Stonecroft is all about evangelism to women. It’s a simple statement with God-sized results. God powerfully works through our volunteers to transform lives forever. These volunteers share the Gospel in large groups by the roomful, small groups in the community, and side-by-side with the woman next to us.
Descriptions of a few new or recently refreshed Stonecroft training resources follow. They are developed to impart boldness, confidence, and wisdom in our volunteers and staff as we show Jesus’ love to our community so more women will begin relationships with Him.
Training for Speakers – “For decades, women have heard and seen the transformative work that Christ accomplishes in the lives of our more than 2,000 Speakers,” says Cheryl Davis, Women’s Connection Vice President. “They are a message of hope for others to follow.”
About 50 volunteers serve as Regional Speaker Trainers (RSTs) who guide Speakers to develop these compelling presentations. An updated RST Handbook was released earlier this year. A refreshed Speaker training workbook, The Power of Your Story, will be available soon. We look forward to scheduling informational conference calls with RSTs and Speakers after this workbook is released.
Training on new evangelism methods – Our Outreach Department has developed two new evangelism training resources. These tools can be used one-on-one, in small groups, or in large-group training sessions.
“In an increasingly biblically illiterate and non-churched society, many of the words we use in our traditional Gospel outlines and testimonies just don’t communicate to nonbelieving women – especially younger women,” says Jessica Leep Fick, Evangelism Resources Director. “We’re offering some new tools to communicate the Gospel and spark faith conversations in ways that connect with and make sense to women today. The Gospel message is unchanging but the way we engage others is always changing because culture changes.”
- The Story of Now
The Story of Now is an evangelism training package that includes a PowerPoint, a colorful, purse-sized booklet, a worksheet, and leader’s notes.
Jessica presented The Story of Now training to Stonecroft Regional Administrators (SRAs) during their retreat in Kansas City this past January. She and Cheryl will offer the training to other key Women’s Connection leaders later this year.
A team from our Outreach Department also led The Story of Now training among some of Stonecroft’s international partners and affiliates. Jessica, who was part of that training team, tells of a woman in Northern Ireland who received the training and immediately used the approach with a nonbelieving friend. “How do I start following Jesus?” the friend responded.
“It really works!” the Irish volunteer told the training team.
“Well, it’s really the Holy Spirit working through your story,” Jessica responded. “This just gives you a framework to know how to share.”
- Your Story
The Your Story evangelism training package features a PowerPoint, leader’s notes, worksheet, and four story-cards. The training helps women to create and present their testimony through a simple, four-part approach.
“Your Story is a more traditional approach to a testimony, but the training is done in a fun, creative way,” says Doris Thompson, Vice President of Outreach. So far, we’ve trained hundreds of women using Your Story, including volunteers involved in newer outreaches such as Detox – find your balance.
All of these resources will be available at stonecroft.org/resources/evangelism-tools/ or by emailing [email protected].
Outreach training – We also offer a leader’s guide and related resources for two new outreaches developed and used by Stonecroft Military volunteers but easily adaptable for non-military audiences: Pretty Hurts, based on the lyrics to a popular song about emotional hurts; and Reality Café, using short dramas to discuss real-life issues.
Call the Home Office at 800.525.8627 or email [email protected] to get these outreach resources.