Every eye was fixed on the windmill of passion at the front of the room.

As she shared what her church was seeing God do, her arms were constantly moving, punctuating every each incredible story with another wave of her arms.

“During our prayer time, one lady sensed from God that she was to look for someone wearing a pink scarf with flowers on it. After meeting a few people but not seeing the scarf we were starting to get cold - it was -1! - so we headed to a coffee shop to warm up. That was when we saw a lady wearing a pink flowery scarf!”

It was soon clear why God had directed them to her. “She was soon sharing with us about a recent health scare - during an operation only two weeks before she had nearly died. She was in desperate need of hope. We were able to encourage her, pray with her, and share the gospel.”

“Another time someone on our team had noted down the names ‘Sam’ and ‘Sammy’ during our time of prayer. Then we started talking to one lady after I literally bumped into her! She told us that her name was Sam, and as the conversation went on she shared very openly about difficulties she was facing. Then she told us that to her family she was known as ‘Sammy’! God knew we would meet her before we did! We were able to pray with her and swap phone numbers in case she wanted to meet up again.”

All eyes were glued to the front as story after story was shared

As more stories followed, I knew that I had to go and see what was happening for myself. A month later I was on a train to Rochester, excited to discover the bigger picture behind the stories.

Medway is an area of Kent comprising several towns. Cornerstone City Church was planted in 1993 as Medway Family Church, and went through many different seasons of growth and pruning for the next twenty years before becoming Cornerstone City Church. Following the pandemic, a bold new church vision was born: except for one ‘all together’ Sunday every six weeks, Cornerstone City would meet in five different Communities around Medway each week.

Soon after the transition into communities the idea for evangelistic ‘harvest teams’ became a reality. It started with a small band of men and women going out weekly into one of the communities to meet people, offer prayer and share the gospel. On the Sundays that followed, the team would share testimonies with the communities.

Unearthing the hidden workers

Whilst there I got to join a Cornerstone leaders meeting where I met Rachel, who had joined a harvest team after hearing testimonies from those who had shared one Sunday.

“I believe that we’re all called to witness, so when I heard about the harvest teams I knew I had to join them.” Despite her initial nerves, it didn’t take long to discover the joy of sharing her faith and she was soon sharing her own experience at a Sunday service.

These testimonies would often result in more people signing up to be part of a harvest team as they got excited about evanglism and doing it with others - but not everyone was keen at first.

“I hated the idea of being a ‘God Squadder’,” Kate explained, fingers curling into air quotes. “My impression of them wasn’t positive, so it really didn’t feel right for me.”

Kate was another person I met for the first time that day. She was refreshingly honest about her reluctance to join a harvest team. Whilst those sharing testimonies had often never been part of - as Kate put it - a ‘God Squad’, and came away with positive experiences, she remained skeptical. God, on the other hand, had other plans for Kate.

Left to right: First-time harvesters Rachel, Kate and Sama

“I was at home when they started live-streaming a training session for the harvest teams. For some reason, I decided to tune in. As I listened to the simple strategy they were using, and heard the stories, I suddenly felt compelled to get involved. Even though I was terrified, I signed up for the next outing.”

Despite feeling both scared and mortified at the prospect of being a ‘God Squadder’, Kate faithful turned up to join the harvest team. As she and her partner headed out on the streets of Hoo, her fear disappeared.

“Suddenly I was identifying the people we needed to approach and talk to. It was so easy to go up and explain how we were praying for the community, and ask how we could pray for them. It was wonderful to pray for them!”

Since then Kate has been out twice more and has led her own team of ‘harvesters’.

For Sama, Harvest Team was life-changing. “I’m naturally a shy and quiet person, but when I went out with the harvest team it felt like I was stepping into my purpose. The scripture kept coming to mind describing us as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).”

During the outing she discovered a passion for sharing the gospel that she believes can be ignited in all believers. “I can’t describe the feeling - I think you just have to come and see what God will do!”

