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Seminary students saw the results of sharing the gospel over 1,000 times throughout the autumn semester.

Published by victor caleb on January 23rd, 2023.

More than 130 persons confessed faith in Christ when 84 Southern Baptist seminary students conducting an evangelism practicum delivered the gospel approximately 1,100 times during the fall semester.

“Through ‘Everyday Evangelism,’ professors offer students weekly scheduled times to join the professors in evangelizing the greater Fort Worth community in its neighborhoods, parks, and local college campuses,” said interim provost Matt Queen of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s introduction to missiology and contemporary evangelism practicums.

Queen added practicum students also “utilize the seminary’s affiliation with NeedHim Global, in order to share the gospel across digital channels. However, the vast majority of student evangelistic contacts are initiated by them.”

During the semester, each student engaged in the practicums shared the gospel roughly 13 times on average. He remarked that this is more than double the amount of gospel presentations per student enrolled in practicums during the spring 2022 academic term.

Training in the real world
The required practicums for the introduction to missiology and contemporary evangelism courses, according to John D. Massey, professor and dean of the seminary’s Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, are designed to “inspire and equip students to become active witnesses for the Gospel of Christ.”

Professors play an important role in preparing students for evangelism not only in the classroom but also while they are spreading the gospel, according to Massey.

“Our evangelism and missions instructors have committed their lives to sharing the Gospel of Christ with a lost world and to prepare others to do the same,” he said.

“Not only do they teach kids the how and why of evangelism, but each one is actively sharing Christ on a weekly basis,” he said. “We not only require practicums, but we also go out with the students and demonstrate how to have a gospel dialogue with the lost in real-world scenarios.”

Samuel Kampa, a master of divinity student from Hyderabad, India, where he has worked in evangelism and missions for over 20 years, was enrolled in the practicum for the contemporary evangelism class at SWBTS. Kampa, who presented the gospel with 43 people and witnessed three salvations throughout the semester, said witnessing in America was a “different experience” because he had to preach in English and the cultural differences between Asia and America were obvious.

‘There is nothing to be afraid of.’
“At first, I was caught away by the reception and answers of people to at least hear what I was saying,” Kampa recounted.

“However, God enabled me to adapt and use diverse situations to share the good news of Christ,” he said. “I had to prayfully seek openings and timing to swiftly establish discussion and bring Christ using various events and contexts.”

Other seminary students, Kampa suggested, should “look at this practicum as the best opportunity to be part in the ministry of evangelism,” adding that they would have “teaching, training, and bonding of the professors and friends” as they shared the gospel.

Students who have “never evangelized before” have “nothing to worry because all of the aforementioned criteria will help you start and continue your journey of evangelism,” he says.

Promoting the Gospel
While the local church is at the heart of the “Great Commission and advancing the Gospel of Christ is the heart of the Great Commission and the highest expression of the Great Commandment,” Massey explained that the Fish School curriculum seeks to “train students in how practically to share the gospel and lead the churches they will serve to do the same.”

Both practicums “practically educate students to know how to effectively and biblically communicate the Gospel of Christ with the lost in obedience to the Great Commission, as well as motivate the church to do the same,” he said.