How about treasure hunting evangelism?

People have come up with new ways to reach those people who don’t know Christ for many years. Some of these methods are seeker sensitive, which I believe is fine as long as you don’t change the message so that God becomes more acceptable, while others are much more direct in their approach. 

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11: 6

There is one method that is being spoken of quite a lot at the moment. It involves what is known as “Treasure hunting evangelism”. I have met people who are who speak highly of the endeavour as well as those who are very much against it.


I believe that it started at Bill Johnson's church in the USA a few years ago and that it has proved to be very successful. If you have never come across this before, here is a simple explanation of what is actually involved.



It is quite different, but simply put 'Treasure Hunts' are a form of prophetic evangelism. A group of Christians will get together and take time to pray and listen for revelation from the Holy Spirit about individuals that God wants the group to find.



It is in essence a form of personal evangelism which some would say is a game of searching for 'God's Treasures', which are of course people who are away from God. The group typically receives revelation, or "clues", consisting of places, clothing, hairstyle, or situations which will help them to identify the "treasure".



After receiving revelations from the Holy Spirit, the group will go out to ‘hunt’ for the people identified. Often as a result they are able to share the love of God as well as being able to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people that they come into contact with. This can also provide opportunities for the treasure hunters to pray for the sick.


With this type of evangelism and witnessing the idea is to let people know that they really are valuable in Gods eyes and that He has guided the 'Hunter" to search for them as His treasure.

The approach that people use would be something like, “Hello, I’m searching for treasure, and I believe that it’s you”. This very often opens the door for a ‘hunter’ to witness of Gods grace and also it often provides an opportunity to pray for the person they are in conversation with. 


There are many testimonies of people coming to Christ, receiving healing, asking for personal prayer, engaging in deep spiritual conversations and accepting invitations to come to church or Alpha / look and see courses.


This will be a controversial method of evangelism for some. Because, there is no doubt that on occasion some over enthusiastic people have gone off believing that they have heard from the Lord, when in fact what they did hear was just a notion that popped into their head. All I would say is that before carrying out this method of witnessing it would require much prayer. Groups should also be led by a team leader who is experienced in hearing the voice of the Spirit of God. This  leader would then be able to listen to the revelations that the groups have received. They would the be able to offer help and encouragement to team members who are starting out in this form of witness.


Well, that is the reservations that I have over, so let’s look at some of the positives.


It is an excellent conversation opener:  In my experience there is nothing more likely to bring a very quick end to a conversation than asking someone a question like, “Hi there, I am from the local church, tell me, have you heard about Jesus?”

The actual idea of a “treasure hunt” is a way to break the ice with strangers, allowing a conversation to naturally move on to important spiritual matters.

Key Point: This type of witnessing will build up your reliance of the Holy Spirit

It builds a reliance on the Holy Spirit’s guidance: Praying to God to divinely lead you to those people who the Holy Spirit may already have been working on builds trust in God to direct and guide. It also develops faith in Him to give you the right words to say in order to be an effective witness. I have said before, that if you earnestly pray to God for opportunities to share the good news, He will bring the right people to you. This is just another way of doing the same thing.


It requires a believer to put faith into action:  As we have read, scripture says that we cannot please God without faith.  When we do something in faith to share Jesus, the Holy Spirit backs you up. He guides, He leads, He helps, He empowers. He is just amazing!!


That is why prayer is so important. It is a must, that you believe that you have heard from God before going onto someone. God will speak to you in both words to your heart as well as by giving you pictures that will be very clear.


I know that God moves in this way through my own experiences over the years. Once I was praying for God to reveal to me people who needed prayer for healing while on an outreach on a tent mission. Whilst in prayer I was given a clear picture of young lady with a significant back problem that caused her to limp and lean out sideways. Within a couple of minutes she was standing right in front of me. God is good.


Does this method excite you or put you off? Let me know.