30in30 recap

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Once again in September 2008, people around Australia rose to this challenge and responded ‘Here we are Lord, send us’. In BPCWA alone, there were 87 people participating in 30in30 – they each committed to giving out one tract every day in the month of September, with the goal of eventually making evangelism a part of their everyday life. In Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Esperance (WA), and Ingham (QLD), many others joined in. A total of at least 1380 tracts were given out by God’s grace.

Numbered tracts travelled via the pockets and handbags of participants to places all over the Perth Metropolitan Area and were subsequently scattered as far south as Canning Vale, as far east as Ellis Brook, as far north as Marangaroo, and even overseas? By the grace of God, Perth was inundated with small little booklets with the title ‘This Was Your Life’. Recipients of these little booklets were challenged to take a long hard look at their spiritual state and as a result, the precious seed of the Gospel was planted in the hearts of many.

Though at times, the task may have seemed daunting to those who had accepted the challenge, managers brimming with enthusiasm set out to encourage and cheer-on their group members. On a weekly basis, logs were collected of the tracts that had been given out in the previous week – where they had gone, who received them, at what time they had been distributed, and other details of the encounter. Collectively, people from all walks of life had been offered a tract by 30in30 participants – bus drivers, skate-boarders, check-out attendants, pastors, teachers, classmates, colleagues, homeless people, grandmothers, children, neighbor and friends.

Overall, most participants came away from the experience with a new-found burden for evangelism. The fear of man was challenged with compassion for the lost, and in the process, the wonderful good news of Salvation through Jesus was proclaimed.

The challenge now lies with each participant as well as each reader today – will you continue giving out tracts beyond 30in30? Will you say ‘Here am I; Send me’ today?