March 2023: Rhonda leads church leaders in a time of prayer for the harvest in the UK

Some days seem easier than others, and the harvest teams can face a lot of rejection. During one such outing, a team of 8 were paired off and having a difficult time meeting people who were open to conversation.

But as they persevered and suddenly doors started to open: a man suffering from addiction wanted prayer to be set free, someone who had recently suffered a bereavement was looking to reconnect with church and with God, another woman they met was already wondering about the existence of God and wanted to meet up to hear more about Jesus, and someone who had been to Alpha two years previously was also wanting to reconnect with God again.

Then one pair came across a young man called Keiran, who was very quick to share how he didn’t believe God was real.

“Then we found out he had a problem in his hand that limited the movement of his fingers and offered to pray. Within minutes of praying, he was bending his fingers to a degree that had been impossible before. He confessed right then that maybe there was more he needed to think about when it came to Jesus!”

These experiences have been shared by ‘harvesters’ time and again at Cornerstone gatherings, which is all part of the wider strategy for Harvest Teams…and brings me back nicely to the passionate woman waving her arms at the recent Prayer and Fasting event in London.

Twelve years ago Rhonda and her husband Tony moved to the UK from Australia. I first met her in 2017 when we were both students on the LEAD course. She was unforgettable - she radiated warmth, every conversation with her revolved around Jesus and her passion for the lost was unmistakable. ‘A lover of God and a lover of people’ - that was Rhonda.

A divine blueprint

In the years since we finished LEAD, Rhonda’s passion for evangelism has led her to join the Everyone A Witness team, a group of faithful men and women who seek to mobilise everyone in Relational Mission to be engaged in everyday witnessing. More locally, her love of people saw her involved in pastoral ministry and integrating new people into the Cornerstone church family.

Harvest Teams gather, often in a local coffee shop, to pray beforehand and to share testimonies afterward

Late last year, God showed her it was time for a new season.

“I received a prophetic word that pierced my heart – ‘I felt like God wanted to say to you that you are spending far too much time on pastoral care; THE LOST NEED YOU’.

“Then God woke me up at 5am one morning to tell me it was time to pursue the lost and to be intentionally making time for them both personally and as a church community. He then shared the strategy with me of how we were to do it.”

That was how Cornerstone’s Harvest Teams were born.

Evangelism, not rocket science

Witnessing should not be complicated. It should be part of our everyday experience as Christians, and yet it feels difficult or intimidating to many of us in the West.

Rhonda’s strategy keeps it simple: Training features lots of encouraging stories, and equips people with methods like the Three Circles, an easy way to share the gospel with just about anyone in five minutes.

“We are so thankful to David Bareham from Community Church in Chafford Hundred, who trained us in the brilliant 411 tools!”

Before going out, Harvest Teams meet to pray and note down any God-given insights they receive (like names, clothing, ailments) to direct them to specific people. They head out in pairs, before coming back to share what happened, record stories, and pray.

By recording names, clothing, locations and any other words people sensed during prayer, the Harvest Team were able to find specific people God was directing them to

Through trial and error, they’ve learned how best to engage with people in Medway.

Firstly, they carry no visible Bibles, tracts or flyers and they don’t mention ‘church’ or ‘Christian’ to begin with. As a result, they have found that many more people are willing to stop and talk who would be resistant to engaging in conversation with them otherwise.

Secondly, they offer prayer: simply introducing themselves, sharing that they’re looking to bless the community, and asking if there was anything that person would like prayer for. Time and again this winsome approach opened the door to further conversation, prayer for healing, sharing the gospel, inviting them to Sunday gatherings…and salvation!

The Harvest Team strategy has born tremendous results, and sharing the stories at Sunday gatherings is all part of it.

“We particularly want ‘first-timers’ to share their stories,” Rhonda told me, “Those who have never done evangelism this way before, or would never consider themselves ‘evangelists’, because as they share their experience, others who would normally discount themselves are suddenly encouraged to have a go.”

