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“When I arrived on the day [Jesus March], the pastor leading the prayer walk was giving instructions to hand out cans of coke and Christian tracts. The idea was to go through Osborne Village like some Christian SWAT team handing out information and soda pop. There was no real relationship, simply a gimmick borrowed from advertising and a pamphlet of information. I could not help but be frustrated by this showy opportunism, knowing that it would have very little impact and would simply reinforce the image in many people’s minds that Christianity has little relevance to who they are.
“This is a key difference between evangelism and mission from my perspective. Evangelism is a hit and run activity with little relationship or sensitivity to environment. There tends to be an emphasis on boldness and delivering a package of information. Mission is more about staying in the area, building relationships and bridging into people’s worldview and identity.”
—Mark Humphries, A Bridge Between Two Worlds. Winnipeg: Semaphore Ministries. 2004 | 
