Door-to-Door Evangelists

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FLGreg

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I am a beginning apologist. For some reason, my neighborhood seems to be “targeted” by various fundamental/evangelical sects and cults (e.g. Watchtower Society) for conversion and I am seeking guidance in engaging these folks. It’s not unusual to have 2-3 visits per week.

I always try to be kind to them, taking their literature (to be binned afterward) and sending them on their way. However, since a recently started praying a daily Rosary, I’ve had an epiphany: I have come to the realization that Christ has been sending these misguided individuals to my door for a reason and for years I’ve been letting Him down. He didn’t send them to my door for me to be “saved” as my Faith is strong.

I’ve studied many of the great resources on this site and listened to various online audio presentations by folks such as Devon Rose, John Martignoni and Scott Hahn.

I recently ran across 12 Painless Ways to Evangelize. Number 6 suggests “Play a video or audio tape for door-to-door missionaries”. This mirrors a suggestion from Mr. Martignoni in one of his presentations.

My question is: Does anyone have a recommendation on a brief, concise, powerful Catholic message (preferably a video) that I could purchase and show these people to “turn the tables” on them?
 
Me too!
Wow. Since I got laid off, I’ve been really busy doing God’s work, (going to Mass, visiting the sick, and my parents, etc, etc.) But one thing I’ve really noticed is the people coming to my door! I’ve had the Jehovah’s Witnesses (several groups of them, and one poor lady all by herself, which was probably an accident, but really good for me, as I got a really nice word in edgewise); the Mormons, and even the Muslim people!

I realize I must brush up on my apologetics if this is happening. Maybe for a reason… 🙂

So, I’m with you! Ideas, please. (Although I’m finding good stuff at CA of course.
 
CatholicsComeHome.org has a pretty powerful video short called Epic Commercial. Have it on loop in the background before you let them in. Act surprised and nonchalant after they find themselves drawn to said commercial

…and talk to God about the missionaries more than you talk to the missionaries about God:)
 
I just point to the mezuzah on the doorpost and say, “I’m Catholic, my wife is Jewish, we’re both very happy with our religions, thanks for dropping by, God bless you.”

Seems to work.
 
I would never allow strangers inside my house, no matter what religious group they were with. Just not a good idea, in my opinion. My 100 pound golden reinforces that point to most people!
 
You mentioned John Martignoni.

He has a number of excellent FREE MP3s on his site that you can dl and burn to CDs for these guys. I suggest Two-Minute Apologetics and/or One Church.

There’s a lot of other talks and Bible studies he has that will also be good for the n-C types that show up.

Make taking their stuff conditional upon them accepting yours. The last time I did that w/ a couple of JW, they declined at which point I passed on their material.
 
This is not the usual way to witness to door-to-door evangelists, but one way that works for me is what I saw when I went to school in Mexico. I lived in a neighborhood that had on almost every door a sign with an image of Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe, with words to the effect of ‘this is a Catholic home, various sects need not apply’. This neighborhood was a solid, united Catholic front against these ‘salesmen’.

…
For stories of prayers answered through the intersession of St. Anthony, visit
saintanthonylostandfound.blogspot.com/
 
prettiefly said:
This is not the usual way to witness to door-to-door evangelists, but one way that works for me is what I saw when I went to school in Mexico. I lived in a neighborhood that had on almost every door a sign with an image of Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe, with words to the effect of ‘this is a Catholic home, various sects need not apply’. This neighborhood was a solid, united Catholic front against these ‘salesmen’.
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fly, I’m not saying that your method is wrong, but it doesn’t seem overly charitable either.

They are exercising their freedom of religion and following the requirements and customs of their particular denomination.

The best way to deal with JW’s is to say, “Sure, I’ll be glad to hear about your religion if you’ll let me tell you about mine first.”
 
prettiefly said:
This is not the usual way to witness to door-to-door evangelists, but one way that works for me is what I saw when I went to school in Mexico. I lived in a neighborhood that had on almost every door a sign with an image of Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe, with words to the effect of ‘this is a Catholic home, various sects need not apply’. This neighborhood was a solid, united Catholic front against these ‘salesmen’.
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You’d think they’d take the hint from the shrine for St. Francis of Assisi in our front yard. 🙂
 
Church_Militant said:
You’d think they’d take the hint from the shrine for St. Francis of Assisi in our front yard. 🙂
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Some take this as a CHALLENGE. Our former pastor told us one Sunday that two JWs called on him, they knew it was the priest’s residence.
 
Ask the JW’s about what charities they have. I think the answer will be “what’s the point”?
 
