FOLLOW-UP IS VERY IMPORTANT

BY EVANGELINE UNITY ESABA FOLSON

1 CORINTHIANS 3 : 5 – 6

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye beloved, even as the Lord gave to every man?

1 (Paul) planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:6 indicates that there is the need to water the seed planted (i.e message of salvation presented watering the seed means there is the need to follow-up converts. It is not enough to just present the message of salvation you must follow-up on the growth and progress of your converts. In the time of Paul and the other Apostles, one way they could follow-up was through visits. You read in the bible about Paul visiting the church in Ephesians, Philip, etc.

ACTS 15 : 36

And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.

Today, with the help of modern technology there are other ways of doing a follow-up. Some ways of following up on our converts:

Visits (Acts 16 : 40)
Writing letters (Book of Ephesians, Philippians, Ephesians 1 : 1-2)
Phone calls
Using social media
Inviting convert

VISITS

ACT 16 : 40

And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they confronted them, and departed.

EPHESIANS 1 : 15 – 19

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints, lease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the mighty power. It is important to visit. It also lists other things we need to do to help them grow in the Lord. The important things we need to do are:

To visit and comfort them to encourage them to stay in the Lord.
To pray for them continually.
To ask God to give them wisdom and revelation knowledge of him (God).
To ask God to open their eyes of understanding to know and understand their calling or what they are expected to do as Christians.
To ask God to give them a personal experience of his power.

WRITING LETTERS

Apart from visiting their converts, Paul and the other Apostles wrote letters to the churches as well. Examples of such letters are the book of Ephesians and the book of Philippians. They were referred to as the Epistles of Paul.

Young Christian ambassadors for Christ can write letters of their friends presenting the message of salvation and teaching them how to grow in the Lord.

EPHESIANS 1 : 1-2

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the Saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The verse above gives an example of how the Apostle Paul wrote his letter. You can follow his style but you do not need to write a very long letter as he did. You could include the following things in your letter.

Start with greetings.
Present the word of God, salvation, tell them more about the power of God and what is expected of them as Christians.
End with a word of encouragement Ephesians 6 : 24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity.

These days you do not post letters, you could do that if you are writing to people in areas where there are no advance technology like phones and computers. Using e-mail or social media is more appropriate for reaching out to the youth today.

PHONE CALLS

This is a more intimate way of reaching out with the message of salvation. You can talk to the person, he/she can hear your voice and you can also hear him/her. It is almost like a visit the only difference is you are not in the same place. (These days you can do video calls). There is no verse in the bible to support this way of following your concerts but it is very effective. Most pastors and Christian leaders use it today. You can even pray with the person for healing, deliverance, etc. it is a tried and proven way of doing ministry work now.

INVITING CONVERT TO GO TO CHURCH WITH YOU.

Another way of helping your convert grow is to invite him/her to church. At church, the convert can learn a lot from the word of God to promote growth and he/she can have further experience of the power and love of God through the praise and worship session. Sometimes, there is also ministration during Sunday church service. The minister for that service could invite people for prayer to gain:

Healing
Deliverance
Breakthrough
Holy Ghost Baptism

The new convert will also have the opportunity to make Christian friends who can share their experiences in Christ to help him/her get more interested in living a Christian life.

The way forward

This article has highlighted different ways of doing a follow-up on converts made after sharing the message of salvation. There are other ways of things that could be done to help our convert grow.

Read this article carefully and find other Christian literature on this topic to help you prepare adequately for evangelism and follow-up.

Above all, spend time reading and studying the bible and prayer as well. It would be beneficial if every young person finds a close friend as a partner for evangelism and follow-up.

REFERENCES