The initial follow-up is best done in a home. We often meet individually with the new Christian, or ask them to join a small group of new Christians for a weekly home Bible study.
In time you can introduce the new Christian to the other members of your church and your regular worship service.
If they prefer to worship in their own tongue, introduce them to a church where they will feel more comfortable.
It may be some time before a new Christian is ready to attend a church. If they come from a Buddhist background, they may be used to going to the temple only on special holy days, coming whenever it is convenient for their family and staying only as long as they wish. Now that they are Christians we want them to come every Sunday at a specific time and stay as long as everyone else does. This is quite a big thing to ask.
After they become active in a church keep being a friend and help them grow. They will have a lot of questions about what they see in church and hear from other Christians.
Help them learn to reach out with the Gospel to more people from their ethnic group by going through the things you have learned about building relationships and evangelism.
Here are the previous pages of the process we encourage you to follow:
- Associate with non-Christians
- Befriend non-Christians
- Create an interest in the Gospel
- Declare the Gospel
- Encourage a response
- Follow-up new believers
Tell us about your experiences with helping new Christians grow
How did language or cultural differences affect what you did?
What resources would you recommend?