AY Honors/Literature Evangelism/Answer Key
1. From the Bible and writings of Ellen G. White, write a summary, at least 250 words in length, on the importance of the use of literature in leading people to Christ.
In Acts 20, Paul indicates that he operated by going house-to-house, as does the colporteur:
When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
For Ellen White comments, see Testimonies for the Church, Volume 6, pp 321-340.
2. Name five essential qualifications of a colporteur.
3. How is the colporteur supported?
The term "colporteur" is an alteration of French comporter, "to peddle" as a portmanteau or pun with the word col (Latin collum, "neck"), with the resulting meaning "to carry on one's neck". Porter, is from Latin portare, "to carry." It could also be interpreted to mean "to carry one's neck" which is not far from accurate. The colporteurs are self-supported, meaning that no money is provided to them by the church. Their income comes from the literature they sell.
4. What four steps are taken in the sale of a book or magazine?
5. Briefly outline how to arouse an interest in purchasing a book or magazine?
6. Know how to meet objections to purchasing a book or magazine.
7. Do one of the following:
a. Maintain a literature rack for four months, keeping a log of which books are the most and least popular.
b. Do a project of house-to-house or mail distribution of literature in your community for ten hours. Include in the literature a response card for additional literature, Bible studies, and/or a Bible correspondence course.
c. Engage in selling Seventh-day Adventist books and/or magazines during a period of a least five weeks, or at least 20 hours each.
d. Do a project of distributing religious books to local government officials. Spend at least ten hours on your project.
e. Do a project of supplying religious literature to patients in a hospital or nursing home. Spend at least ten hours on your project.
f. Make a project of supplying a year’s subscription to Liberty magazine to the judges and/or lawyers in your community. Raise the money or get contributions for the gift subscriptions.
Contact the editors of Liberty magazine at http://www.libertymagazine.org/ (look for the "contact us" link). You will also need a list of judges and lawyers in your community. Lawyers will be listed in the Yellow Pages or in the business section of your local phone book. Contact your local courthouse to get a list of judges.
Once you know how many lawyers and judges are in your community, you will be able to determine the cost of the subscriptions. Then set a goal to raise enough money to cover them. Here are some ideas for fundraising:
- Car wash
- Yard Sale
- Bake Sale
- Recycle ink cartridges
- Rent a Pathfinder
For more fundraising ideas, see the fundraising section of the NAD Pathfinder forum.
g. Make a project of sending literature and/or Bibles to the mission field. Part of this project is collecting the literature and/or Bibles, determining where to send the material and packaging and sending the material.
Historical Notes
This honor was introduced in 1928 with the name "Colportage". The name was changed to “Literature Evangelism” 1956.
