And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not

(Galatians 6:9)

Recently I was contacted by a lady in the Newcastle region. She has received a tract in her letterbox published by the Herald of Hope called A Catholic tells his Story by John Ross. I had placed this tract in letterboxes around my area last year. The lady who received the tract had been raised as a Catholic and had come out of the Catholic Church. The tract spoke to her and prompted her to write to the Herald of Hope for copies of the Tradition or Truth book. She also requested to speak to someone about Catholicism and thus phoned me. The lady believes this was the Lord’s leading and has received more literature which she is reading with great interest and she now plans to distribute Herald of Hope materials such as the Tradition or Truth book to family and friends.

This story and others that we have received are a great encouragement to the Herald of Hope team. This one tract distributed last year seems to have borne fruit some 5-6 months after it was placed in a letterbox. The lady had lost the tract but eventually finding it, she was prompted to take action. Believers have living bread to distribute that will produce a harvest in the future if we step out in faith proclaiming and distributing God’s Word. Ecclesiastes 11:1 reads:

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

Handing out tracts and distributing tracts in letterboxes can be an extremely fruitful ministry but we must be patient and sow in faith. When we place a good Gospel tract in a person’s hand or letterbox then God can use it to change a life, or even a family, forever. The Herald of Hope received news of a man that received one of our tracts in Bathurst three or four years ago. This man was awakened by the tracts, moved to Brisbane where he met John Ross in his place of employment, and was led to Christ. The man recently wrote to us sharing that three of his family had now come to know the Lord, and yes, he was asking for tracts! Then there was the Spanish-speaking Church that baptised five souls after they read Tradition or Truth. We also received news of an Italian man in Spain. His neighbour requested a copy of Tradition or Truth in Italian. This man was steeped in Catholicism and claimed to receive messages from Mary. After reading the book Tradition or Truth, he received Christ as his Saviour and now is asking for prayer for his family. The idea that, in this age of Facebook and computers, people no longer read is a fallacy. Put out a well presented tract with a catchy title and many will read it. What if only 20% read the tract? That’s 200 out of every 1,000 tracts you hand out!

Literature has a History of Fruitfulness

Historically, the Reformation was promoted by tracts and leaflets. Without tracts published by Luther, the Reformation may never have caught on. Martin Luther took advantage of the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in Germany in the 1400’s. Luther had millions of tracts and other pieces of literature printed and distributed.

One writer says:

Luther’s pamphlets were the most sought after; a contemporary remarked that they ‘were not so much sold as seized’. His first pamphlet written in German, the ‘Sermon on Indulgences and Grace’, was reprinted 14 times in 1518 alone, in print runs of at least 1,000 copies each time. Of the 6,000 different pamphlets that were published in German- speaking lands between 1520 and 1526, some 1,700 were editions of a few dozen works by Luther. In all, some 6-7million pamphlets were printed in the first decade of the Reformation, more than a quarter of them Luther’s. (Article: How Luther went Viral. www.economist. com)

Hudson Taylor became a Christian whilst looking at some booklets and tracts in his father’s library. This one tract gave birth to a boy who became a missionary, and he gave birth to a missionary society that reached the millions in China with 1,500 missionaries on the field. It all started with a tract!

Spurgeon wrote on the usefulness of tracts when He said:

I well remember distributing them in a town in England where tracts had never been distributed before, and going from house to house, and telling in humble language the things of the kingdom of God. I might have done nothing, if I had not been encouraged by finding myself able to do something …Tracts are adapted to those persons who have but little power and little ability, but nevertheless, wish to do something for Christ. They may not have the tongue of the eloquent, but they may have the hand of the diligent. They cannot stand and preach, but they can stand and distribute here and there these silent preachers (Article: The History of Tracts)

Secular research testifies even today to the power of advertising leaflets. A recent Australia Post research report supported by the Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising (ADMA).

Most of Australia’s leading retailers spend over half of their entire marketing budget on letterbox advertising. And against the perceived grain in today’s digital age, consumers also consider the letterbox to be one of the top channels most effective for advertising.

ADMA states:

In our experience, it typically takes three letterbox drops to get the best results. Also, people will rarely respond straight away. (https://ldn.net.au)

We at the Herald of Hope produce thousands of colourful tracts that are freely distributed throughout Australia and overseas. Why not consider taking part in this fruitful ministry? We would like to suggest an intelligent approach to witnessing. Marketing people will tell us that the one-off shotgun approach does not achieve the best results.

The Gospel tracts should be distributed thoughtfully with the aim of achieving definite results.

You may have your own strategy but below is an example of an effective tract distribution method using an appropriate selection of tracts.

Tract Distribution Example

Pray about an area that you wish to target and choose the same houses over a period of a couple of months. Remember it is the Holy Spirit’s work to bring conviction of sin and he knows those who are troubled and who are ready to read the tracts you distribute. After prayer, you might choose 50 houses or more, and determine to give the whole message to those 50 homes.

 

Start with The Story of Mr Eternity. Everybody has heard of Mr Eternity. The picture of Eternity on the Harbour Bridge is familiar to all.When a man was offered this tract he refused, but then the picture of Eternity on the Harbour Bridge caught his eye and he said, “OK, I’ll take it, I thought it was religious!”

Two weeks later you can drop in the tract, A Catholic Tells his Story (The 2016 Census states 22.6% of Australians identified as Catholic). Protestants will read it.

Two weeks later you drop in the tract, The Catholic Crisis. Catholics will want to read it and the rest of the people will be interested in view of the Royal Commission into paedophilia. With the Cardinal under investigation many will be interested in this tract!

Then two weeks later you letterbox drop The Coming Global Holocaust and How You Can Escape it. Most people are aware that world events are bringing the world to the brink of a catastrophe.

Finally, although all of the above tracts present the Gospel, after two more weeks the tract, Christ is the Answer shows simply how a sinner can take the step of faith, be saved and be sure of heaven. Perhaps you could put a contact number on the final tract but not your home address.

Good Practical Advice

Avoid distributing tracts on the same day that junk mail clutters the letterboxes. Best to have your tract in an empty box. Then it won’t be gathered up with the junk mail and tossed into the bin.