DVDs for Your Non-American Neighbors

Probably every American can now say they know a neighbor or co-worker from another country. We need to take this opportunity to take the Gospel to the nations just by befriending the people who have come to live and work among us.

Check out these ten DVDs to see if you find a DVD in the right language group for your friend and their family. The DVDs are grouped by regions of Asia, Africa, and more. If you work on or near a campus, you might be interested in the All Nations JESUS DVD for International Scholars. This one DVD has the “JESUS” film in 16 languages: Arabic, Cantonese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Thai, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Subtitled in Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), English, French, German, and Korean.

You will want to come back to Reaching the Nations Among Us in the future to see what more they will have to offer.

Choosing Your Faith

I highly recommend a book, Choosing Your Faith by Mark Mittelberg. Mark helps the reader discover how to choose what to believe. You can learn more about the book by watching Lee Strobel interview Mark about his book.

You may also want to have copies of the Choosing Your Faith New Testament. I have some in our home that I plan to give to people who are interested in knowing Christ. These paperback Bibles are in the easy-to-understand New Living Translation. The New Testament also features several of Mark’s articles about why we believe in order to help readers make a decision about their faith.

Tools for the Olympics

Read stories and testimonies of athletes, view video clips, and explore a personal relationship with God at Struggle and Triumph, a website from the Athletes in Action ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Struggle and Triumph is also a DVD that you can share with your friends. (The DVD is available in 36 languages).

Another website, Beyond the Ultimate, changes seasonally with whatever is the biggest sporting event at the time. Naturally, you will find Olympians on that site right now. If you read one of the testimonies and want to share it with someone, click on “Share This Story” in the right sidebar. You will have several choices, including sending an email with a link to the story, or posting the link on your Facebook profile. (I recommend adding a personal note in the email. Send one to yourself first to see if you like how your email looks.)

The Go for Gold website has links to over twenty country-specific “Looking for God” websites to help people begin their journey with God.

The Olympians continually challenge us all to run the race God has given us. You might like to use this moving video of Derek Redmond being supported by his father to communicate the Gospel to a friend. Your main point could be: we are weak, but our Father is strong and will help us finish the race.

Easter Outreach Ideas

I am addressing Easter cards this afternoon and plan to invite some of our neighbors for a local sunrise service and also for our church’s Easter service. As you probably know, Easter draws a lot of people to church services who otherwise would not go to church during the rest of the year.

I have given the “Jesus” film as a gift at Easter time, but realized today that I have not been that creative in using Easter as an open door for reaching people. Fortunately, I received two emails recently with a lot of good ideas that I can share with you today.

Campus Crusade’s website has an article entitled “10 Outreach Ideas for Easter“. The ideas range from gifts, to Easter egg hunts, to Facebook ads, to a strategy your church might consider (Prayer on the Porch).

Some of the items mentioned can be ordered at one of Campus Crusade’s online stores.

Our staff at our main store suggest two new resources.

1) The Case for a Creator is a new DVD based on Lee Strobel’s book of the same name. According to the email I received, “The Case for a Creator DVD is one of the most compelling arguments for the intelligent design theory useful for believers and skeptics alike.”

Click here for more infomation or to order your own copy.

2) 6 Reasons for Faith distills the essence of the Gospel into 6 points and 55 pages so you can take it anywhere. You could mail it to family or friends, hand it out when shopping, or use it for a community outreach.

Political thriller books by Joel C. Rosenberg

If you know someone who likes to read political thrillers or is curious about Bible prophecy, I recommend a series of books by Joel C. Rosenberg. The books can get violent, so you may prefer to read them first before you decide if you want to recommend them. As the reader goes further into the series, the author presents more and more of the Gospel and explains how to become a Christian.

Joel Rosenberg is knowledgeable about Biblical prophecies and current events. His first two books spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list partly because his books seemed to foreshadow the September 11th attacks, the War in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, and other events.

We have read the first four books. The fifth book will be released March 2008.

• The Last Jihad
• The Last Days
• The Ezekiel Option,
• The Copper Scroll
• Dead Heat

We have recommended these books to non-Christians and also given them as gifts. Prophecy is a popular topic to open up spiritual conversations.

These books are an easy way to learn Biblical prophecy, too. See our blog on prophecy for more information.

Christmas

As you are shopping this month, remember that people are especially open to talk about God at Christmas time.

You can also give gifts or cookies to neighbors. (See story)

You might want to give a card and a tip to your mailman, newspaper boy, or others. You could include a Gospel tract.

Another very effective way to present the Gospel is to host a Christmas Gathering. This site will help you with all the details to have a successful evangelistic party for your neighbors and friends.