Gerald Hanskamp. Trowel & Sword. Jan/Feb 1973
Preamble: Among other things Trowel and Sword was invaluable for informing the denomination what individual churches were doing in their own areas, thus providing the inspiration for others to follow suit. In this article Rev Gerald Hanskamp, possibly best known for his work with the World Home Bible League, now under the name of Bible League International, tells about the effort of a small group of volunteers who spent three days reaching out to the community at the Geelong Show. The group was led by an ordinary, (read: average but dedicated) man, who spent three days working himself to exhaustion in order to bring the gospel to the people of Geelong. His name was Jack Moritz, and if that surname is not familiar to you you haven’t been paying attention. If Jack could do this anyone can. If you currently have a “Jack Moritz”in your church, write in and tell us about it. We are just as happy to print current stories as we are to print articles from yesteryear.
The Stand At The Show
From certain quarters we have been accused of being evangelism-lazy. Reformed teaching, we are told, makes us that way. Yet according to the Canons of Dort we are to be zealous in going out “to declare and publish the promise to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction”.
The evangelism material provided by the World Home Bible League has proved to be a great help in various Reformed churches in their endeavours to reach out, in some cases in conjunction with other churches. This could prove to be a break through.
From the Geelong branch we received the following information: “This year we have had a WHBL stand at the Geelong Show in October. It was a very worthwhile experience for all who were involved in it. No doubt it took quite some organising before everything was under control. We needed a proper stand with a caravan next to it; an amplifier, a tape-recorder, proper lighting etc. We also had to select messages and hymns to be taped; we needed tracts, bibles, sample lessons, plenty of enrolment cards and so on. Space at the Show had to be hired and the “manning” of the stand to be organised. The Youth Club offered help in painting the signs and banners and in decorating the stand.
The show lasted three days. We met all sorts of people. A young American sailor coming from Sydney showed a keen interest. Although his parents attend an Episcopal Church in the States he himself knew next to nothing of the gospel. He knew about Moses because he had seen the film of the Ten Commandments but of Abraham and Paul he had never heard; but he was eager to listen and to learn and he was very happy with the New Testament we gave him.
A boy of 14 from one of the sideshows, who could not read or write himself, wanted to buy a New Testament for his sister. A drunk wanted to confess his sins in tears. We encouraged him to do so when sober; but his son enrolled for the bible course.
Altogether 50 people enrolled for the bible study courses; we gave 10 Bibles and 50 New Testaments to people who promised to use them well and further we distributed thousands of tracts and enrolment cards. We were not the only Christian movement represented at the show. The “Brethren” were there and some revivalist or pentecostal groups. Some Mormons worked there too.
But we concentrated on Bible distribution. The Word of God is our weapon. Several members of the church took turns in attending to the stand and we had much help from the young people assisting in all kinds of ways. But we need more support particularly from the men in the church. One member (Mr. J.G. (Jack) Moritz), who did most of the organising and was there every night was dog tired on the Saturday night. When he sat down for a while in the caravan a Christian from a nearby church came to encourage him with a good word about Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.
We definitely hope to do this again, possibly in co-operation with other churches. We found it a very effective way of contacting people and confronting them with God’s Word. Our prayer is that the material we distributed, the New Testaments we gave out and the lessons to which people subscribed may be wonderfully used by God”.
So far the Geelong report. We will be happy to hear from others and their efforts under the WHBL scheme.
GERALD HANSCAMP
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