Friendship Evangelism Through The Cell Church
By Joel Comiskey
When I first entered the door of Steve and Claudia Irvin’s apartment in Bogota, Colombia, the living room was filled with non-Christians learning English (an outreach tool).
The next morning, Steve knocked on my bedroom door, informing me that he had plans to play golf with a non-Christian friend. “I hope to win this upper-class business person to Christ,” Steve said, “at this point, he won’t darken the door of a church.” While eating breakfast that morning, the doorbell chimed and in stepped a non-Christian housewife from the same apartment complex. Claudia said, “We’re going to go for a walk around the neighborhood. I’ll be home later.”
The next day, Steve and Claudia had to fly out of the house because they were going to exercise in the local gym. Why? You guessed it—to meet non-Christians. Two days later, the house was once again filled with non-Christians learning English. On my last day, Steve arrived home late because he was playing basketball with non-Christian friends.
“Okay, Lord,” I thought, “What do you want to teach me through these choice servants?” Even though I’ve read most of the material on friendship evangelism, I had never seen such commitment and diligence in actively pursuing non-Christian relationships.
The Irvins have learned that most people must first be won through friendship before they attend a Church. The cell church model flows wonderfully with the friendship approach.
After becoming a friend, the Irvins invite the person to a cell group. In the non-threatening atmosphere of the home, the non-Christian develops new friendships, receives Jesus Christ, and learns how to apply the Bible to everyday life.
The Oasis Church in Bogotá was started in 1996 by befriending non-Christians and then inviting them to a cell group that eventually multiplied. Now there are twelve cell groups at the Oasis Church who come together on Sunday morning to worship Jesus Christ and study His Word. Evangelism and harvesting primarily takes place within the cell groups. And from the beginning, they’ve used friendship evangelism as the primary outreach tool.
My stay with the Irvins reminded me of Christ’s Words: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . . for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13). The Oasis cell church is uniquely positioned to touch the lives of non-Christians. This church is following our Master who modeled friendship evangelism and was known as a friend of sinners.
