Ice-cold water on a hot July day is wonderfully refreshing, and few people refused our offer. Most said a quick thank you and went on their way. Several stopped to talk, asking who we were and why we were doing what we were doing. We told them. Every day there were people who asked for prayer. A few talked with us about their need for a living faith.

What we did during a concentrated week of mission (kindness evangelism was a strategy in the St. Petersburg District mission, as well) any congregation can incorporate as an on-going evangelism method. A congregation in Dothan, Ala., for instance, has chosen to serve the needs of people stuck in hospital waiting rooms, sometimes for hours. They offer a choice of a diet soda or bottled water. Many people ask for prayer.

Other acts of kindness in which churches engage include oil changes and lawn care for senior citizens and single moms, free coffee at highway rest stops on holidays, and highway trash pickup. The possibilities are endless. One inner city congregation sends crews armed with mops and buckets to clean rest rooms in gas stations and restaurants in their neighborhoods.

Kindness evangelism is doing small things for people, in Jesus’ name, but sometimes with very big results. When people are troubled or hurting such acts of loving kindness can mean a great deal. The hymn-writer Fanny Crosby describes how there are feelings in the human heart which can be "wakened by kindness." We didn’t have any dramatic sidewalk conversions during that week of kindness evangelism. It was enough that we were on the sidewalk with gifts of love. Any other result, as is all evangelistic efforts, is in the hands of God.