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Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian the gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as personal conversations, preaching, Christian media, and is especially associated with missionary work.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in their home communities or living as missionaries in the field, although some Christian traditions refer to such people as missionaries in either case. Some Christian traditions consider evangelists to be in a leadership position; they may be found preaching to large meetings or in governance roles. In addition, Christian groups who encourage evangelism are sometimes known as evangelistic or evangelist.
The verb form of euangelion,The 7 Principles of an Evangelistic Life, p. 32, Douglas M. Cecil, Moody Publishers (translated as "evangelism"), occurs rarely in older Greek literature outside the New Testament, making its meaning more difficult to ascertain. Parallel texts of the Gospels of Luke and Mark reveal a synonymous relationship between the verb euangelizo (εὑαγγελίζω]]) and a Greek verb kerusso (κηρύσσω]]), which means "to proclaim". Bible as a Second Language , webpage, retrieved November 5, 2008
The child evangelism movement, which focuses on evangelizing children between the ages of 4 and 14 years old, originated in the 20th century. Beginning in the 1970s, a group of Christian athletes known as The Power Team spawned an entire genre of Christian entertainment based on strong-man exploits mixed with a Christian message and usually accompanied by an opportunity to respond with a prayer for salvation. New opportunities for evangelism have been provided in recent decades by increased travel opportunities and by instant communications over the internet.Avery Dulles. Evangelization for the Third Millennium (Kindle Locations 781–782). Paulist Press.
In 1922, Canadian evangelical evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Foursquare Church, was the first woman to use radio to reach a wider audience in the United States.Christopher H. Sterling, Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio, Routledge, USA, 2013, p. 253 In 1951, producer Dick Ross and Baptist evangelist Billy Graham founded the film production company World Wide Pictures, which would make videos of his preaching and Christian films.John Lyden, The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2009, p. 82
In 1960, more than half of the Protestant American missionaries were evangelical.Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, Charles Reagan Wilson, Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, Mercer University Press, USA, 2005, American and European pentecostalism missionaries are also numerous, Pentecostalism can develop independently by non-foreign residents in various regions of the world, notably in Africa, South America, and Asia.Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, Royaume-Uni, 2013, p. 175 Youth with a Mission was founded in 1960 in United States by Loren Cunningham and his wife Darlene.Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 22Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley, The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3 , Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2003, p. 584
The Christian Broadcasting Network was founded in 1961 in Virginia Beach, United States, by Baptist minister Pat Robertson.Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 157
In 1974, Billy Graham and the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization organized the First International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne.Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 451
In July 1999, TopChrétien, an evangelical Christian web portal and social network, was launched by Éric Célérier, pastor of the Assemblies of God of France and Estelle Martin.Michel Béghin, Ce jour-là, le 15 juillet 1999, naît le Top Chrétien , christianismeaujourdhui.info, Switzerland, February 15, 2015
In 2004, South Korea became the second-largest source of missionaries in the world, after the United States and ahead of England.Quentin J. Schultze, Robert Herbert Woods Jr., Understanding Evangelical Media: The Changing Face of Christian Communication, InterVarsity Press, USA, 2009, p. 244
In January 2007, GodTube, a site for sharing videos related to Christianity, especially evangelical, was founded by Christopher Wyatt of Plano, Texas, in the United States, then a student at Dallas Theological Seminary.Heidi Campbell, When Religion Meets New Media, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2010, p. 191
In 2007, there were over 10,000 baptists missionaries in overseas missions around the world.William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 391
Christian films made by American evangelical production companies are also regularly associated with proselytism.Barry Hertz, " Miracles from Heaven: Religious film has an insulting and forced message", The Globe and Mail, Canada, April 18, 2014.Nick Schager, " Film Review: 'Overcomer'", Variety, US, August 22, 2019. According to Sarah-Jane Murray, screenwriting teacher at the US Film and Christian Television Commission United, Christian films are works of art, not proselytism.Carl Hoover, " Has Hollywood finally found religion? Faith-based films here to stay", Waco Tribune-Herald, US, April 18, 2014. For Hubert de Kerangat, communications manager at SAJE Distribution, a distributor of these American Christian films in France, if Christian films are considered proselytism, all films are a form of proselytism, since films of all genres could each be said to carry a message.Thomas Imbert, " SAJE Distribution : rencontre avec ce distributeur centré sur la foi", allocine.fr, France, January 9, 2019.
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