In the process of evangelism, there is usually only one person who preaches the gospel and one person who listens to the gospel. This is the "one-on-one" method of evangelism, which is called personal evangelism. Personal evangelism relies on the power of the Holy Spirit and the Bible to preach Jesus Christ to people, so that people can know the one true God, in order to serve God together and receive glory together in the future when they enter the kingdom of heaven and enjoy eternal life.

1. Biblical Basis for Personal Evangelism

   1. The example of the Lord Jesus

      1. Spoke to the woman at Jacob's well about the living water (John 4:6-26).

      2. Discussed with Nicodemus about being born again (John 3:1-15).

      3. Spoke to Zacchaeus about repentance (Luke 19:1-10).

      4. Healed the sick man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-9).

      5. Spoke of the way of salvation to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:33-43).

   2. The teaching of the Lord Jesus

      1. Freely you have received, freely you shall give (Matthew 10:5-8).

      2. There is joy in heaven over a sinner who repents (Luke 15:7).

      3. Be careful not to despise the little ones (Matthew 18:10).

   3. The example of the apostles

      1. Andrew led his brother Peter to the Lord (John 1:35-42).

      2. Philip led his friend Nathanael to the Lord (John 1:43-51).

      3. Philip led the Ethiopian eunuch to be baptized (Acts 8:26-40).

      4. Paul leads the jailer’s family to the Lord (Acts 16:29-34).

   4. The teaching of the apostles

      1. God does not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9)

      2. God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)

2. Elements of personal evangelism

   1. Proclaiming and preaching: Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to preach to non-Christians the great salvation of Jesus Christ of what He accomplished for mankind.

   2. Accept and trust: The purpose of personal evangelism is to enable unbelievers to accept salvation and learn to trust God.

   3. Fellowship and service: After a person accepts the gospel, we also need to bring them to the church so that they can grow and enrich their spiritual life through listening to sermons and fellowshipping with brothers and sisters, and finally they can serve God with other members.

3. The advantages of personal evangelism

   1. Everyone has a role, everyone has a responsibility

      1. Those who received grace freely will give freely (Matthew 10:8)

      2. The Lord commands us to preach the Gospel to all nations (Mark 16:15)

   2. Not limited by time or space

      1. The truthseekers are all around us, as long as you have the heart, you can preach anywhere (John 4:5-30)

      2. At any given time, we can encounter unbelievers and any time is a good opportunity to talk to them (Acts 5:27-32)

      3. Personal evangelism is not limited by time or place. In general evangelical services, the location and time are selected and pre-determined, but personal evangelism is not like is flexible and can be personalized according to their situation without any restrictions.

   3. Seize every missionary opportunity

      1. Congregational evangelism has a certain place, time, speaker, audience, and sermon content; but personal evangelism is completely unlimited.

      2. As long as you establish a friendship with the unbelievers around you, it is a good opportunity to preach. You can let the discussion take its course and share a wonderful testimony.

   4. Can penetrate into all walks of life

      1. Believers include men, women, the elderly and the youth. Occupations include scholars, farmers, businessmen, students, freelancers, etc. Friends in every social class need someone to preach the gospel to them (Romans 10:14-15)

      2. Every believer can find the object of preaching in their own environment, and only personal evangelism can go deep into all walks of life and save people of all walks of life.

      3. Personal evangelism is direct contact with another person to understand their needs. For example, the needs of an educated youth are different from those of a country side woman. The questions of the educated youth may include: "Is there a God?"  Preachers can preach the truth of the Gospel according to their needs.

   5. Can meet the actual needs of individuals

      1. There may be many truthseekers in mass evangelism, but the preacher cannot preach the gospel to every individual truth seeker. Only one theme can be given to all the people in a mass evangelism.

      2. Personal evangelism allows one-on-one conversations, through which friendship can be established to communicate in depth, to understand the difficulties and needs of the other party, to solve their belief challenges, and to help them gain peace in body and mind.

   6. The effect of evangelism is more reliable and solid

      1. Visitors through general evangelism need follow-up. If not, they will not be able to receive salvation.

      2. Personal evangelism has the effect of meeting in-person and face to face, which is convenient for contact, follow-up, discussions, guide the other party to draw close to the church, accompany the Bible study and prayer, pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and easily help experience faith, understand the truth and believe in the Lord.

      3. Personal evangelism is requires the initiative to preach the truth of the gospel to others. "Evangelical services” are to invite unbelievers to "come" to the services, while "personal evangelism" is to "go" to preach the gospel among people. For those unable to attend evangelical services due to limited time, personal evangelism can come in handy, and can achieve better results.