My name is Mark Cowperthwaite. My wife, Sara, and I have been married for 7 years. The Lord has given us 3 children, ranging in age from 13 years down to 2 years. Our home assembly is Grace Fellowship Bible Chapel, in Union, Maine. I pray it will be an encouragement to you to learn a little about the work the Lord has called our family to, and how it all got started.
In 2006, I started to see that there was an area in my life, and in our home church, that was not in line with what I saw in Scripture. That area was evangelism. I spoke with my friend Justin, a brother who struggled with the same issues. God knit out hearts together and brought us as a team, brothers to hold each other accountable and to encourage and pray for each other as we strive to walk according to the Lord’s will for our lives. By God’s providence, We now travel with Justin’s family throughout the country. We spoke of what God was calling us to do as Christians, to be witnesses. This was not the calling of the evangelist, but just what every believer should do. Our conversations usually ended with neither of us having any solid ideas or clear direction on how to begin preaching the gospel as church body.
Eventually, we decided to just step out and do something, even though we both felt inadequate and unprepared! We started by simply picking a street and going up to knock on each door. I thank God that He honored our motives, in spite of our lack of ability! I am quite sure we put our foot in our mouth at almost every door, but the Lord did give us a few good conversations and opportunities to share the gospel. Most of all, He showed us that our fears could be overcome, and the people we met revealed how great the need really was.
I spent much time in prayer, seeking other ways to preach the gospel. It was my desire for others in our local body to also get involved in the work in a cooperative way, laboring together in the gospel. Outwardly, I began to exhort the saints to both personal and corporate evangelism, but inwardly I still battled intensely with fear.
It was not until 2007, that the Lord used the biography of a contemporary evangelist serving his Savior under the persecution of Communist China, to really break my heart. I finally saw my fear and hesitance to share the gospel for what it really was: being ashamed of my Savior, an unwillingness to bear reproach for His name’s sake, and simple disobedience to the clear commands of our Lord. I repented before the Lord for my disobedience.
I then sought in earnest to take opportunities for preaching the gospel. I wrote letters to distant family members and former clients. I started handing out tracts when I was out in public. And I prayed. I prayed for boldness… I prayed for opportunities… I prayed for guidance. Please do not get the wrong impression. I still often failed to speak when I knew I should have, and all that prayer was needed to keep me going from one encounter to the next. But I was determined, with God’s help, that I would no longer be a slave to my fear and disobedience.
By the beginning of 2008, I was seeking out opportunities to gain experience from others in preaching the gospel. That summer also saw my partner Justin and I planning several evangelism outreaches with Grace Fellowship, including our first VBS in many years; distributing thousands of tracts at two local parades; and paint-board preaching from a literature booth at a local fair.
A two-fold burden was laid on my heart: for the lost, not just in Maine but throughout the United States; and for other local churches where the saints are struggling to do more in obeying the Great Commission, and are seeking help and guidance as I myself had been not so many years ago. With much prayer, and consultation with our elders, we saw this burden as God’s calling us to this work, and began making preparations. So, in the fall of 2008, the Lord provided us with a camper for our family to live in, and we put our house in Maine up for sale. With that, we were commended by our assembly and entered into a full-time traveling ministry, both preaching the gospel and helping assemblies to get established in the work of evangelism.
