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‘Magazine evangelism’

New Zealand church buys 250 Creation subscriptions!

11 May 2002

A pastor in a dairy community of northern New Zealand has hit upon a novel idea for evangelism.  His small church recently decided to devote a portion of its missions budget to purchasing 250 subscriptions to Creation magazine and then sending the magazines to non-churchgoers in the area.

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Creation Magazine Gift Subscription (1 year)

Creation Magazine Gift Subscription (1 year)

Keep your friends and family informed on the latest easy-to-understand evidences for creation and against evolution! This unique full-color family magazine gives God the glory, refutes evolution, and gives you the answers to defend your faith. Exciting articles and great witnessing material you won't find anywhere else! Includes a beautifully illustrated full-color children's section in every issue. Powerful ammunition to intelligently discuss nature, history, science, the Bible, and related subjects. Delivered to your home every three months!

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The church serves an isolated farming community.  There are no streets, only ‘country roads.’  The only landmarks are a school and a store.  Yet the postal system has a ‘rule of delivery’—for a fee, the mailman will deliver magazines to ‘letter boxes’ (mailboxes) along the roads.  The church also hopes to distribute magazines at the local store/postal center, which has some letter boxes, too.

Most of the locals know about Pastor Rob Gordon and his wife, Jane.  They have the only church in the area—named Mangakahia (Maori for ‘Christian Fellowship’).  This missions-minded couple has stamped the inside of each magazine with information about their church, and they’re excited about open doors to give out the Gospel.  ‘We really want to reach out to our area here,’ says Jane.  ‘We want to reach the people for the Lord Jesus.  That’s our heart.’

The Gordons first learned about Creation magazine several years ago from a teacher at their children’s Christian school.  Their zeal for creation evangelism was inflamed when they heard Ken Ham speak during a visit to New Zealand. 

Who conceived this radical idea—to buy 250 subscriptions? 

As Jane tells the story, her husband Rob was talking to their youngest son, Alan, who runs the dairy farm where Rob works part-time.  (This work helps Rob to support his church work, and the surplus goes to the Lord’s work overseas.)  One day Rob was discussing mission work within New Zealand.  ‘Our youngest son,’ Jane recalls, ‘said, “Well we give a lot of money to missions overseas and that sort of thing, why don’t we do something to reach out into our own area more?” ’

They discussed the impact of Creation magazine, and this discussion bore fruit.  ‘We’ve had Creation magazine for a long time,’ says Jane.  ‘We see how vital it is to try and lay that foundation because we have evolution taught in our schools, like in the States.  It’s just such a lie.  We thought, “Well, it’s a lovely publication, the color and everything. The children may get interested.” … But you just don’t know [how God might use the magazine to reach souls].  The Lord can do it by His Spirit, can’t He?’

What an amazing effort to meet the challenge of reaching today’s evolution-based culture!  The magazine helps do the work of an evangelist.  Creation magazine answers the difficult questions of a society steeped in evolutionary thinking, and then it points people to Christ, the Creator and Savior of mankind.  As their questions are answered and they recognize the authority of the Scriptures, it’s easier for believers to share the Gospel.

The first batch of Creation magazines is ready to be sent out.  Please pray for the Gordons, that God will richly bless their evangelistic efforts!

Published: 3 February 2006