Kotton said:
Some take this as a CHALLENGE. Our former pastor told us one Sunday that two JWs called on him, they knew it was the priest’s residence.
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In my case they will have bitten off far more than they can chew…😃
 
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.
Catholic90 said:
I would never allow strangers inside my house, no matter what religious group they were with. Just not a good idea, in my opinion. My 100 pound golden reinforces that point to most people!
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I don’t have any problems letting them in my house. I’m a pretty big guy, in good shape, well-armed with a 90 pound yellow Lab that eats door-to-door evangelists for breakfast. 😉

However, I think I am going order some CD’s, Catholic pamphlets and keep them by the front door. I told my non-Catholic wife about my plans this evening and she’s totally onboard. Her minister agrees that such witnessing is NOT the way to share the Word.
Church_Militant said:
You mentioned John Martignoni.
He has a number of excellent FREE MP3s on his site that you can dl and burn to CDs for these guys. I suggest Two-Minute Apologetics and/or One Church.
There’s a lot of other talks and Bible studies he has that will also be good for the n-C types that show up.
Make taking their stuff conditional upon them accepting yours. The last time I did that w/ a couple of JW, they declined at which point I passed on their material.
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I’ve been listening to several lectures by John Martignoni from the Bible Christian Society and LOVE his work. I hadn’t listened to “One Church” but downloaded and listened to it this evening. Excellent! Although it’s almost an hour long, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

What I like about this one is that the word “Catholic” isn’t even mentioned until more than 15 minutes in. By then, (in my opinion) the listener is already interested in what Mr. Martignoni is presenting and wants to hear more. His principles and reasoning are sound.

Like I said above, I’m going to order several CD’s from the BCS website (and give a donation to help with his ministry) and keep them by the door. I plan to tell them that I promise to read their literature if they make the same promise and listen to this CD.

Have a Blessed Night!
 
A word of advice: Never let a stranger into your home! Bad things can happen. Chatting outside the door works just fine.

Next, be kind when Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) or others come to evangelize you. You will never plant a seed if you are not the mirror of Our Lord and if you do not know your faith.

The JWs are trained to hit you on certain points. It seems they know the Bible well, but, trust me, it’s not hard to have them glancing to each other grasping for an answer. A little study of the faith and some reading in theirs can go a long way in preparing you. There are websites with online books that are free. Prepare yourself well and the encounter may be good for you and for them.

No matter the group, kindness is the order of the day. Don’t burn their bridge into the Church before they are even thinking about crossing. Leave them with a smile.
 
Georgia said:
A word of advice: Never let a stranger into your home! Bad things can happen. Chatting outside the door works just fine.

Next, be kind when Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) or others come to evangelize you. You will never plant a seed if you are not the mirror of Our Lord and if you do not know your faith.

The JWs are trained to hit you on certain points. It seems they know the Bible well, but, trust me, it’s not hard to have them glancing to each other grasping for an answer. A little study of the faith and some reading in theirs can go a long way in preparing you. There are websites with online books that are free. Prepare yourself well and the encounter may be good for you and for them.

No matter the group, kindness is the order of the day. Don’t burn their bridge into the Church before they are even thinking about crossing. Leave them with a smile.
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Quite right! There are no points for being a jerk.

Engaging them on topics outside their particular message for the day tends to get them somewhat off balance. And they do have a pre-programmed message based on whatever literature they are passing out that day. That’s just how it goes.

I have found that often they come by in pairs, and the last time there was a lady who could not have been local in the company of one who didn’t speak at all and looked more like a local.

I don’t allow them in, but step out on the porch to engage them. Most know little of the apologetics they need to respond to my questions. They know nothing about the insertion of the indefinite article “a” in John 1:1 which in their NWT reads…
1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god

No credible Bible scholar or ECF gives any basis for such a translation.
There are a lot of good articles here at CA that can help get JWs thinking and prepare you to handle their evangelism.
 
You must always be charitable in your dialogue. You must always show compassion to those that don’t believe in the confession of St Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. Those who do not confess this truth are lost. Those that do but reject the authority our Lord bestowed upon St Peter are misguided.
The Catholic Church is a living church which continues to grow and thrive despite all the difficulties. When I feel doubt or need assurance, as often times these door-to-door evangelists sow seeds of doubt, I look to the true witnesses of Christ, the saints of the church. When you see the lives of humility they have lead and their great example, you will quickly see those christians that are not of the spirit of God even though they proclaim it so.
WE have been warned that there will be many false prophets and teachers in the world and this truth is so evedent today. Ours is a church which is firmly rooted in antiquity, she has never denied her Lord, nor will she ever. We must cling firmly to the rock so when the tides come in we will not be swept away.

