Calling all evangelists!
BY LAUREN MARTIN
Are you passionate about growing the Kingdom of God? If so, one of The Salvation Army Australia’s most committed evangelists, Major Darren Kingston, wants to hear from you.
Darren has been an officer for 20 years and is currently serving as a Team Member at Macquarie Fields Mission in the south-west of Sydney.
He is inviting Salvos to join him in learning about and experiencing street ministry, public prayer initiatives and responding to the call of the Holy Spirit in our community.
A few weeks ago, when Darren was praying before engaging in some street ministry in the Sydney suburb of Minto, he received a vision of ice cream, a red shirt, and an ankle issue. He didn’t gather much more than that, so he decided to explore the ice cream section of a nearby supermarket.
“I saw a guy walking away from that area in a red shirt,” he says. “I wondered if it was him that God was calling me to, but I didn’t know, so I stayed around the ice cream area and spent some time checking out the different flavours!”
After a while, he wandered back outside and saw the man in the red shirt again, sitting on a bench. He struck up a conversation with the man, who mentioned he was having a problem with his ankle. Darren sought his permission to pray for him.
“God is always trying to tell us things,” says Darren, who regularly seeks God’s guidance on where he should go and what he should do at the start of each day.
He says many Christians find ‘street evangelism’ to be ‘scary’ or ‘daunting’, but it’s simply about taking time to pray, being attentive to what God is revealing to him, and responding to the call.
And he says that members of the community are very open to chatting with the Salvos on the street.
“I usually just say to people, ‘Hey, I’m Darren, and I’m just going around looking for people I can pray for. Do you have a prayer need, or is there something I can pray for you about?’ It’s quite soft, you’re not pushing anything.”
Darren says he loves to mentor and support anyone in The Salvation Army – or Christians from other churches – who feel called to evangelism but may lack the confidence to act on that calling.
“Usually, when I take people out, we first sit in my office, and we will pray and ask God for some clues about where we should go or what we might be able to see when we are there. Then, we will head out and look for some of those people that God might allow us to minister to. And not just those people but being open to what God is showing us. If we see someone walking with a sore leg, it might be an opportunity for prayer.”
Another way for people to learn from Darren and experience the work of the Holy Spirit through street ministry is by attending and assisting at one of the prayer tents in south-west Sydney. Once a month, Salvo teams set up a prayer tent at the local Macquarie Fields or Fairfield markets, where they distribute free water and sunscreen and offer prayer.
“Sometimes it is a bit easier to experience and learn how God works within us at the prayer tent because members of the community are approaching the tent to ask for prayer, not the other way around,” says Darren.
“We are always happy to have Christians there alongside us, working with us, seeing God at work and having their own faith strengthened.”
Throughout his officership, Darren has never deviated from his rhythm of listening to God and acting on the words and visions that the Holy Spirit gives him to minister to his community.
He has seen God do countless miracles and has had deep conversations with total strangers that have, at times, led to people giving their lives to Jesus.
“My heart is to really continue to grow evangelists in the area,” he says. “And engage with other churches’ evangelists as well – to give them opportunities.”
If you would like to connect with Darren for mentoring, support or gain experience in evangelism, you can email him: darren.kingston@salvationarmy.org.au
