One of the problems in evangelism is that of making contact with the unchurched. Especially in small churches and mission churches the members' circle of acquaintances is soon exhausted. It is difficult to make contact with the unchurched, and yet our great desire is to reach everyone within our area with the saving message.

But how can we do this? Especially in urban areas the practice of door-to-door "cold" calling is falling into disuse. People are reluctant to open their doors to strangers. They are even more reluctant to allow strangers into their home so that a presentation of the gospel can be made. Even the Fuller Brush Man has disappeared from our city streets. Apartment houses with high security, buzzers, and intercoms are especially hard to reach.

Tract distribution in malls and on busy street corners may be effective, but those reached may live far from the targeted area, the area near the church.

Tracts in letter form, written on the church's letterhead, can help solve the problem of bringing the gospel to everyone within the church's area of ministry. These can be made more personal than printed tracts and can be sent to every home in the church's "parish."

Letter tracts are not simply advertising material. Advertising by mail is a good and necessary practice, but our Westminster Standards teach that the Word of God is the chief means of grace. People are begotten again by means of the Word. When we enter 10,000 or more homes by mail, a full gospel presentation should be made to each one. Otherwise, the only ones receiving the gospel message will be the small fraction of those contacted who finally come to a church service. Many people who would not otherwise have gone to a church have been saved simply through the reading of a tract.

Tracts of any kind may seem to be a very impersonal way of presenting the gospel. For more personal contact, a street address telephone directory can be used to follow up the initial contact made by letter. This provides an opportunity to make a further presentation of the gospel. The caller should try to make an appointment for the pastor or someone else involved in the evangelism program to visit the home. Then the gospel can be explained more fully in a face-to-face setting.

If no phone number is listed, a visit may be made to the home. Since the letter has preceded the visit, the call will not be so cold.

There is no need to stop with the sending of one letter. Two, three, or four letters on different themes, each showing the relevance of the gospel to people's different needs, may be sent to each address, spaced about a week apart. After the entire series of letters has been sent, telephone calls and personal visits may follow. In this way every home can be evangelized.

Another advantage of this method of evangelism is that every member of the church can be involved in it. Not only in the addressing and mailing of the letters, but also in the telephone outreach. People are not required to go door to door, something that many are reluctant to do. The phone call being made is not a cold call; the letter has preceded it. Two or more people can meet in a home to take turns calling and to provide mutual support and prayer. Telephone calls can be made at a time convenient to the caller, in his or her own home, and in every kind of weather.

"The gospel to every individual!" This has been the church's devout desire. Letter tracts can help fulfill this desire.