The Soul-arium Train? A Slightly Different Approach to Evangelism Strategy.

This October the evangelism team of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry Network sat down to tackle the issue of evangelistic effectiveness in BCM circles. We knew that several BCMs are knocking the ball out of the park evangelistically. We also knew (and this may sting a bit for some), that many BCMs aren’t tackling evangelism quite as well as they could.

As the evangelism team pinged discussion to and fro in our war room, we threw out all kinds of ideas about what we could do to help collegians become more effective in their evangelism. It was tough and it got messy…but at the end of the day we arrived at an idea, or better said, a question:

“What one concept could we champion that would help every BCM student engage people with the gospel?”

As the committee fussed, discussed, and warred together, we realized that the greatest challenge in motivating or influencing Christian students to share the gospel is simply helping them to engage people in evangelistic conversation. Most Christians know the gospel well (and yes this is somewhat of a self-evident statement), but so many college students are challenged when it comes to sharing it. So we arrived at our goal—we want to help students to engage lost people with the gospel more effectively.

Enter Soularium. Developed by some Hippies in the northeast, Soularium is an evangelistic engagement tool that uses pictures to segue regular conversation into spiritual dialogue, and ultimately, to a gospel presentation. The Soularium creators explain further:

“Soularium provides 50 images and a few simple questions to allow you to enter and explore the lives of people around you…[it] allows you to come alongside another person on their journey by exploring where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re headed. Asking questions and genuinely listening can open a door to significant spiritual conversation about Jesus.”

As we thought about Soularium and its application, we began to realize that because of its simplicity, Soularium can be used in a variety of ways and in many different contexts. Further, just by using the dialogical approach of image and questions, college students are really able to engage more deeply and relationally into the lives of the persons with whom they share.

Soularium is by no means a “silver bullet” of evangelism, nor is it intended to replace successful evangelism tools and methods currently in use. What it is intended to do is increase the engagement of your students into the lives of non-believers, and ultimately, to bring more people in to the only relationship that can save.

As the person explains why certain pictures resonate with him or her, a dialogue opens that can allow the sharer to see into the life of a person’s soul.

If you’re interested in learning more about Soularium, check out the Soularium website at http://www.campuscrusade.com/WSN/soul.htm. If the price scares you a bit we’ve got good news. Through a cooperative program partnership with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), we are able to get you Soularium kits at deeply (Marianas trench-like) discounted prices. For more information, contact Ethel Stewart (estewart@namb.net) at NAMB.

Enjoy your ride on the Soularium train.