Updated September 17, 2007 (first published November 16, 2006) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)-

Evangelistic correspondence courses can be a very effective and fruitful church outreach if used correctly; and many churches have found this to be true, not only in North America but also in many other parts of the world. They are especially helpful with people who might not be open to attending church, such as wives whose husbands do not want them to attend, or young people whose parents will not allow them to attend a church, or members of religions such as Islam or Roman Catholicism whose relatives would hinder them from attending a Bible believing church. The courses are mailed or carried to those who request them and instructions are included about what to do with the completed course. We used gospel correspondence courses in our missionary work in Asia and preached the gospel to hundreds of people by that means. In fact, the man we eventually ordained as the pastor of the church we started was saved through the correspondence course ministry and has been faithfully serving Jesus Christ for 20 years.

An advantage of the correspondence courses is that they can cover the gospel systematically and carefully, whereas a gospel tract is very limited in its scope. When people completed our five-lesson correspondence course in Nepal, we sent them a New Testament and other literature and tried to make personal contact with them.

Tips for Using Gospel Correspondence Courses Effectively: 

1. Personalize the correspondence course distribution. Assign each person in the church or ministry a number that he or she can write on every tract that he distributes to advertise the course. The church member will write his or her number on the back of the tract on the section that is torn out and mailed in to request the courses. Thus, when responses come back with that number, the individual will know that the response is from his efforts. This is a very encouraging thing, and it motivates people to be more diligent in distribution and more earnest in prayer. God has made us in such a way that we desire to see fruit from our labors, and the Bible tells us that this is God’s desire as well (John 15:8).

2. Promote the correspondence course ministry to the church people. For a correspondence course ministry to be effective, the church people must get excited about it and be diligent in advertising it. The role of the pastor is very important in this. It is helpful to give regular reports to the church about the results of the correspondence course ministry, so the people can see the effects of that outreach.

3, Advertise the course widely. People are going to respond only if they know that the course is available. The announcement needs to get out to as many people as people in as many ways as possible. Pamphlets describing the course can be printed and distributed door to door, mailed to homes, and in other ways gotten out to people who might be interested. The course can also be advertised in all of the tracts and in other literature distributed by the church. The correspondence course can be advertised in newspapers. In some parts of the world, thousands of people have responded to ads for gospel correspondence courses placed in secular publications. In some places, posters advertising the correspondence course can be effective.

4. Pray much for the correspondence course outreach. Prayer brings the power of God into any spiritual ministry. Don’t forget to pray for the correspondence course ministry during the church prayer meetings. That is also a good time to give a little report about any responses that are coming.

5. Assign the right people to answer the mail. The key to making the correspondence course ministry effective is to communicate personally with the subscribers and to develop a trusting relationship with them so that eventually personal contact can be made and they can be brought to the church. It is thus important that the right people be involved in replying to the subscribers. They must be people who have the Lord’s blessing to be able to deal effectively with the unsaved. They must, of course, be mature and knowledgeable Christians who have a good personal testimony. If there is a large response to the correspondence courses, several people in the church can get involved in answering the letters and sending out new lessons to the subscribers. Perhaps ladies can reply to the females who subscribe to the courses, and men can reply to the males. If subscriptions come from teenagers, perhaps some mature teens in the church can be assigned to reply to them and to correspond with them.

6. Conclude the courses by giving away a New Testament or a copy of John/Romans. Or order copies of “The Amazing Story of the Bible” from Way of Life Literature. Beginning in Genesis and going through Revelation it includes excerpts from the Scriptures with 205 headings and 204 explanatory footnotes to enable the reader to see the unfolding story of the Bible and to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The footnotes contain explanations of Bible words and events. The Bible is a large book and to the uninitiated, it is complicated and difficult to understand. The Bible’s Amazing Story is designed to assist those who are searching for the truth and who want to know what the Bible is all about. [Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org]

7. Perhaps invite the subscribers to a home Bible study in the area, if the church offers these. See the section in our book “Ideas for Evangelism” on “Evangelistic Bible Studies.”

