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Two-man team spreads gospel on the street
Kevin Raymond and Mike McCoy pay college tuition by evangelizing door-to-door

He knocks at the front door of the spacious, ranch-style home. The resident on the cul-de-sac opens the door to find an evangelist on a mission. He's been to 50 other homes in the last two hours without so much as a bite. He hopes this resident will give him an opportunity to share the story about how Jesus Christ saved him from a living hell.

Just a year ago, MBC freshman Kevin Raymond was unable to approach strangers and share the good news of the gospel with them. Recently, he and freshman Mike McCoy, both members of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Ore., pioneered a new door-to-door outreach program at their church.

The men have a game plan for their ministry. First, they tell the resident they are from Greater Gresham Baptist Church. Second, they offer the resident literature about Jesus Christ and their church. Third, if the resident is open to conversation, they find out if he or she attends church. And fourth, the men ask "exploratory questions" that lead to sharing their testimonies and presenting the gospel.

In June and July, Raymond and McCoy spent about seven hours per day knocking on doors in middle-class neighborhoods southwest of Eastman Parkway and Powell Boulevard in Gresham, Ore. The most frequent response they received from the neighborhood residents was cordial disinterest. These responses included, "I'm sorry, we're just too busy," "We already have a church we attend" and "I'm not interested."

Other times they were "chewed out" by residents who took exception to their approach. One day, while going door-to-door on 181st Avenue, south of Powell Boulevard, they came to a house in an affluent neighborhood where a woman answered the door. When they had introduced themselves, she became openly hostile and irate. She began to yell at the two men, and said, "Why do you people come out here? Nobody wants you around here, and no one cares to hear what you have to say!"

McCoy responded to the woman's tirade by saying, "God bless you." The woman was apparently somewhat disarmed by the parting comment because she semi-begrudgingly, quietly returned the phrase to the two men. The two men said that after their encounter, they needed a few minutes to rebound. Raymond said, "What she said affected me, and it hurt." However, the two men didn't let this negative encounter stop them.

Working full-time in the summer, the men averaged 10 fruitful conversations per week. Raymond distinguished those conversations from the others, calling them "opportunities to share the gospel and call someone to make a decision." That number has fallen to three per week since school started; Raymond has had to scale back his hours to about 10 per week.

A couple of years ago, Raymond would never have thought of himself as a "street evangelist." Formerly homeless and destitute, his testimony of conversion to Christ on Jan. 31, 1997, is one he gladly shares with whoever will listen.

"Encouragement from my church pastors and leaders has really helped me grow spiritually over the past eight months," Raymond said. "They encouraged me to get involved in ministry. And ever since I went on a missions trip to Brazil earlier this year, something changed in me, and I've been on fire for the Lord."

One day he had a chance to share his story with a successful businessman from his church. The man was impressed by Raymond and McCoy's zeal for Christian evangelism. In May, he pledged several thousand dollars to their church, with the stipulation that the church apportion the funds to assist Raymond and McCoy with college tuition. In return, Raymond and McCoy committed to continue the door-to-door ministry.

Greater Gresham Baptist Church donates funds to MBC on behalf of Raymond and McCoy. The two men earn $11 per hour--applied toward their tuition--as long as they continue to go door-to-door. The two men report the number of hours they work each week to the ministry project supervisor at their church.

"Door-to-door witnessing is the hardest kind of evangelism I've ever done," Raymond said. McCoy agreed. Two months ago, McCoy became seriously ill and was diagnosed with cancer. He became physically unable to continue working with Raymond. "I've missed having him out here with me, and I'm praying for him daily," Raymond said.

Both men talked about the teamwork and camaraderie they shared. They were equally challenged and complemented by each other as Bible students and disciples for Christ. Raymond said, "Mike really challenged me by his friendly nature. It softened me. He really cares for people and it shows in his actions. He waited on the Lord to open doors." McCoy said, "It was great to work with Kevin. He challenged me to dig deeper in conversations with people in an effort to discover and minister to their needs. His zeal for Christ made me more eager to share the gospel with people."

McCoy recalled days when temperatures soared to 100 degrees and other days when dogs chased them down the sidewalk. But they kept knocking on doors. The two men experienced a week in July when an average of one person per day eagerly listened to their message and prayed to accept Christ. They attributed their success that week to "a powerful move of God."

"One day we were knocking on doors on Southeast 160th, between Division and Powell," McCoy said. "We came to a house where a 15-year-old male answered the door. We introduced ourselves and told him where we were from. He seemed amicable to our visit. Feeling led by the Holy Spirit, I asked him, 'If you were to stand before God right now, and he were to ask you the question, "Why should I let you into heaven?" what would you say to him?' "The youngster thought for a moment, then said, 'I don't know!' I then asked him if I could show him what the Bible said about the matter, and he agreed."

Using an acrostic of the word L-O-V-E-D, facilitated on the five fingers of McCoy's right hand, he started with "L"--that God loved him, and ended with "D," that he needed to make a decision to accept Christ as his savior to get into heaven. The boy said that he wanted to make that decision right then, so McCoy lead him in a prayer to accept the Lord. "We followed up with another visit that week, and we gave him a Bible and a Jesus video," he said.

Since the two-man team was split up by McCoy's illness in August, Raymond has continued the door-to-door ministry by himself. He has not seen anyone accept Christ since July.

In October, McCoy received what he called "a divine healing" of his cancer. He attributed his miracle to the powerful touch of Christ's hand. He said he was deeply moved and appreciated the many prayers raised on his behalf by his family, friends and students as MBC.

Raymond and McCoy were recently reunited as a ministry team. They intend to blaze a trail of hope and encouragement throughout their community. Their prayer is for others to hear God's call to the great harvest field of Gresham, Ore. McCoy said, "If Christian evangelists are unwilling to serve in their own communities, they have no business going off to a foreign mission field."