Evangel salvation responses climb past 22,000
By John W. Kennedy
In the past 12 years, more than 22,000 people have committed their lives to Jesus Christ as a result of a salvation response form in the Pentecostal Evangel. Since the weekly Assemblies of God magazine began including a salvation response coupon in every issue in 1997, a total of 22,102 have mailed the form to the periodical’s offices through April this year.
The number of people mailing a form set an annual record of 2,231 in 2007 and another record of 2,346 in 2008. Through April of this year, 650 individuals had signed a form and mailed it.
“The salvation coupons are the magazine’s altar call,” says PE Editor Ken Horn. “Every week those coupons call on unsaved readers to make a decision, and many do. Just like it would be unthinkable for a church to never give the unsaved an opportunity to come to Christ, so it would be unthinkable if PE never offered that opportunity.”
Those who send in those response forms receive follow-up literature to help them in their new walk with Christ. An AG congregation near the person’s home is notified of the name and address of the individual so that a local personal contact can be made.
A slight majority of those who have made these decisions have been incarcerated. Through the Key Bearers program, hundreds of copies of PE are delivered to correctional institutions around the country.
The actual number of people who have made a salvation decision because of the magazine is likely much higher. Each week, with a variety of Scriptural references, the magazine lists the ABCs of Salvation: Admit you are a sinner; Believe in Jesus and Become a child of God by receiving Christ; and Confess that Jesus is your Lord.
“Though thousands respond in writing to the coupons, anecdotal evidence informs us that many others who make their decision for Christ after reading the ABCs of salvation do not write to let us know,” Horn says. “Only God knows what the real impact has been.”