Even though I have served as an evangelist for over 30 years, I still vividly remember when the call of God came to me. At a youth camp altar, the Lord spoke to my 14-year-old heart; my life’s calling was to ministry, and my assignment was to be an evangelist and to teach others about the Holy Spirit.
I always had a desire to serve the Lord in ministry, but I didn’t think it would be my life’s vocation; I just thought it would be a normal outcome of my Christianity—alongside my secular line of work. Every healthy Christian should be consistently involved in doing ministry, but for some, God captures their heart with focus and passion for ministry to be their vocation. Every person is unique; your calling and assignment from God will probably not be exactly like someone else’s or what you may expect. Regardless of how God enables and calls you, obedience to Him is the most important thing.
At age 12, I was baptized in the Spirit and began leading people to Jesus regularly. So after receiving my call to ministry, I looked for open doors to minister publicly. My dad told me, “If God wants to use you in ministry, get started now, walk through any open door,” and that’s exactly what I did. I began preaching in Bible studies when I was 14 years old and talking with my friends and schoolmates about Jesus, then praying with them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. By the time I went to Bible college at 18, I had some experience in preaching, because I had simply said yes to small open doors. And time has gone by so quickly since then: graduating Bible college, meeting my wife, Rochelle (who herself was called in the ministry at 12 years old), immediately beginning our traveling evangelistic ministry, raising our three sons on the road with us, our sons marrying incredible women of God, and now grandchildren—God has been so faithful! Three decades are a blur with millions of miles traveled.
The Ministry of an Evangelist
The biblical word we translate as “gospel” or “good news” (euangelion) is the basis for our understanding of the word evangelist (euangelistes). The gospel is a thing, and an evangelist is a person who brings the thing (the gospel). While every Christian is required to share the gospel with others (Matt 28:19), the gift of the evangelist is an additional, unique calling by Jesus for specific people (Eph 4:11-12).
Biblically, the ministry of an evangelist has two main parts. First, an evangelist’s primary audience is the lost—bringing the message of the Gospel to those who need salvation. But the Bible shows a secondary audience for evangelists in Ephesians chapter four; along with other ministry gifts, evangelists are called to equip the church for the work of the ministry. Evangelists first speak to the lost and secondly speak to the church.
Philip is the only named evangelist in the Bible (Acts 21:8). He brought the gospel to the lost—both large groups (Acts 8:5) and individuals (Acts 8:29-38). His ministry included travel to Galilee in Jn 1:43, Samaria in Acts 8:5, many towns in Acts 8:40, and Caesarea in Acts 21:8. He was likely fulfilling the secondary role of the evangelist in Acts 21 by strengthening the local church in Caesarea.
We also see this biblical pattern happening historically within the modern Pentecostal movement and the Assemblies of God in particular. Spirit-empowered evangelists are the largest soul-winners in global history, such as AG Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke who led over 65 million to Christ in his lifetime. 1Historically, evangelists have played a huge role in fostering spiritual growth within the church by speaking timely, prophetic messages and then leading in powerful prayer times where people encounter the power of God.
And evangelists still have a powerful voice today—both to the lost and within the church. Currently, over 500 AG USA evangelists serve the lost and the church. While some people might want to reduce the evangelist’s gift to a single caricature or stereotype, the role is expressed diversely in real life. Most AG evangelists broadly fall into 6 categories:
- Missionary evangelists
- Equipping/outreach evangelists
- Revivalist evangelists
- Demographic specific evangelists (children, teens, women, men, etc.)
- Arts evangelists (music, worship, drama, etc.)
- Specialized/teaching evangelists
Many evangelists find they function in two or more of the above categories. Some evangelists travel broadly, and some find the blessing of God as they focus on one city. God alone determines the specific details and implementation.
Since the AG is a church-driven organization, we spend most of our effort building strong churches led by strong pastors. Additionally, we have always been driven by a passion for powerful global outreach led by powerful missionaries. Because of this, our fellowship focuses most ministry training on pastors and missionaries. However, we strongly value the call to be an evangelist.
Getting started can feel lonely and vague. That is why we are here. No one needs to feel alone because there is an army all around you waiting to assist. We have the following resources available to help you get started and stay encouraged:
- Annual Evangelists ReCharge Conference (for existing evangelists and those exploring the call)
- “I Want To Be An Evangelist” podcast (for those stepping into the call)
- “Amplify” podcast (for existing evangelists)
- Formal and informal mentoring
- Social media evangelist groups
A Final Word
Many find getting started as an evangelist to be difficult, because they are looking to churches and pastors to open the door. AG outreach and missionary evangelists Lance and Heather Alves experienced this barrier. Lance says, “When I got started out, no church or pastor wanted to give me a microphone because they just didn’t know me. So instead, I went out and bought my own microphone and preached on the streets, seeing many people get saved and touched by God. Then, as the effectiveness of the ministry grew, churches and pastors took notice.” This is a critical reminder for all of us: act upon the call of God now in any small way that you can. Don’t wait for some future time for everything to come into alignment; start telling EVERYONE about Jesus now. Like my dad told me, “Get started now, walk through any open door.”
