Reverse Door-to-Door Witnessing

Have you ever been at home going about your daily duties, when all of a sudden you are  greeted with the doorbell ringing or by a knock on the door? Upon hearing the knock you often stop what you are doing, go to the front door thinking that perhaps a friend has dropped around for a chat, but as approach the door you see that the person who is there isn't a friend, but rather it is one of those annoying salesman that won't take no for answer. If you _are anything like me when you see the salesperson you kick yourself mentally for answering the door, but now you need to be pleasant towards this stranger who is standing at your door, wanting to sell you something that you don't want or need.

What I use to do with these salespeople was that I would let tell me there big  sale pitch, and then I'd politely say I wasn't interested and with that walk away leaving them standing there in shock. But as I thought about this I realised I was missing many great evangelistic opportunities, here is a person who has walked up my driveway, knocked on my door, and wants to talk to me, so why not talk about what I want to talk about?

And as I thought about this more I realised that I needed to have something that held tracts by my front door so that when salespeople came knocking (and also cult members) I could hand them a tract and talk to them about Jesus. The problem was I had nowhere to hold my tracts, and I thought if I had to run off to get one, then chances are the person at the door would leave. So I decided the only thing to do was to make a "tract rack", in order that I could engage in "reverse door-to-door witnessing" (where they knock on my door, and not me knocking on their door).

Now these "Tract Racks" can be made out of a variety of things. Before I was married, and while I still lived with my parents, my Dad made one out of wood, and he painted it up so it looked nice hanging by the front door. But, since moving out of home I have realised that I am not my Dad, and that I am completely useless when it comes to making things. So I decided to go to my local stationary store, and there I bought a clear plastic brochure holder that my tracts would fit into perfectly. Once I had my tract rack I then needed some hooks in order to hang it next to the door in easy reach for door-to-door salesmen. Since, I live in the Ministers Manse, I didn't think the church would like it if I put a nail in the wall, so what I did was buy those removable adhesive hooks that you can stick to the wall, and that you can take down without leaving any damage or marking.

Now all I had to do was stick the hook on the wall, fill my brochure holder with tracts, and wait for the next sales person (or random drunk that shows up in the middle of the night because he wants to talk to the local pastor).

So let's run over this again, what do you need to make a "Tract Rack"?

1. A plastic brochure holder (see picture)
2. A removable adhesive hook (see picture)
3. Tracts (Kind of a given considering it is a "tract rack", without the tracts it'd be a "rack").

Follow these simple steps and you'll be able to engage in "reverse door-to-door" evangelism. Remember when someone knocks on your door, they want to talk to you, so why not talk about what you want to talk about!

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Finally, let me share with you an encouraging story about using a "tract rack". The first time I put one up within an hour I heard a knock on the front door, as I got to the door I was greeted by a young man who was dressed very smartly. With a big grin he said, "Sir, I am not here to change your religion!" And before I could get a word in he was off on his sale pitch. I politely listened, then I informed him I wasn't interested. The salesman smiled and began to leave, but before he could leave I grabbed a tract and asked him to wait. I opened the door and handed him a tract saying, "You may not be here to change my religion, but I am here to change yours." The man took the tract and walked off. Ten minutes later the door bell rang, it was the same man, he had come back to apologise for his religion joke. From there I was able to talk to him about Jesus.

Make sure you have tracts at your front door, the mission-field will sometimes walk right up to you. Be ready to tell them of Jesus!