The Power of Your Testimony: The PERIOD AND PLACE of Your Story

 

As we continue with highlights of the five keys (or 5Ps) of our story/testimony as a tool for intentional personal evangelism, I will introduce the third P this month, which is the PERIOD/PLACE. But before then, let me do a quick recap. 

The 5Ps of our story revolve around these five areas:

• Problem Area
• Picture of the Problem
• Period / Place
• Person Now
• Praise and Prayers

Each month we are looking at each of these five key areas of our unique story. I believe that at the end of the fifth month we will be able to organize our salvation experience around those five areas for effective use as a tool for Gospel conversations. So far, we have dealt with the first two Ps (Problem Areas and Picture of the problems). Problem Areas refers to the crisis areas of our life before we met Christ and Picture is a brief illustration of those problem areas. These two areas should feature in our stories regardless of the silence or loudness of the problem or its illustration or nature of the sin because the Bible says ALL have sinned (Rom 3:23).

PERIOD and PLACE

The third P, “PERIOD/PLACE,” briefly describes the circumstances of our encounter with Christ: the when and where of how we met Christ. It could have been at a church service, outreach program, house/cell fellowship, at a revival program, or through a gospel conversation with a friend, neighbor, or total stranger. The Period/Place enables us to identify the time. Perhaps it is a specific year, month, or season when you did what Jesus said to do: “repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

The goal of this P is for people to understand that God can use any platform or opportunity to reconcile people to Himself through the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although, we also understand that in some cases, we might not remember the exact date (Period) that we met Christ, this should not be an issue as explaining the circumstances around that time is sufficient. For example, “around the summer of 2024, I was invited by a friend to a block party organized by ABC church in Rapid City.”

An example of a PERIOD and PLACE Of our story can be found in Apostle Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa in Act 26:12-14 “One time the leading priests gave me permission and the authority to go to the city of Damascus. On the way there, at noon, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. It shined all around me and those traveling with me. We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in Aramaic. The voice said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.”

In Paul’s narration above, even though he did not state the specific date, we could see the circumstances and illustration of the period and place where he met Christ.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with me and the 5Ps. Next month, I will highlight on the fourth which is the PERSON NOW.

Remain blessed as you stay committed to reaching the lost for Christ.

Segun Adeyemo is an evangelism intern for the Dakota Baptist Convention.