When a pastor in Detroit wanted to introduce God to his community, full of post-modern people and those with no experience of Christianity, he turned to a successful evangelical Australian ministry tool.

Rob Burns, of 2nd Division (English congregation) at the Metro Detroit Chinese Alliance Church, selected Introducing God as a missionary platform after online research led to the Bible-based course which involves casual weekly meetings where an insightful talk, dinner, and discussions are shared.

“I really appreciated the content, especially thinking of many of our friends - who are more post-modern and/or Asian, and have had less exposure to Christian concepts,” said Burns, who ran Introducing God on Sunday nights at a local restaurant’s banquet room.

“The Bible tells us a redemption story; why not share the Gospel that way?”

Having invited friends, neighbours and other acquaintances to attend, Burns was slightly disappointed that more did not accept the offer. However, he was encouraged by the conversations and questions flowing from non-Christians and quasi-Christians (“one foot in and one foot out”) who attended.

“We consistently got good feedback that the discussions at the tables were interesting and involving,” said Burns, who mentioned that Introducing God provided his congregation with “good discussion times with our non-Christian or quasi-Christian friends. The quasi-Christians felt strongly challenged to follow Jesus, and I believe they love Him more as a result of this (course)”.

Burns had to adjust elements of Introducing God for those who spoke English as a second language. Next time, he would consider delivering the talks presented by Dominic Steele on the Introducing God DVDs, because Burns’ knowledge about those attending would assist with refining the message for them.

Overall, Burns thought the “safe context” of the Introducing God meetings attracted people and his congregation has seen faith developments from the course, which they continue to pray for.

“Introducing God exposed a number of our friends to the Gospel (and) we also enjoyed that every table seemed to have profitable, relevant discussions. That’s a blessing,” said Burns about running this casual, real Christianity course. “The food was good, too - a definite plus.”