A. Sample of Personal Salvation Testimony (Mk 5:18-20, Acts 26:4-23)

1. Definition: Telling others your personal experience of God's great work upon you.

2. Characteristics: A contrast of life before and after your salvation.

3. Purpose:

a. Witness to the mercy of God
b. Arouse others to the interest of God's mercy
c. Preach the gospel through the testimony

4. Advantages:

a. Personal experience and hard to argue.
b. Actual life experience and easy to understand.
c. Suitable to anybody and anywhere.

B. How to organize a good testimony of salvation

1. Points to notice

a. Do not use Christian jargons.
b. Do not unnecessarily criticize or attack others.
c. Avoid vague, empty and meaningless generalizations.
d. Do not brag. Each person has his/her uniqueness.
e. Should bring out the positive significance of becoming a Christian.
f. Express your experience of God's faithfulness.
g. Express the great changes that the Gospel has brought to you.
h. Use particular examples of your own life.
i. Speak vivaciously and humorously.
j. Can be imitated.

2. Before conversion

a. May choose an attitude of life to describe your previous life experience (such as pessimistic, hateful, afraid of death, etc.), including a simple description of your family background, special features, life-style, etc.
b. There should be descriptions of internal struggles and self-reflections (Inward feelings? Emptiness? Loss?)
c. There should be concrete examples for illustration.
d. What was your feeing towards religion? What did you believe in?
e. What sins have you committed? When and How?
f. What is your view on life, death, eternity, suffering?

3. How to be converted?

a. How to come into contact with the Gospel? When? Where? At first... Then... Afterwards...
b. What has particularly happened?
c. What is your personal response and decision?
d. Have you been moved by the sacrificial atonement of the Lord?
e. What has moved you to believe in the Lord?
f. What has you said in your prayer? Did you confess your sin in your prayer? What did you fell at that time?

4. After conversion

a. Respond to your original attitudes of life, not just contrasting changes (such as becoming positive, loving others and peace), but also positive changes (such as previously afraid of death...now no longer afraid...helping those who are dying and afraid of death).
b. There should be internal changes of the mind.
c. There should be concrete examples of change in life (to people, to God, value of life, sin, life, eternal hope, etc.)

C. Thematic Salvation Testimony

Sharing personal testimony with thematic highlights (more focused, less time consuming)

1. Examples of themes

a. Love and hatred, sinfulness and holiness, heaven and hell, old and new lives, God and devil, painfulness and happiness, emptiness and abundance, etc.
b. e.g. personal salvation testimony with human painfulness as the theme (sufferings ending in blessings. Ex. 15:25)

2. Reference texts: Jn 1:12-13, 3:16, 10:10, 14:6; Acts 4:12, 16:31, Rom 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:38-39, 10:9-10; 1 Cor 15:3-6; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 1:12; Heb 9:27; 1 Jn 1:9, 1:21, 4:9-10; Rev 3:20.

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