In the New Testament, Paul instructs Timothy to always be ready to share the Word with everyone, at all times: “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; … For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching … As for you [Timothy and all believers], always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2-5).

One might ask: How in the world do I — student, parent, retiree, teacher, accountant, athlete, firefighter — do the work of an evangelist? That is something that Alexander Silverne is learning firsthand through his equipping through the Virtual Haggai Leader Experience (VHLE).

While in seminary, his teachers taught him to focus on theoretical theology and less on the practice of it. But the VHLE brought “a breakthrough for the expansion of the Kingdom of God through evangelism. I am seeing the Church from a different point of view and I am not the same as before. I have been taught how to rescue and equip others. I have been taught how to see the world through the lens of God’s love and to approach the lost to offer them THE solution to their problems.

“As a pastor, I have busied myself with preaching the Word to those who are present in the church service. But now I understand I must make an effort to expand the preaching to those who are not in attendance, to send the Word to them through tracts, social networks, and other means. We are to help the newest believers understand the purpose for which they were called. God has put a new vision, mission, and purpose in me. Now I feel able to work with any group of people.”

This dual citizen of Haiti and the Dominican Republic knows the urgency of sharing the Good News in order to help end Gospel poverty. He realizes it takes someone who is willing and ready to share their story of how Jesus has changed their life.

Alexander has learned how important it is to have his family work alongside him in sharing the Gospel. He declares, “I plan to get my family more involved in the ministry and in the growth processes of our church. Being a powerful instrument in the hands of God, teaching His Word, and preaching the Gospel everywhere — to all the world — is my vision for my family and myself. I want to sow God’s Word in the hearts of the rich, poor, illiterate, students, philosophers, laborers, family members, and friends. I intend to proclaim the Word of God in order to restore lives, transforming families in the light of the Great Commission.”

Written by Valerie Dyke