Where to Do Personal Work

I. PERSONAL WORK AFTER A GOSPEL MEETING.

Perhaps the easiest and most natural place to do

personal work is after a Gospel meeting. Whenever

you attend a meeting, watch for some one to deal

with after the meeting is over. Do not trust to

chance in the matter, but as the minister preaches

the sermon keep your eyes on the audience and

watch who it is that is hit and what hits them,

then you can follow up the work that the minister

has already done by his sermon. You will soon

acquire good judgment in deciding with whom it is

wisest to speak. Of course one must be on his

guard against being obtrusive in watching others.

Before you go to the meeting pray definitely to

God to give you some one at the meeting, and then

watch for an answer to your prayer. When you have

found your man, go for him, and do not let him

slip away under any consideration. It is often

well to go as quickly as possible to one of the

doors of the meeting-house, and without making

oneself too prominent, watch people as they come

out, and then gently and courteously approach some

one, and deal with him about his soul.

There is a great difference in Christian workers.

Some seem never to get any one at the close of a

meeting unless some one else takes them to them.

They wait around with their Bible under their arm

for some one to come to them and take them to an

inquirer; others keep their eyes open for

themselves, and almost always manage to get hold

of some one.

In many of the more active churches, the church is

divided into sections with an overseer over each

division of the church, and individual workers

under the overseer. This is an excellent {23}

plan. When it is well carried out it prevents any

hopeful cases from getting out without being dealt

with personally.

II. IN HOMES.

The Apostle Paul tells us that he preached the

Gospel not only publicly, but "from house to

house" (Acts 20:20). There is far too little

Christian work done in the home. The best home to

begin with is your own. Jesus bade the demoniac of

Gadara when he was healed to return to his own

house and show how great things God had done unto

him (Luke 8:39). Every man who is converted should

begin to tell the saving power of Christ first in

his own home, to his own relatives and friends.

Many a mother with her family of children regrets

that she has not a wider field of labor for

Christ, but she will find one of the grandest of

all fields in her own home.

But we should not limit our personal work to our

own homes; we should do it in the homes where we

visit. In this way those who make us partakers of

their hospitality will entertain angels unawares

(Hebrews 13:2). A godly man who once visited in

the home of Spurgeon's parents, by a few words to

the little boy, made an impression upon that boy

that went far toward making him the mighty

minister of the Gospel that he became in after

years.

Then we should do personal work in the houses that

we enter in our house-to-house visitation. That

man or woman is a poor church visitor who simply

makes a pleasant call or talks upon religious

generalities. The true visitor will find frequent

opportunities for doing effective personal work

with some of the inhabitants of the home, or with

strangers they may find calling upon them.

III. ON THE STREETS.

Here again we have the Apostle Paul for an

example. Not only did he reason "in the synagogue

with the Jews and the devout persons," but also

"in the market place every day with them that met

with him." (Acts 17:17 RV) As you walk the

streets, be listening for the voice of God to say

"Go and speak to that man." Very often as one

walks the street of a crowded city or the lonely

roads of the country, if he is walking with God,

the leading will come to speak to some one that he

meets by the way, and countless are the souls that

have been led out of darkness into light in {24}

this way. As you look upon the surging crowd, ask

God if there is some one in this crowd with whom

He desires you to speak. Sometimes it is well to

stand to one side and watch the people as they

pass. Soon there will come a face that interests

you, a face it may be that tells a story of sin,

or sorrow and need. You can quietly follow this

person and watch for an opportunity to engage him

in conversation, and then point him to the one who

says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are

heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

IV. IN THE PARKS AND OTHER RESORTS.

The parks are often full of people who have plenty

of leisure and are willing to talk upon almost any

subject. Go through the park and find your man,

engage him in a conversation, and as quickly as

you can, lead him up to the great subject that is

burning in your own heart. Oftentimes it is well

to begin to talk about matters of passing

interest, the burning questions of the day, then

lead by the shortest possible route to the great

question. Sometimes show the one with whom you are

talking a tract, and ask his opinion of it, and

this will lead easily to the matter uppermost in

your mind. Not infrequently if you sit down in a

park some one will come and sit down beside you

and begin to talk to you, then of course it is

very easy to lead him into a conversation about

his own soul's need.

