It is right that we speak about evangelism and outreach. That’s what I do for a living (and by the way, thanks for buying my books and tracts!!). We do want to see our friends and colleagues saved and we are blessed with new courses and programs to aid us in this enterprise. That said, what is really needed is a genuine and quiet confidence in the gospel, a dogged determination to pray for our loved ones who are apart from God in Christ, the courage to speak simply, clearly and sensitively about our trust in Jesus and a commitment not to pack it all in when there is no apparent fruit.

My friend, author and scholar, John Dunn is a great example of this. I watched him minister to a dying friend and at my request - and for our encouragement and edification - he’s written a brief version of what took place…

This is a story about "Alan'"”my 72-year old friend and business colleague of 51 years.
Alan was one of the most self-confident, self-assured men I have ever known. He was an intellectual giant with a vast general knowledge, an encyclopaedic mind and a photographic memory. He had been a key man at the company where I worked and where we first met. He moved on to work overseas and then back in Australia in a number of executive positions.
Alan was certainly no atheist"”he just had no need for God.
Over the past six years Alan and I have talked on the phone almost weekly about a long-term project I was working on and for which I needed his specialist input. Then one day he rang to say he had just been diagnosed with a malignant prostate cancer and that he was to have major surgery several days later. He was clearly very distressed. He'd always known I was a Christian and respected that fact. So I asked if he would like me to pray for him over the phone about the coming operation. He readily agreed and seemed to be deeply moved and said, "No one has ever done anything like that for me before'.
That evening I wrote a very strongly worded letter to him about his need to face his mortality and get his house in order"”now! I said he had kept God at arm's length all his life but now was not the time to muck around. I enclosed C S Lewis' book, "Mere Christianity'"”suggesting he not speed read it in 8 1/2 minutes but take time to work through it slowly and thoughtfully. I knew Lewis would come in at Alan's intellectual level.
A day later he rang. "I have never had a letter like that before! I've mucked around all my life keeping God at arm's length'. "I believe you have'. I've been a fool haven't I?' "Yes, I would think so'. He promised to read Lewis while he was in hospital.
He did indeed read Lewis"”twice, and the truth concerning the reality of God and Christ came home to him very clearly. We talked many times over the phone during his recuperation.
One Sunday afternoon he rang and asked if I knew about W's and F's? "What do you mean, Alan?' "Weddings and Funerals!' I was still not clear. "Other than weddings and funerals I've not been near a church since I was a teenager"”until today!' He had walked down the road and attended a local evangelical church. "It was wonderful', he said. "I've now realised how much I've missed out on all my life. I've really been a fool'. From then on he never missed a Sunday at church and even got to sing in the choir! Meantime he read several other Christian books I sent him including my Knowing God's Forgiveness. "I had no idea you could write a book like that!'
Over the following years the cancer spread. His time was taken up in undergoing various treatments. His future looked bleak as his PSA level continued to soar. We talked more about eternal issues. I told him I was praying for him every day, and as each medical hurdle passed he would say, "You've been praying again!'
He now knew he was dying. He decided to fly to Sydney and asked if he could stay with me. He said he wanted to say goodbye to all the friends whom he would not see again. The Saturday he was here he came with me to the St Paul's Men's Breakfast at which a doctor from our congregation was speaking. My friend was deeply moved by the testimony that morning and was in tears. Later that day we watched a DVD of 88-year old Geoffrey Bingham speaking on Romans 7. "Yes, that's right!' Alan exclaimed as he watched. "That's me! That's what I'm like!' We talked more and then prayed together. He was full of joy when he flew back to his home interstate.
Late last month I rang one Saturday only to discover that he had collapsed and been rushed back to hospital. Scans showed he had two inoperable tumours on his brain and was told he probably only had a week to live.
He was moved to a country town to be near his family, but was now cut off from his pastor and church friends. I knew I ought to see him and help prepare him for his impending death
I went by plane and then by car to the hospital where he was in palliative care. By this time he had gone blind and also lost many of his motor functions. I spent four hours with Alan that day. It was a wonderful time. We talked at length about our working days together, about mutual friends, about shared experiences, our times overseas together and so on. And of course we talked about the Lord. I read the Scriptures to him. We laughed together, we prayed together, we cried together. He just sobbed and sobbed with the joy and thankfulness to the Lord for "rescuing him at the eleventh hour', as he put it. I suggested that once he had settled all his affairs with his family then he was free to let go of life"”he didn't have to hang around! Yes, he was clear as to where he stood with God. He knew that Christ had taken his guilt and that he was now righteous in the Lord's eyes. He was ready to depart"” "absent from the body, present with the Lord'. He knew that death was but a transition and he that he could welcome what lay ahead with open arms. He was going home to the Father.
The next morning a family member, long estranged, flew in from overseas and they were reunited at last. That evening he drifted into a coma and died several days later.

John concluded his story wiith theses words (that we do well to note and apply), 51 years! We want instant results and give up (or are in despair) if people don't come to faith immediately. I must admit I had doubted that Alan would ever come to know the Lord, and so have been reminded, yet again, that the Father has his time to draw his elect to himself. That's why we need trust him as we persevere in our witness to family, friends and work colleagues.

Amen, John, Amen!

Stuart Robinson is the National Mission Facilitator for the Anglican Church of Australia and the rector of St Paul’s Anglican Church, Chatswood.