Eyedropper against inferno
Street preacher evokes images that range from sermons on sandwich-board signs to simple gospel tracts. Though the earliest evangelists were preaching Jesus in the public square (Acts 5:42) long before there were pulpits, its hard to imagine what that ministry would look like today.

Tommy Littleton shares Christ with some students hanging outside a tattoo parlor in the Five Points district of  Birmingham. photo by Karim Shamshi-basha

Tommy Littleton knows. A member at Southcrest Baptist Church in Bessemer, Alabama, Tommy has had more than two decades of self-supported ministry on highways and byways around the world. Hes preached to the down-and-out and the up-and-out of New York City. I once shared Christ with Calvin Klein and to a homeless man on the same street in the same half-hour, says Tommy. Hes also preached to the frenzied crowds of Dublin, Ireland, on St. Patricks Day. His ministry takes him to popular destinations like New Orleans and Daytona Beach and to remote corners like Honduras and Croatia, but always to the crossroads where people gather.

Tommys technique is profoundly simple: The Lord opens a door and I go. Tommy is a certified auctioneer and runs his familys RV park and is single. That flexibility allows for several months of ministry every year. Once on location, Tommy goes to the high-traffic areas and hangouts where he engages individuals and small groups in conversations that lead to Christ.

Ive talked to punks in New Yorks East Village, to street performers and tourists in the French Quarter and to spring-breakers, runaways, shop-keepers and homeless people in parks and on beachside strips, says Tommy. Underneath the circumstances the need is always the sameits Jesus.

Since the early 1990s Tommy has focused on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, during the summer. There are 60,000 teenagers there every week during senior weeks, he says. He often works with church groups and friends who come alongside to try to engage as many as possible with the gospel. Going it alone can make you feel like an eyedropper against an inferno, he says, but partners are a big encouragement. Plus its nice to see Jesus one prayer request fulfilled as workers go out into this field ripe for harvest.

The ministry depends on impromptu conversations. Most people on the street are looking for interaction, and they have opinions that theyre eager to express, he says. If you give a listening ear, you can usually get one in return. Realizing that these encounters are by definition passing, Tommy is very deliberate and direct in his comments. In front line evangelism there must be a balance between sensitivity and urgency, he says. We have to cut through a lot of evasiveness and Oprah religion fairly quickly in order to address eternal issues.

That sentiment was set in stone as Tommy watched last years 9/11 attacks unfold, knowing that days before hed been ministering to high-profile financial analysts who worked on the upper floors of the twin towers.

Street preaching is more than hit-and-run evangelism, Tommy contends. Its planting a seed, nurturing when we can and trusting God for the rest. The key is being in touch with the heart of God so that we can appeal to the hearts of people. The joy is seeing those two hearts meet. 

A lifetime commitment
Bob Dawson, professor of Religious Education and Evangelism at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, has been leading Royal Ambassadors (RAs) for 40 years. I became an RA leader in 1962 at the age of 16, recalls Bob. It didnt take me long to see the potential for making a difference in the lives of boys, and I simply stuck with itthrough college, seminary and finally as a college professor. Its a role that has brought him face to face with the work God is doing in the lives of boys.

Bob Dawson teaches his RAs the art of tying knots. photo by william b. pope

We first introduce boys to Jesus, and then we introduce them to missions, says Bob, explaining Immanuel Baptist Churchs RA Program. Many who come our way dont know much about Jesus. Its not uncommon for boys to pray to receive Christ at an RA meeting or campout.

Bob is committed to teaching young men how to have a deeper relationship with Christ, including how to avoid temptations. He came up with the RA Promisea commitment to never use alcohol, drugs or tobacco. I believe this is something boys should nail down at an early age, says Bob. Making a promise to their parents and to God will make it easier for them to say no when they are invited to experiment. Bob made a similar promise to his grandmother when he was nine. I promised her that I would never smokeand I never have.

Some of the boys in his RA group have grown up in Christian homes, and have made this commitment within the context of their families. Some, however, are from non-Christian homes where some or all of these substances are used regularly. Those guys need Christian men to help them with this commitment, adds Bob. It was for them that the RA Promise was born.

Sixteen RAs have made the promise in front of the entire church. The boys parents participate in the ceremonyincluding the unchurched parents. Even they want the best for their sons but dont quite know how to give it to them, says Bob.

Bob has seen many young men from all walks of life go through RAs. Ive seen boys who grew up on welfare learn for the first time the joy of raising money to buy a gift for a shut-in or making something with their own hands, says Bob. Ive seen boys express a desire to serve Christ on the mission field, and Ive watched several carry out that commitment.

A CUP OF COFFEE AND THE GOSPEL
Mandy Moltz learned about missions around her familys dinner table. My father is a pastor, and all the missionaries who came to our church to give reports came to our home and ate with us, says Mandy. I told one who was visiting for a World Missions Conference that I was going to be a missionary one day.

Mandy Moltz helps a neighborhood kid with his homework. photo by david trozzo

Mandy now serves as a US/C-2 missionary at the Canton Baptist Church and Neighborhood Center in Baltimore, Maryland. US/C-2 missionaries are college graduates who serve for two years in the United States or Canada.

Its been quite an adjustment for me moving to Baltimore from a small farming community in southwest Georgia, she says.

Mandy has helped start a coffeehouse at the center. After overcoming challenges, such as having to shut down before they even opened because of problems with their first location, the coffee house has finally become quite a blessing. Using their own facilities, they have brought in bands and drama groups to help out with entertainment at the neighborhood coffeehouse.

We have been blessed with people who donate money, coffee, drinks, chips, baskets, whatever we need, says Mandy. The coffeehouse is a place for Christians to come and hang out in a relaxed setting, and a place where non-Christians will feel comfortable. A place where they will hear Gods message over a cup of coffee and come to know Him.