Dear Servant in God's Kingdom,

The Let's Start Talking Ministry wants to help spread the Good News by sending you short-term mission teams.

These LST teams will offer to read the gospel of Luke in English with people in your community.  People who respond to this offer are seeking primarily to improve their English conversational skills, but as they read, our hope is that they hear the call of God.  We are witnesses to this wonderful work of God through his Word for twenty five years now, and have seen people brought to the Lord who came to know the Lord because of their interest in speaking better English!

In most of the large cities of our world, even the English-speaking world, we find large segments of the society for whom English is not the first language.  Perhaps your congregation would like to reach out to those people and bring them into God's kingdom!

Would you like to invite an LST team to work with your church or your mission team sometime during 2007? If so, we would like to hear from you!  LST has been preparing, sending, and training teams of short-term workers since the autumn of 1980. We can help your church by helping you find people who will become open to learning more about who you are.

WHAT IS LST ALL ABOUT?

Our promise is to be a Christian friend to these people as we read God's word together in English.  People come looking for help with English conversational skills.  They leave having met the Jesus of Scripture, his church, and several individuals who believe and follow God's Son.

Some readers are eager to continue in Bible study with the local Christians after the LST team has left and eventually are won to Christ.  Some are just interested in these first months in being your acquaintance and continuing to read and talk in English.  Your work and care for these people after the LST team leaves is what makes all the difference! Conversions do not happen quickly anywhere, but seeds are planted that God blesses, and we hear monthly about conversions of readers who were nurtured by faithful Christians.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LET'S START TALKING PROJECTS.

Since 1980, we have been recruiting, training, and sending small short-term mission teams (4 - 6 people) who are prepared and trained to share their faith in a personal, natural way.  We recruit Christians of all ages from university campuses, congregations, and campus ministries and prepare them to work in two- to six-week LST mission projects, shorter follow-up projects, and LST FriendsCamp (2-week) mission projects.  LST FriendsCamps happen at the end of an LST project---this is an excellent way for you to begin following up with your readers.

Let's Start Talking teams train together weekly during the year to prepare to share their faith by offering English conversation sessions using Biblical texts in order to generate faith-creating conversations. Our conversation guides, The FriendSpeak series, were designed specifically for use with non-believers as well as with those who are already searching for God.  Good, solid relationships form during the weeks of reading, and people feel comfortable asking questions about what they are reading.  The LST teams are well-prepared to answer honestly with personal testimony about the saving love of God, sharing themselves.  They are prepared to keep pointing the readers to the text, sharing Jesus.

Each LST team member participates in approximately 60 hours of training under trained LST leaders.   We are committed to sending only well-prepared, hard-working teams who will arrive in your town or city, prepared to do what they have trained to do.  Our approach is low-key, non-confrontational, and very successful in sharing the truth about Jesus and making friends for the local congregation. LST team members are prepared to share the story of Jesus just as soon as the reader wants to hear.

In 2006, the Let's Start Talking Ministry has sent more than 430 workers to 29 different countries, including Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Africa, and South and Central America. We would like to be invited to come and work with you! Our mission is just like yours: to tell the stroy of Jesus.

HERE IS HOW LST PROJECTS FUNCTION:

You, the "LST host", find a public room or building (perhaps your church building) and advertise in an appropriate manner.  Interested people of all ages respond to the ad, usually by phone or in person, and then come to register for reading sessions after the LST team arrives.  It is during this all-important phone or personal conversation that people are told that LST teams will be leading conversations based on stories out of the Bible.

The team will host the initial LST Information Evening that you told readers about on the phone or in person, and then set up their own reading schedules during that evening session which takes place the day after the team arrives

The LST team members are available to meet their Readers in one-with-one sessions five days per week, and to spend free time during the week with readers on an informal basis.  One evening each week, we plan a social gathering for all the readers so that the local Christians and missionaries can get to know the readers personally and be prepared to follow up with each reader.

We provide all the necessary materials for all the reading sessions and social events.  And the LST teams are supervised by LST team mentors while an LST regional representative will stay in touch with you during and after the project.  We are committed to supporting each team and helping each project succeed.

We are also prepared to purchase and take care of our own meals, laundry, and local transportation needs.  We ask you to provide housing, advance advertising, and a place to read if possible, along with a host church contribution to help your young church feel responsible for the project.  If these costs are not possible for you, we can make other arrangements.

If you are interested and want an LST team to come and help find people in your community for you and your church to follow-up with,   please e-mail us immediately at  LST@LST.org

Please remember we will also be glad to try and recruit a team from your home congregation or supporting church.  Just tell us on the LST site application whom we should contact.  E-mail us now and we will send you an application.

We believe we can help you, and we are eager to serve you any way we can.

Sharing His love,

Mark & Sherrylee Woodward

To request a Let's Start Talking team, send us an e-mail!