That was the story for one woman. “I never thought evangelism would be something I’d get stuck in with but it’s now the highlight of my week that I always look so forward to!”

First steps on a lifelong journey

Soon after Harvest Teams launched people from Cornerstone who had never tried evangelism before were going out regularly to witness in their communities; a weekly team visits different locations every week, and a team from each community goes monthly into the town where they gather on Sundays.

Sonia is one of those ‘first-timers’, joining a team one week to grow in her faith and learn tools to share the gospel. During that outing, three men gave their lives to Jesus! Sonia came away both hugely encouraged and equipped to share her faith with others.

Ibi is another who say Harvest Teams as an opportunity to grow. “I decided to go because for a while I’ve been feeling the need to take a step of faith and actively share the gospel.”

“I never thought evangelism would be something I’d get stuck in with but it’s now the highlight of my week that I always look so forward to!”

The experience taught her just how simple it is to approach people and share the good news with them. “One of the ladies we talked to was really apprehensive and sceptical when we first approached her. But as soon as we introduced ourselves and offered to pray for her, she opened up and shared that she was in chronic pain - pain in her legs and pins and needles in her arm following an accident.”

The pair prayed for her, and immediately her face lit up. “She was saying, ‘My arm - there’s a change! It feels better!’”

They prayed a second time, and the pain went away completely. When they asked her to try to do something that had been impossible before, she discovered she could open and close her fist. She couldn’t stop thanking them, and they were able to point her to the true source of her healing. “Jesus is the one who healed you. He loves you.” Phone numbers were exchanged, and they plan to follow up soon.

From left: Rhonda, Cheryl, Joe and Megan. The Harvest Teams are a diverse mix of people, as every believer is qualified to witness!

Plentiful harvest

With tears in her eyes, Rhonda shared story after story of the people they had met in the towns of Kent with the UK leaders gathered at Prayer and Fasting.

“One of our team, Megan, had shared a woman’s name with us during our time of prayer. As we walked passed a local gym, two really muscly, tattooed boxers were leaving. Unintimidated, we started to talk with them.”

Incredibly, they soon discovered that God had already been at work in the heart of one of the men.

“After praying with them he told us, ‘you’re not going to believe it, but halfway through my workout just now I had this strong sense that I should stop and download the bible onto my phone.’ We then discovered that his name was the one Megan had shared earlier, that we had assumed would be a woman’s! Can you believe it?

“We shared the gospel with them through the three circles tool, and both men gave their lives to Jesus right there!”

“Put simple: 10% of everyone they spoke to gave their lives to Jesus.”

Rhonda’s stories give a small picture of the tremendous things God is doing through the Harvest Teams. The stats speak volumes: in 20 weeks they spoke to 228 people; of those they prayed with 178, shared the gospel with 52 and saw 23 give their lives to Jesus! Not only that, they have also seen three people healed and are currently discipling two people.

Put simply: 10% of everyone they spoke to gave their lives to Jesus.

Praying for evangelistic activity to increase in our churches

Everyday witnesses

Excitement and expectation was building in the room, and when she led us into a time of prayer for evangelism we were faith-filled and hungry to see more and more in our own churches. For Rhonda, the most amazing story was seeing everyday people engaging in evangelism. With great urgency, she led us in prayer for people to freshly engage with evangelism in our churches.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Can we see an uprising of simple evangelism in our own communities? Can we mobilise our own Kates and Rachels, our self-confessed ‘non-evangelists’, to be the witnesses Christ has called us to be?

The harvest is here and the harvesters are sat in our midst every Sunday.

Rhonda is one of a team of amazing people who are engaged in regular evangelism and inspiring the whole church to become witnesses for Jesus, and includes Joe, Megan, Poppy, Cheryl, Jayden, Florence, Sama, Eric, Kate, Rachel, Ade, Adeola, Jenny, Ibi, Sonia, Matt, Macauley, Tabby, Sian, Enno, David and Hannah.

Harvesting lives in the garden of England