.( Duet.20:1)


We are not to be afraid, but we are to move forward remebering how he helped us out of our personal Egypt. Which reminds me of a verse that came to me at the tract meeting. When I think of how my flesh has failed me in yielding to temptations and tests and when Satan has assailed me with trials---I like to think of revenge in the verse


For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation ........... that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!  (2 Cor. 7:10-11)


It seems that remembering that we came out of Egypt (our life in sin) and our sorrow for our sin and repentance gives us a desire to be obedient and gives a certain zeal to be available to do God service in whatever capacity he chooses. 


Conclusion:
Tract work is not something we do for points or to win special favor of God. Rather it is something we do when we remember the mercy God has extended to our own life. In this light we realize that the Lord is the one who is rejected when we share his Word for the benefit of others. In fact we can expect to receive resistance. God tells us not to be afraid, but go forward. Before you go on a tract tour pray for God's grace to overcome our weakness or timidness that wants to weaken our resolve. It is not all bad to feel this weakness, because then we can just learn to trust the Lord a little more and not  just fight on our own strength.  JLT  

10 Points for the Challenged Tract Worker

I wanted to review this article we published at the beginning. I have been reinvesting my time back into tract work now that my ice cream shop is closed down. We just had a tract meeting and I feel like I have neglected my duty long enough. It is time to put the hands back to the plow. I am planning to write a series of articles on this subject as we rediscover this realm of the Great Commission.

 

10 Points for the Challenged Tract Worker

1. PACE YOURSELF-Luke 14:28-30- It is not a one or two man crusade: Lasting results need to include as many people as possible. Realize attainable goals and raise the bar after the goals are achieved. Don’t burn all your fuel (enthusiasm) up at once, build up the fire over time including others.

2. ENJOY THE CHALLENGE-Col. 3:22-24- If you are doing it “as unto the Lord” you should be able to have a smile on your face and believe that the “battle belongs to the Lord.” Be creative and enjoy the challenge. You’ll not know what the Lord can work with your humble witness. You may have planted a seed that will sprout years later.

3. KEEP TRACTS ON HAND-2 Tim. 4:2-They say you are not a tract worker unless you have tracts on hand. More than half the time you need them you do not have them with you.

4. BE ORGANIZED-I-1 Cor. 14:40 It is a detriment to progress to know you will have to sift and sort out a number of boxes every time you want to go on a route. The boxes should be marked and ready to go. The church entry tract rack is a good indicator in if the tract men are on the ball. Hopefully they are not just dusty.

5. KEEP THE CONGREGATION INFORMED-Pro. 11:14- It is a congregational effort- try to make everybody involved.. A lot of failure in tract work is that people forget it exists.

6. INQUIRE FOR AND READ AREA RESPONSE LETTERS FROM GOSPEL TRACT-Luke 10:2- Reminds everybody that it is a real responsibility and that many others out there are passing out tracts even if we were too preoccupied else where.

7. TRY TO HAVE THREE AND NO LESS THAN TWO PERSONS ON A ROUTE-Ecc.4:9-12-It seems three is a good number to have on a busy route. The fellowship flows and you can keep the moral up on a slow day. A couple should invite a youth, older person, widow, or other family person to visit with and keep the route from becoming to much of a ritual drudgery.

8. GATHER AND HAVE TRACT ROUTE SATURDAY TO BRING ROUTES UP TO DATE-1 Cor.12:14-Have a number of brethren show up, number off, and enjoy fellowship in bringing the gospel to others.

9. STRATEGIZE-Pro.29:18- Whether you have colleges, homeless, Spanish migrant workers or some other special interest group in your area, make an effort to try to reach them with special tracts and other outreach that could bear fruit.

10. PRAY-Luke 18:1- The work is the Lords and it is always important to entreat him to guide and bless your efforts as he sees best.

Southeast Gospel Tract Meeting held in Faunsdale AL

      Had the privilege to attend the Southeast tract meeting. I am personally not a official "tract worker", but take active interest in the tract "work". The tracts are given out in personal handouts or set up in tract racks in businesses, stores and laundromats. The tracts are free for anyone to distribute.
      For those not acquainted with Gospel tract work let me clue you in. For one, we are the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, to other Mennonite groups they know us as Holdemans after reformer John Holdemon. Mennonites are Christians named after reformer Menno Simons. Our main concern is to follow Christ and the Bible with special emphasis that it is possible to live the Sermon on the Mount.
We have a branch of the Church that is the  Gospel Tract and Bible Society. They print plain, no-frills tracts. The main concern is to spread the simple gospel in a fourth grade comprehension. The goal is to point people to Christ and Repentance and New Birth. When you really know Christ as your Savior---your life and its fruits and your personal outlook change. These tracts are there to point people to those Bible passages that can lead them to that end. The tracts are also there to warn the World at large about the coming judgement of God to a world that chooses to rebel against His will.
      There are also tracts explaining Church doctrine and ones that promote Gospel morality (condemning drugs, pleasure seeking and immorality, etc.)
The meeting last Saturday included talks by one of the proofreaders. He stressed the fact that there is a demand for these tracts around the world in many languages. An interesting fact is that a police force in one country is presently passing out millions to it's citizens on the streets. Many private individuals and groups use them to distribute even though they are not affiliated with our church. The proof readers go over our tracts to make sure they are sound, easy to understand and able to mass produce to a world that is hungry for Truth. 
       I feel guilty that I could do more to help out by passing out this good literature, praying that some soul can find fulfillment and redemption in Christ. It is so worth it. So many Christians talk the talk, but do not really carry the cross of Christ as he instructs. We need to point men to that cross. Even if you can't speak to everyone personally ----tracts----the power of the written words----can reach out to millions that you will never see, if you are only willing to make the first step and pass out a tract.

