3-minute testimony leads 1,600 to Christ

Lee Weeks/First Baptist Cumming

Members of First Baptist Church in Cumming operate the 3 Minute Testimony booth at the Cumming Country Fair and Festival Oct. 2-12. The evangelistic effort is in conjunction with evangelist Ronnie Hill and the website www.threeminutestory.com.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — More than 1,600 people have indicated online that they prayed to receive Christ for salvation after watching a three-minute video of evangelist Ronnie Hill’s testimony, which starts by recounting his birth to a 17-year-old rape victim who decided against abortion.

Since January, Hill and others have been directing people to www.threeminutestory.com where they can watch his three-minute testimony and then register to win a new car or truck in a Dec. 12 drawing. The winner will choose between a Dodge Ram, a Jeep Wrangler, or a Chrysler 300.

At the end of October, nearly 28,000 visits to the website had been logged and more than 6,300 people had registered to win the vehicle, Hill told Baptist Press.

In addition to those numbers, countless other individuals have prayed to receive Christ after watching a DVD of Hill’s three-minute testimony at county fairs, festivals, parks, ball games, block parties, and other places where churches have sought to spread the gospel in partnership with Hill’s ministry.

First Baptist Cumming is among those churches utilizing the 3 minute testimony, or at least drawing from it to tell others about Jesus.

Members of First Baptist offered their own 3-minute testimonies during the Cumming Country Fair and Festival Oct. 2-12, said Lee Weeks, the church’s associate pastor of evangelism and missions. In addition, members operated a face painting booth for children.

“We’re currently following up on about 30 decisions made for Christ that were recorded on the 3-minute website as a result of the Fair outreach,” he said.

Since the event, First Baptist has distributed several thousand of the Three Minute Story business cards by way of evangelistic candy bags during Halloween, voters at the polls on Nov. 4, and while hosting a craft Bazaar Nov. 8 in addition to members handing out cards to family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. The cards are for those who didn’t stop to listen to the testimonies or wanted more information through the website. Hill said more than 55 churches have partnered with Hill in similar fashion.

Hill has received a considerable amount of criticism from people who don’t think his approach is exactly biblical, but he has an answer.

“My whole point is that I don’t care why they come, why they listen, just so they hear the gospel,” he told BP. “People came to Jesus in the New Testament for the wrong reasons all the time. They came to be healed. They came to be entertained. They wanted to see Jesus perform miracles. Even though they came for all the wrong reasons, He still loved them and still told them the truth.”

If people who receive Christ online also request a contact, an email is sent to the North American Mission Board for follow-up. And if Hill knows of a pastor in close proximity to a person who has committed his life to Christ, he forwards that information to the pastor so that a local church can make contact.

As for what to do after the drawing in December, Hill said he is considering another drawing for next year. But funds might be the deciding factor.

“We are a nonprofit ministry that has stepped out on faith to give this vehicle away,” Hill said. “The total cost for this project is estimated to be around $37,000. As of right now we need $3,910 more.”