Staying encouraged when evangelism feels lonely

Jason Roach, Rani Joshi and Mark Greenwood explore what to do when you feel alone in your zeal for sharing the gospel, and how to keep going with hope.

What do you do when you step out to share Jesus and it feels like nothing changes? In this London City Mission conversation, Mark and Rani (Coordinator for the South Asian Forum and Public Leadership at the Evangelical Alliance) explore what to do when you feel alone in your zeal for sharing the gospel, and how to keep going with hope.) tackle one of the most familiar tensions for Christians and church leaders alike: discouragement.

Rani describes herself as “an evangelist at heart”, drawn especially to one to one conversations rather than street preaching. Mark, serving the Elim movement nationally in evangelism, brings a pastor’s realism about the pressure people feel and a steady reminder of what faithful witness looks like over time.

A theme runs through the discussion and it is quietly liberating: the call is not to be impressive, but to be obedient, attentive, and available.

 

Not selling a product, introducing a person

Rani names a mindset shift that lowers the temperature immediately: “we’re introducing people to a person, not trying to sell them a product.” That single line helps reframe evangelism away from performance, persuasion, or pressure.

She also stresses that discouragement often rises when we think evangelism depends on our polish. In her words, it is “not about perfectionism.” It is rarely even about “having a skillset.” It is about our heart for Jesus, and the joy of the Lord that keeps us moving when things feel hard.

For leaders, it is a useful diagnostic question: have we accidentally discipled our people into thinking evangelism is mainly a technique, rather than a life that overflows?

Obedience over outcome

Both speakers return to a core pressure point: outcomes. Many Christians feel discouraged because they have tried a few times, nothing obvious happened, and they conclude it is not working. Rani describes the internal spiral: “Why are they not listening? I don’t want them to perish. I want them to know Jesus.”

Her answer is not to lower the stakes, but to place the weight where Scripture places it. She points to Paul’s picture in 1 Corinthians 3:6 to 7, where some plant, some water, but God gives the growth. The implication is clear: our job is to share, not to convert.

That does not make evangelism casual. It makes it faithful.

Mark echoes this same release in his own story of learning to let go of inner scorekeeping. Early in his preaching ministry, he admits he would leave meetings discouraged when nobody responded, replaying the moment and assuming he had failed. Over time, God impressed a different truth on him: you are not the Lord of the harvest.

It is a line that does not remove our longing to see people respond, but it does remove the burden of trying to manufacture a response.

A discouraged night and “one more door”

One of Mark’s most striking contributions is personal. His own coming to faith is rooted in someone else’s discouragement.

As a teenager, grounded and stuck in his room, he heard a knock at the door. A man named Brian stood there, smiling, and asked a question that felt unsettling in a non-Christian home: “What do you think about life after death?”

Unknown to Brian, Mark’s dad had recently lost his best friend in a tragic scuba-diving accident, leaving the family with raw questions about eternity and meaning. That knock landed at a moment when hearts were already open.

Mark also shares the detail that makes the story read like a parable. Brian had only been a Christian for six days. He and his pastor had been out door-knocking and it had gone badly. People were dismissive. Nobody wanted to talk. The pastor suggested going home.

But Brian asked for one more door. Mark’s door.

It is the kind of story leaders return to when discouragement becomes a reason to retreat. Sometimes “one more” is where faithfulness meets providence.

Spirit-led encounters in ordinary places

Rani pushes the conversation from principle to practice. She believes God prepares “encounter moments” for believers to step into, drawing on Ephesians 2:10 and the idea that there are good works prepared beforehand.

Her example is intentionally ordinary: standing in a Tui holiday shop, she sensed a prompting and asked God if she should say anything. The nudge was simple: tell her I love her. So she wrote a note, “Jesus loves you and he just wants you to know that,” and slipped it under the counter as she left.

She does not know what happened next, but she knows she was obedient and planted a seed.

That detail matters for discouraged people, especially those who think evangelism only “counts” when it is big, articulate, or decisive. Sometimes it is a sentence. Sometimes a gentle kindness. Sometimes a moment that feels small but lands large.

Converse, don’t coerce

Mark’s approach to evangelism is notably relational. He pictures evangelism less as a single event and more as a journey. One phrase that captures this is simple: set out to converse, not to convert.

That is not a call to hold back from Jesus. It is a call to stay human. Listen well. Speak clearly and kindly. Resist pressure tactics. Build trust. Keep the door open for ongoing conversation rather than chasing a one-off encounter.

Mark shares a modern example of that “journey” approach: after a Christmas comedy event, a neighbour who described himself as an atheist watched Mark online and later initiated a conversation. Instead of pouncing, Mark thanked him and offered a fair exchange: you tell me why you’re an atheist and what it changes in your life, and I’ll tell you why I’m a Christian and what it changes in mine. No pressure. No attempt to force a moment.

Over time, that man made a small but telling comment: he was not quite the atheist he used to be.

For many leaders, that is both sobering and encouraging. Evangelism is often slower than our programmes. It is also often deeper than our metrics.

Remember the power you carry

Rani returns to another source of confidence: the power of the gospel itself. Christians are not trying to compensate for weakness with technique. The Spirit is active. She points to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:2 to 5, where he describes coming in weakness and relying not on persuasive words, but on a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

Her point is simple: we are not doing this in our own strength. In weakness, God remains strong. That truth does not remove nerves, but it can stop nerves from becoming a veto.

Below, you can watch a short bonus episode in which Jason, Rani and Mark reflect on what we can do when we feel alone in our zeal for sharing the gospel, and how to stay encouraged.