Check it out for your self
Read a few tracts at:
http://churchofgodinchristmennonite.net/gospel_literature


To Contact Gospel Tract:
http://churchofgodinchristmennonite.net/node/4

10 Points for the Challenged Tract Worker

1. PACE YOURSELF-Luke 14:28-30- It is not a one or two man crusade: Lasting results need to include as many people as possible. Realize attainable goals and raise the bar after the goals are achieved. Don’t burn all your fuel (enthusiasm) up at once, build up the fire over time including others.

2. ENJOY THE CHALLENGE-Col. 3:22-24- If you are doing it “as unto the Lord” you should be able to have a smile on your face and believe that the “battle belongs to the Lord.” Be creative and enjoy the challenge. You’ll not know what the Lord can work with your humble witness. You may have planted a seed that will sprout years later.

3. KEEP TRACTS ON HAND-2 Tim. 4:2-They say you are not a tract worker unless you have tracts on hand. More than half the time you need them you do not have them with you.

4. BE ORGANIZED-I-1 Cor. 14:40 It is a detriment to progress to know you will have to sift and sort out a number of boxes every time you want to go on a route. The boxes should be marked and ready to go. The church entry tract rack is a good indicator in if the tract men are on the ball. Hopefully they are not just dusty.

5. KEEP THE CONGREGATION INFORMED-Pro. 11:14- It is a congregational effort- try to make everybody involved.. A lot of failure in tract work is that people forget it exists.

6. INQUIRE FOR AND READ AREA RESPONSE LETTERS FROM GOSPEL TRACT-Luke 10:2- Reminds everybody that it is a real responsibility and that many others out there are passing out tracts even if we were too preoccupied else where.

7. TRY TO HAVE THREE AND NO LESS THAN TWO PERSONS ON A ROUTE-Ecc.4:9-12-It seems three is a good number to have on a busy route. The fellowship flows and you can keep the moral up on a slow day. A couple should invite a youth, older person, widow, or other family person to visit with and keep the route from becoming to much of a ritual drudgery.

8. GATHER AND HAVE TRACT ROUTE SATURDAY TO BRING ROUTES UP TO DATE-1 Cor.12:14-Have a number of brethren show up, number off, and enjoy fellowship in bringing the gospel to others.

9. STRATEGIZE-Pro.29:18- Whether you have colleges, homeless, Spanish migrant workers or some other special interest group in your area, make an effort to try to reach them with special tracts and other outreach that could bear fruit.

10. PRAY-Luke 18:1- The work is the Lords and it is always important to entreat him to guide and bless your efforts as he sees best.

Passing Out Tracts In Denver Airport

I figured on my flights from California to Atlanta would provide me with an opportunity to spread the Word. My first flight from Sacramento to Denver was a red eye flight. Since I had three seats to myself I crashed and fell asleep. When I got to the airport I was slightly groggy and not really in the mood for person to person contacts. Instead I took a walk to get brunch. On my way I challenge myself to think of places to leave a tract. Telephone booth. Internet booth. Bathroom. On the way back check if they are gone. Leave one or two in locations that you can monitor from where you are waiting for a flight. On the way back my bysitters were heavy into their pay-to-view movies. I have to admit that they were fairly interesting. On the way to California in contrast some of my bysitters talked the whole flight. You win some you lose some in the lottery of airplane seating. I tried out passing those picture tracts. I ordered their basic tracts and a sampler. I would say it strikes me to recommend people to stick with gospel tracts in your tract work, because you know they are doctrinally sound and you know they people that stand behind them. These others are for profit and I feel I need to be careful which ones I pass out. I use them only for special applications were it seems they would do the most good.I want to only pass out that literature that is sound and of a good report. It does come in handy to have tracts on your person especially while tripping. My sister introduced me to some of her fellow Adventist friends. Eventually we talked about our beliefs. An older lady called me to her car to give me a "gift". It was a tract book. My hand was in my pocket and I returned with another gift. I thought it was kind of funny that we were both handing out literature. However I found out that my sister was impressed that we are ready to pass out tracts at all times. I wish I could be half that diligent-so long.

Picture Tracts

I have a concern about reaching American Youth in our communities. We know American attention spans are not very long. I have ordered some tracts from Chick publications to review. I have seen them here and there. They make an impact and are pretty captivating even for myself. I just would like feedback on what you think of using them for personal handouts alongside our tracts. They maintain the basic Doctrine that you must be born again. They do not shy away from the fact that their is a heaven and a hell in the balance. He has a few out of the two hundred that have references to the millenium. I wondered if any one had suggestions or cautions on pursuing to use these tracts for personal handouts. Please share some of your thoughts on this or check out their website by googling Chick Publications. If you know of any other sound youth oriented tracts let me know.