Learning from an expert

I've just finished a coaching call with Tim Scheuer.

For the last six weeks, Tim and his team have been out knocking on doors in Airds, one of Sydney’s most disadvantaged suburbs.

Tim asks five simple questions to discover people who are ready to find out more about following Jesus.

For most of us that would be hard work, but Tim loves every minute and every encounter with someone who doesn’t know Jesus.

Of 45 homes, 42 people wanted to talk more, 11 wanted to join a Christianity Explained group in their neighbourhood, 2 wanted to host a group and invite others.

Soon there will be 10 groups meeting in homes around Airds. Tim explains tells people the purpose of the groups is to get to know Jesus and follow him together in a simple neighbourhood church.

At one house, Tim suggest the name of a woman who might be interested in joining a group. The lady of the house told him, “The group in our home wouldn’t work for her. Yesterday we had a fist fight!”

Tim is finding that the more visits they do, the more people they meet who know people they know. Trust is building in the community. Locals are advising Tim on who he should visit next. They’re also recruiting friends and family to join a group.

Tim and his team have a plan. They want to meet everyone in Airds and give them a chance to hear about Jesus and respond to him. They’ve divided Airds up into 30 areas with about 35 homes in each area.

The pattern so far is that over 90% of people want to talk. About 25% of people want to join a group. Of that 25%, about one in five are happy to host a group in their home and invite others.

Here’s the scary thing, until Tim went visiting everyone would have said, "Airds is unresponsive to the gospel." That’s why you shouldn’t listen to “experts” like me who write books — unless they’ve been listening to people like Tim.