When was the last time you shared the Good News with someone? Do you think you could bring one person to Christ in the next 10 years?

Statistics show that evangelism has been on the down trend for a good part of the past decade.  

At “Fan The Fire”, an event held by One For Jesus on August 17, founder Jason Wong returned to the issue at hand: the Church is dying unless every Christian does something.

Jason is also the founder of the Yellow Ribbon Project and the Dads For Life movement.

“In certain Western countries, church buildings have become museums, become cafes, become entertainment venues,” he told the gathering. 

“In Singapore, when HDB too expensive, we complain to the government. MRT not okay? We complain to the government. 

“The Church is dying? We have no one to complain to; we only have ourselves to blame if that ever happens, and that’s why we are all here today,” said Jason to the room.

OFJ is an invitation for every Christian to bring at least one person to Christ within the next 10 years. 

Fan The Fire, held on August 17, saw 120 Fire-starters and friends in attendance.

It is built on the understanding that the Great Commission belongs not just to the evangelists, missionaries or pastors, but each one who professes Jesus as Lord.

The movement’s vision and mission is very simple, said Jason, “To ignite, to mobilise every Christian in every church to share the love of God, to share the gospel with those who still do not know the love of Jesus.”

He added: “The whole idea for the One For Jesus movement is to raise the water level so that every church, every Christian organisation, can float, every church can grow.”

The theme song of OFJ is “Pass It On”. “It only takes a spark to get the fire going, and soon all those around will warm up to His glory,” paraphrased Jason. “That’s how it is with God’s love. Once they experience it, they want to spread His love to everyone, they want to pass it on.

“All of us have this spark in us — that’s why we call all those who are part of OFJ, Fire-starters.”

What Evangelism 2.0 is

In the last three years since inception, Jason has shared the vision and mission of OFJ with many churches and para-church organisations, some of which have incorporated evangelism into their DNA.

The movement organises learning and sharing sessions across a network of pastors and leaders, offering them a platform to connect. Every one has a role to play no matter where they stand.

Jason said: “If you have something to offer, you come and share. If you want to learn something, you come and learn. If you don’t need this, that means we need you: Can you come and share how to start a fire? Then those of us who need some fire can catch the fire from you.”

Believers are now in the age of Evangelism 2.0, which are marked by several elements:

1. Not the How, but the Heart of evangelism

“The heart of evangelism is the heart of the Father: Father God wants to bring the lost son home, bring the lost sheep home,” he explained. “The how — the methods — can come later.”

2. The “new wine skin”

“Let’s keep doing programmes and events, but it is about personal evangelism on a mass scale,” he noted. “This phrase came from Bishop Rennis Ponniah when he was sharing at one of the roadshows for Celebration of Hope (2019). You see, the Celebration of Hope is not a big event at the Stadium; it is actually mass evangelism, personal evangelism on a mass scale.”

Jason shared how the Lord led him to rethink evangelism. In the past, one evangelist like Billy Graham or Reinhard Bonnke reached thousands and saved thousands. But now, how about thousands reaching one or two each? We will still see thousands saved.”

Jason reminded the gathering: “The heart of evangelism is the heart of the Father: Father God wants to bring the lost son The how — the methods — can come later.”

3. As one for the One

Forging a unity and synergy in evangelistic efforts across the entire Body of Christ. We are in this together.

4. Ecclesia organised by segments

Jason told of how, in his 17 years in the Singapore Prison Service, he had volunteers from churches and ministries who came into the prison to share Christ with the inmates, and how, when one inmate got saved, he would go back to his cell and tell the others. 

His challenge: Why not replicate this ecosystem in sectors like the marketplace or the digital world, effectively going into “all the world”?

He told of an 18-year-old who was a highly-skilled MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) player who rose to the top of his online “kingdom” and amassed a large digital tribe.

Such digital spheres offer anonymity, and he found himself in a leadership position, being approached by 40something CEOs who would confide in him about work and family.

“That’s an 18-year-old boy discipling a 40-year-old CEO!” Jason noted.

OFJ is here to support such radical rethinking of the harvest field, which exists all over different segments of society and community.

5. All things to all men

There is no single method or approach to evangelism. “All things” refers to all tools and all methods.

Don’t keep the mindset that evangelism has to be a gathering of thousands. Whatever is available to you, whether it’s a gathering of three, or a Christmas event, just go ahead and evangelise. 

6. OFJ’s 1/10 Promise

Bring one person to Christ in 10 years — that’s OFJ’s invitation to every Christian to make a promise to evangelise. This will lead to double the Christian population in 10 years. 

To that end, every Christian must be equipped and mobilised to bring the Good News to those who do not yet know Him.

Come to the table

“Jesus always invited people, or He always got into the homes of people and they always ate,” Jason noted. 

“When you come to the table, it can be half an hour to three hours. And what do you do? You talk: You talk about life, you share needs, and then you can BLESS.”

Whether it’s a huge Christmas event or just a gathering of three, take every opportunity to evangelise, said OFJ founder Jason Wong.

B.L.E.S.S is a strategy that has been proven to work, particularly in food-loving Singapore. He unpacked the acronym: “Begin with prayer. Listen. Eat. Serve. Share.” 

Jason illustrated it with a testimony he received from a 70-year-old grandfather in the Elijah 7000 network.

The grandfather would go daily to his neighbourhood coffee shop to drink his morning coffee at 6.30am. He felt led by God to befriend a 30-year-old named Alan (not his real name), and would chat with him each time they met.

Over the course of several years, Alan confided in him about his gambling and money problems. The grandfather, prompted by the love of God, advised him to quit gambling.

Some time later, the grandfather heard a knock on his door one day and was surprised to see Alan. The younger man asked Alan to help him quit gambling.

“I told him I couldn’t help him, but Jesus can,” said the grandfather. “Guess what? That very day, Alan accepted Christ.”

Since then, the grandfather and his wife have been following up with Alan regularly, always inviting him to come to the table. He gives Alan Bible study while his wife teaches Alan English.

They found out later that another Christian lady in the neighbourhood had been faithfully interceding for Alan’s salvation for many years — all of them acted as one for the One, and brought Alan to Christ.

Fan The Fire was the first in-person gathering of Fire-starters and supporters since its founding in December 2021.

OFJ’s new executive director Steven Say obeyed the Lord to return to Singapore from Melbourne to fulfil the mission and vision of the movement.

Executive Director Steven Say, who stepped into the role after OFJ’s former ED Pastor Alan Tay returned to pastor Petra Community, told Salt&Light that OFJ is at “a critical juncture”.

“Jason has gone to over 40 churches to cast the vision. Close to 1,400 Fire-starters have pledged to win one soul for Jesus in 10 years,” he said.

Calling the event “long overdue”, Steven says the OFJ team plan to actively engage those who have made the 1/10 Promise, to reach out to different sectors and engage in deeper dialogue.

He said: “It’s time to spread the fire.”

Click here to read the testimonies of Fire-starters and their unique methods of evangelism.

Would you like to make the pledge to bring 1 person to Christ over the next 10 years? Make the 1/10 faith pledge today!