8. Distribute bilingual correspondence courses among those who are studying English as a second language. English is very popular in many parts of the world outside of North America, and multitudes young people, in particular, are eager to try out their newly acquired English skills. A bilingual correspondence course is very attractive in such areas.

Some Sources for Gospel Correspondence Courses: 

Source of Light has evangelistic and basic discipleship correspondence courses. [Source of Light, 1011 Madison Rd., Madison, GA 30650-9399. 706-342-0397 (voice), 706-342-9072 (fax), sol1usa@aol.com (e-mail)]

The Mailbox Club offers 15 Bible courses for use with children, youth, and adults. [The Mailbox Club, 404 Eager Rd., Valdosta, GA 31601. 800-488-2556 (voice), 912-244-6812 (voice), 912-245-8977 (fax), mbclub@datasys.net (e-mail), http://www.mailboxclub.org/ (web site). Seven of the Mailbox Club lessons are on the web at the following address http://www.charitybaptist.org/mailbox/mbxindx.htm.]

Churches and individuals are encouraged to use the Mailbox Club lessons in their own evangelistic outreaches. George Eager, founder of the Mailbox Club, explains how he started this ministry:

Many years ago I was spending some time in North Carolina, Each afternoon I went walking in the mountains. One afternoon I saw a group of children playing by the side of the road. The next day they were there again. The third day I had my back pocket full of Mailbox Club lessons. I asked the children, “Have you ever heard of The Mailbox Club?” They had not, so I explained the club to them and asked if they would like to have a lesson.

The children received the lessons eagerly! Shortly thereafter, one of these children, a little girl, went to a boarding school nearby. Several weeks later I received a letter from a housemother at this school.

Mrs. Long wrote, “I am the housemother for twenty-four girls. One of my girls is receiving Bible lessons from you, and she shares them with me. I think they are very good and I wonder if I might get Mailbox Club lessons for all my girls!”

The next day lessons were in the mail for the girls and a set for Mrs. Long as well. In about a week we received another letter from Mrs. Long. She was so excited that she could hardly contain herself! She said, “When I received the lessons, I gave one to each of the girls and told them that we would not have a Bible story tonight, but I wanted them to read the Mailbox Club lesson for their devotional.”

Mrs. Long said, “I went to my room. Soon there was a knock at my door. When I opened the door there was a little girl, with her lesson in her hand and tears in her eyes. She said, ‘Mrs. Long, I want to take Jesus as my Savior. Will you help me?’“

“It seemed like little girls were coming to my room all night! Before it was over eighteen girls had prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior!”

Pastor Mike Austin [Liberty Baptist Church, 11845 W. Carson City Rd., Greenville, MI 48838. 616-754-7151 (voice)], offers a series of Bible courses at his web site — http://www.libertygospeltracts.com/.

The Middletown Bible Church web site has two courses that could be used for correspondence, one on John and one on Romans. [Middletown Bible Church, 349 East St., Middletown, CT 06457. 860-346-0807 (voice), pradeshs@4publication.com (e-mail), http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org (web site)]

The Emmaus Correspondence School has correspondence courses. This is a Brethren organization. The address is 2570 Asbury Rd., Dubuque, IA 52001-3099. 888-397-2425 (voice), www.emmaus.edu (web site).

Following is the testimony of a pastor who uses the Emmaus Courses:

“Beside doing door to door witnessing, we use correspondence courses from Emmaus Bible College and call it Bible Courses International. I have printed up a post card for people to fill out and return to a post office box. We stuff all our Gospel tracts with these cards and it has been amazing how many responses we have received back not only from our own community but from across the country as our people leave them everywhere they go. I have written a disclaimer on the courses that I use from Emmaus because they don’t always stick to the King James. I put a label on the front of each course and encourage the individual to use the King James as they go through the courses. Doctrinally, I have found the courses to be very sound. To use the courses for evangelism, Emmaus has you apply to be an Associate Instructor and then you can order as many courses as you need, along with the score keys” (Pastor Donald Williams, Believer’s Baptist Church, Winona Lake, Indiana).