My advice, you know your faith, just speak the truth and don’t worry about winning arguments. They will try to set snares for you, but stand firm in your faith, let it be your shield and your words your sword.

God Bless
 
I talk with them as long as they like. To me, they are sincere people who love Christ and care about their salvation. They just lack all the facts and misunderstand others. I do not expect to convert them, but give them some things to think about - to plant some seeds.
Georgia said:
The JWs are trained to hit you on certain points. It seems they know the Bible well, but, trust me, it’s not hard to have them glancing to each other grasping for an answer.
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I agree and have found most (of whatever denomination) to be well prepared to discuss a few verses and their interpretation of them. This sounds impressive until you take them “off-script”. Often they are inflexible on the verses they cite, but bringing up other verses they are unprepared to discuss really throws them a curve ball.

I like discussing the history of the Bible, the first 400 years of Christianity, asking the name of the person who founded their church and when (then compare to mine), the keys of the kingdom, binding / loosening, the bread of life discourse, passover and the last supper, etc. Stick to scripture as that is usually their “ground rules” (sola scriptura) going in.

Also, I don’t think that they are really looking for a challenge. They are more likely to succeed with people who are not well grounded in their faith.
 
Church_Militant said:
Quite right! There are no points for being a jerk.

Engaging them on topics outside their particular message for the day tends to get them somewhat off balance. And they do have a pre-programmed message based on whatever literature they are passing out that day. That’s just how it goes.

I have found that often they come by in pairs, and the last time there was a lady who could not have been local in the company of one who didn’t speak at all and looked more like a local.

I don’t allow them in, but step out on the porch to engage them. Most know little of the apologetics they need to respond to my questions. They know nothing about the insertion of the indefinite article “a” in John 1:1 which in their NWT reads…
1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god

No credible Bible scholar or ECF gives any basis for such a translation.
There are a lot of good articles here at CA that can help get JWs thinking and prepare you to handle their evangelism.
Click to expand...
Regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses’ “New World Translation” Bible and its rendering of John 1:1, it may interest you to know that, in support and explanation of their wording of this verse (especially within the third clause with “a god”), there is soon to be published a 19+ year study (as of 7/2011), a thoroughly researched reference work - an historical analysis & exhaustive annotated bibliography - it will be entitled, “What About John 1:1?”

To learn more of its design and expected release date, you are invited to visit:

goodcompanionbooks.com

When finally published, apart from discussing many of the other topics and scriptures often related to the Trinity doctrine, you will also discover that we have collected information on about 430+ scholarly reference works (mostly Trinitarian) which, throughout the centuries, had opted to say something other than, “and the Word was God,” and that, included among them are over 120 which had chosen to use “a god” within the third clause of their renderings.

As you might expect, we are very excited at the opportunity to share our findings with others.

Agape, JohnOneOne.
 
The last time they came to me, I had just returned from Mass, and receiving Jesus.

I said a little interior prayer and asked the Holy Spirit to guide and help me.

And it was funny, really. They kept on trying to talk about a new earth, “wouldn’t I like to see a new earth?”

And I kept smiling back at them and saying how I can’t wait to see Jesus face to face, how much I love Hm, how much I love Him in the Blessed Sacrament, how I just came from Mass, and I have Jesus with me right now. I just kept on gushing on and on…

I think they gave up on me. They didn’t mention coming back or anything. I didn’t argue with them. I just told them how much I love Jesus.They haven’t been back. But I’m going to read some of those great suggestions!
 
FLGreg said:
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I don’t have any problems letting them in my house. I’m a pretty big guy, in good shape, well-armed with a 90 pound yellow Lab that eats door-to-door evangelists for breakfast. 😉

However, I think I am going order some CD’s, Catholic pamphlets and keep them by the front door. I told my non-Catholic wife about my plans this evening and she’s totally onboard. Her minister agrees that such witnessing is NOT the way to share the Word.

I’ve been listening to several lectures by John Martignoni from the Bible Christian Society and LOVE his work. I hadn’t listened to “One Church” but downloaded and listened to it this evening. Excellent! Although it’s almost an hour long, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

What I like about this one is that the word “Catholic” isn’t even mentioned until more than 15 minutes in. By then, (in my opinion) the listener is already interested in what Mr. Martignoni is presenting and wants to hear more. His principles and reasoning are sound.

Like I said above, I’m going to order several CD’s from the BCS website (and give a donation to help with his ministry) and keep them by the door. I plan to tell them that I promise to read their literature if they make the same promise and listen to this CD.

Have a Blessed Night!
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I wish that he used pay pal
 
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