Christ’s Method Alone (CMA) is a campus ministry at the University of California, Berkeley, that recently joined ASI. CMA conducts How to Get A’s seminars, hosts Friday CARE groups, and coordinates other activities that lead to Bible studies and discipleship.
Not long ago Delon Lawrence, a recent SOULS West graduate, came to stay with CMA and help out by preaching and working with campus ministries. Sean Wycliffe and Channchi Chau Wycliffe, founders of CMA, spent time talking with Delon about setting up a sustainable ministry that could reach souls in the San Francisco Bay Area while providing a way for Delon and others to earn enough income to cover life expenses.
After looking at and praying about different initiatives, the idea to sell green smoothies door to door came up in August 2017. Because of their experience (Channchi had sold green smoothies on the side before, and Delon had more than eight years of experience as a colporteur), they decided to give it a try.
People started to buy smoothies here and there, so Channchi and Delon formalized the initiative into The Fruit Tree, organic green smoothies delivered to homes and businesses. Soon they began to sell at farmers’ markets. Now they have a few people working almost full-time on the project. The best part of The Fruit Tree ministry is the opportunities it provides to witness to others. Here are a few examples:
A vegan connected with Seventh-day Adventists through veganism now wants to attend church.
A Jewish customer told us she saw a documentary that mentioned Seventh-day Adventists as having higher life expectancies. This comment led to an at-the-door Bible study on health and the Sabbath.
A farmer’s market vendor eventually started doing weekly Bible studies after Delon’s interactions with him.
Clear answers to prayer as we follow God’s instructions for medical mission work.
For Smoothie Night at our local church we invited The Fruit Tree’s customer base to teach them how to make smoothies. Fifty people attended, 12 non-Adventist customers from The Fruit Tree, and three non-Adventist students from Christ’s Method Alone.
A man shared how he lost 60 pounds after going on the Daniel 1 diet. Now he’s interested in attending church.
God has given us light regarding evangelistic medical missionary work being the entering wedge for the gospel.1 (Evangelism, ch.122). We know that Christ’s method alone will yield success: making friends and ministering to people’s needs.2 (The Ministry of Healing, 143.3). By following this counsel, we have seen people who initially resist spiritual things become open to the truth.
Here are some practical steps to witness to our communities:
Share knowledge or skills you already have.This could be helping students get good grades if you did well in college, or helping them with standardized test prep or grad school applications. If you’re a great cook, you can hold a cooking class at your home (advertise it as a Facebook/Meetup.com event and ask your neighbors to get the word out). This not only meets a need with a talent God has given you—it allows you to build relationships that can be infused with gospel evangelism.
Start small, but start soon. A lot of evangelism initiatives never happen because of excessive planning. Have an idea to start a Pathway to Health-type event in your area? If you don’t have access to resources to host a large event, start with holding a free dental care clinic with one dentist, or a health table with one nurse. Big initiatives often start small; it’s often best to get out and start and let God lead from there.
Don’t be afraid of failure. Most successful evangelistic initiatives encounter a good amount of failure before things really start to work. Failure gives us a chance to pray, depend on God, grow spiritually, and learn from our mistakes. If you don’t see success right away, keep on moving forward in faith!
The Fruit Tree expects to continue to expand across northern California, and the team has been praying about plans to secure land and start a farm that grows nutrient-dense greens that can be used for smoothies. It is also looking at other ministry initiatives for the farm, such as a vegan bed-and-breakfast, a day spa with medical massage, hydrotherapy, etc. (i.e. a modern sanitarium).
As this initiative has grown, The Fruit Tree now seeks more workers to help sell drinks and work in the kitchen. It is also looking for donations and/or investments to help with securing land and appropriate vehicles (the team currently uses a Honda Civic and a Ford Focus, not ideal for a farmers' market organization).
Interested in learning more? Reach Christ’s Method Alone at [email protected].
Sean Wycliffe is one of the founders of Christ’s Method Alone, a Bible-based campus ministry at the University of California, Berkeley.
