John took his home group through a simple exercise a few weeks ago. He gave everyone a sheet with six areas to fill in, just enough to put their own story with Jesus into words. Then they went round and shared what they'd written.

He said it was amazing to hear the different ways people described their walk with Christ. Two of the group had grown up in Uganda as Muslims and only became Christians after what they described as a revelation from the Holy Spirit. Hearing it out loud, in their own words, made it come alive for everyone.

The next day John and his team went back out onto the streets to do the same thing with strangers. He wrote: "We are back on the streets tomorrow to share this and ask questions about individual circumstances. We wait on the spirit to guide and lead us to the lost who are in need of revelation in their lives."

Three more people stopped to talk, and shared their own stories in return. John's comment afterwards was simple: "Amazing how some are touched through prayer and encouragement."

That's basically the whole method. It's called the 15 second testimony.

We tend to think evangelism needs a plan, an argument, or an answer for every objection. John's home group didn't need any of that. What made it work wasn't polish, it was preparation. Saying your story to some friends first means you're not fumbling for words when you're asked by a colleague or friend "so how did you become a Christian?"

We can spend years feeling unready to talk about Jesus because we're waiting to have the right words. But we already have the only words that matter, our own.

Is there a version of your story you could say to someone in under a minute? Not the polished version, just the true one. If you tried writing it down this week, who's the first person you'd want to share it with?

I remember avoiding this for years because I thought "sharing my faith" meant having answers I didn't have. It took me a long time to realise nobody was asking me to defend Christianity. They just wanted to know what had actually happened to me.

Let's go make disciples.

Simon