V. ON A WALK OR RIDE.

In this we have our Savior's own example. He made

the hearts of the two disciples burn within them

while He spoke to them in the way, and opened to

them the Scriptures (Luke 24:32). We also have the

example of Philip the evangelist. The Spirit bade

him go and join himself to the chariot of Queen

Candace's treasurer. The treasurer invited him up

into the chariot to ride with him, and the

memorable conversation and personal dealing that

followed led to the conversion and baptism of the

treasurer, and the carrying of the Gospel into

Ethiopia (Acts 8:29-38). There are few more

favorable places to do personal work than on a

walk or ride with a friend or even with a

stranger. {25}

VI. AT THE PLACE OF BUSINESS.

Here again we have the Savior's example. "As he

passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting

at the receipt of custom, and said unto him,

Follow me. And he arose and followed him." (Mark

2:14) Of course we ought not to interrupt men and

hinder their proper performance of their business

duties. Many a workman has rare opportunities to

speak with his fellow workmen, sometimes during

work hours, sometimes during the noon rest. One of

the most earnest Christian ministers I ever know

had been a godless employee in a factory, but the

man who worked next to him was a Christian, took

an interest in his fellow employee's soul, and was

instrumental under God in leading him to Christ. I

have met a good many from one of the largest

business institutions in our city who have been

led to Christ by one consecrated young man in the

establishment. This young man has since gone as a

foreign missionary, but he was used of God to lead

many of his fellow employees to Christ before he

went. It is well, wherever possible, to go into

stores and factories and other places of business

for the deliberate purpose of leading those who

work there to Christ. Of course, as already said,

it will not do to interrupt a man at his business,

neither will it do generally to deal with him when

others are around and listening, nor should he be

taken at an hour when he is in a bad temper; but

one who has that discretion that God is so ready

to give (James 1:5) will find many opportunities

for doing the Master's work. It is quite possible

oftentimes to drop a word, or even to have a

little talk, when there is not a great pressure of

business, with the clerk who sells us goods, or

with the barker who shaves us, or with the boy who

blacks our shoes. There are five marks of a good

opportunity; when one is alone, unoccupied, in

good humor, communicative and in a serious mood.

VII. ON CARS AND BOATS.

Traveling on a train affords a very rare

opportunity for personal work. Travelers usually

have much time that hangs heavily upon their

hands, and are glad to get into conversation with

any one, but if one is a real Christian, there is

one subject always uppermost in his mind, one

subject that he would rather talk about than any

other, and that is Jesus Christ. When you get

{26} into a train, get as good a seat for yourself

as you can, put your coat and grip out of the way,

move away over to the farther side of the seat,

and make the vacant space beside you look as

inviting as possible. If the car is at all

crowded, you will soon have a fellow passenger,

and the desired opportunity for personal work.

Sometimes it is well to keep your coat and grip in

the seat beside you until you see the man or woman

that you want coming, and then remove them and

move along in a way of silent invitation.

It is well to talk with the trainmen and porters.

They are usually willing to talk, and many of them

have been led to Christ by Spirit-filled workers

who were traveling with them.

Many Christian workers go through trains and give

tracts to every one on the train. I am not sure

that this is the wisest thing to do, but I know

that great blessing has come from it in many

cases. Certainly it is well to carry a good supply

of religious literature with you when you travel.

Some of the books of the Bible Institute

Colportage Association are excellent for this

purpose, such, e.g., as "Probably Sons." People

are willing to read almost anything on a train,

and these books without any comment oftentimes

will lead the reader to Christ, and when they do

not do this, they pave the way for a conversation.

Street cars are not as favorable a place for

personal work as trains. One does not have the

time or opportunity that he has on a train, and

yet good work can be done on a street car, both

with the passengers and with the motorman and

conductor. A minister once said to me, "I was

greatly ashamed last night going down on the

street car. I was sitting inside the car talking

on unimportant matters with friends, and as I

looked to the front end of the car, I saw one

member of my church talking with the driver about

his soul, and when I looked to the other end of

the car I saw another member of my church talking

to the conductor, and there I, the pastor of the

church, was doing nothing but wasting my time."

VIII. PRISONS, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER PUBLIC

INSTITUTIONS.

A fine place to do personal work is in public

institutions, such as prisons and hospitals, where

many people are gathered together and are at

leisure from morning till night. Every Sunday, all

over this land, devoted men and women are going

into prisons, jails and {27} hospitals, carrying

the glad tidings of salvation, and thousands are

being converted to God through their faithful

personal work. Many of the best Christians that I

know today were brought to Christ in prison, not

so much through the public preaching, as through

the personal work of some devoted child of God who

went from cell to cell and talked to the men about

Christ. But while so much is being done already in

this direction, there are many prisons and jails

and hospitals where little or nothing is done.

Nurses in hospitals have a rare opportunity of

doing personal work in the institutions where they

are employed. Fortunately a very large proportion

of trained nurses are devoted Christian women, and

yet many of them do not realize the opportunities

that God has put within their reach. A very

unusual opportunity is also open to the Christian

physician. Indeed a true Christian physician will

oftentimes find opportunities for doing personal

work that even the minister of the Gospel cannot

find. Sometimes it will be with the patient whom

he is treating, sometimes with the relatives and

friends of the patient who are in deep anxiety as

to the outcome of the sickness.

What has been said does not of course cover all

the places where personal work can be done, but it

will suggest rich fields of opportunity. To put it

in a word, personal work should be done

everywhere. We read of the early disciples that

"they that were scattered abroad went EVERYWHERE

preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4), that is talking to

individuals about Jesus, showing them the word of

truth as it is found in the Bible, and leading

them to accept it. Every child of God should be at

all times on the lookout for opportunities to

speak personally to some man or woman about

Christ.