I have stressed this repeatedly: 100% of your new converts come from your visitors. Also, very few visitors receive the Holy Ghost the first time they come. So getting visitors to return must be your top priority. The most effective and successful way to do this is by a comprehensive visitor follow-up program (phone call, letter, visits, mailing list). But allow me to add yet one more important truism: Most people come to God during some kind of crisis. Research shows that approximately 78% of adults who have a “conversion experience” can identify a crisis situation in their lives that prompted feeling a need for God and often a sense of desperation to find answers.
I point this out to underscore the importance of making repeated follow-up visits. A good follow-up program will make 3-4 at-home visits over the course of a year. These visits are very quick; a small gift is given each time. We invite them back with a flyer and ask about a home Bible study and prayer requests. Short, focused and effective; three minutes and we are gone. It provides many return visits, home Bible studies, and opportunities to minister to needs in guests’ lives. Why does this work so well? Because of what I call our “contract with God.”
God wants this individual to be saved more than you do. God is more than capable of arranging a crisis in their lives, and we are praying daily to that very end: “God, do whatever it takes to see this person saved!” It goes without saying that you should have your prayer warriors praying for your list of past visitors daily. So our divine contract is this: “God, you put them into the place they feel a need of You, and we will visit them again and invite them back.” God agrees: “You do your job, and I will do my job.” Our job is to witness and invite back. God’s job is to get their heart ready for our witness. God always does His job. Will we do ours?