Evangelism Explosion

Evangelism Explosion was developed in the early 1960’s by Dr. D. James Kennedy. Today, Evangelism Explosion trains many thousands of pastors and lay Christians each year in how to share their faith, using a simple, well thought out outline of the Gospel.

Pastors wishing to equip their members in sharing the Gospel are asked to attend an EE leadership training clinic.

New Life Philadelphia was able to start EE training as a church back in 2001 with the help of PEF evangelists Mark Grasso and George Petrella, and with a lay teacher-trainer, Marialena Zachariah.

Since implementing EE at New Life, we had run ten semesters, usually one 13 week semester each spring and fall. EE has three levels of training. Level one is the basic 13 week training course, in which the trainees learn the EE Gospel outline and learn to share their faith by being partnered in teams of three persons, and each training team is led by an experienced trainer who knows how to share his or her faith.

Level two training is meant to train leaders. The Level three course is a basic course in Christian apologetics, how to handle some of the basic hard and tough questions someone might throw at you.

The cost for each trainee is $32.95.

Schedule

EE meets on Monday nights in New Life’s chapel/fellowship hall, from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

EE normally is run at New Life Philadelphia in the Spring (March to early June) and in the Fall (September to early December).

Philosophy

EE works because it is simply Christians sharing a logical, well thought Gospel outline(either through memory or tracts). The EE Gospel outline attempts to avoid a lot of Christian jargon by using the theme of Eternal Life throughout. To get you started, here is the basics of the EE outline:

Introduction the building of a friendship, asking key diagnostic questions, getting permission to share the Gospel, and sharing your testimony.

Gospel
Grace Heaven is a free gift and it is not earned or deserved.
Man Man is a sinner and cannot save himself.
God God is merciful and does not want to punish people, God is also just and must punish sin.
Christ Who He is, the infinite God/Man, What He did, He died on the cross and rose from the dead to purchase a place in heaven for us and to pay the penalty for our sins.
Faith What faith is and is not, and how it is the key to appropiating the Gospel for yourself.

Commitment Section How to clarify what coming to Christ means, how to pray with the prospect so that they actually trust in Christ.

Assurance Section How to assure the new believer of their new faith and standing in Christ.

Follow-up Section How to get the new believer started in their walk with Jesus, so that they can grow to be mature, reproducing disciples of King Jesus.

h3(overline). Contact

For more information about joining in the EE training at New Life Philadelphia, contact our administrators, George Petrella or Marialena Zachariah

In ten semester of EE training at New Life, 28 people have completed Level one training, 13 have completed Level two, and 6 have completed Level three. We have contacted about 880 people, made about 390 Gospel presentations to over 420 people, saw 103 professions of faith and 27 people gaining a new assurance of their faith. There have been many, many positive times the Gospel has impacted someone’s life; about 38% of the times the Gospel was shared, there was a positive result. Even major league baseball players would like a .380 batting average!

For more info, visit the EE website.

About George & Jane Petrella

George and Jane Petrella are commissioned Evangelists with Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship, headquartered in Bristol, VA.(www.pefministry.org) They have been commissioned to serve in Philadelphia and have been members of New Life for 20 years. We have four adult children and five grandchildren. George holds a BA in pastoral studies from Moody Bible Institute and attended Westminster Theological Seminary. George and Jane met while attending Geneva college in 1971. Jane has many artistic skills, and George often acts each season with mereBreath, the drama ministry of Tenth Presbyterian Church in center city, Phila.
Petrella