Gospel Coins

Actual size: diameter = 1.5 inches or 3.81 cm (1 inch = 2.54 centimeters)

Left: FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH
IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
JOHN 3:16.
Right: DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER,
I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST YOUR SON DIED ON THE CROSS
FOR MY SINS, WAS BURIED FOR THREE DAYS AND ROSE AGAIN.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH HIM. AMEN

Scanned Coin Side 1
One day I hope to photograph or scan all coins so they can be viewed by the actual language speakers in their own geographical location. The above are "quick and dirty" attempts to decide which method to use when I get near the coins.

Gospel Coins
(Courtesy of Operation Grace)

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Children of the Day singing For Those Tears I Died written by Marsha Stevens on the Kathryn Kuhlman Show in 1971
(worship and thank the Lord as you read below)

Order Gospel Coins free in 132 presentations in 109 languages from villageministries.org!

How to Use Gospel Coins is sent out with the Gospel Coins ordered directly through Operation Grace. Operation Grace has given me (Webmaster, JesusIsLord.org) permission to capture his this guide electronically in order to share them with you. He explains how he distributes Gospel Coins so that people are glad to receive them. Here it is! Remember, you can order Gospel Coins from the website above which also represents Operation Grace. Note: there are no links on the guide so the links have been chosen and added by the editor (Webmaster of JesusIsLord.org).

When asked what the coin is, I (Burt) tell them "Where will you spend eternity? is the world's greatest question, and John 3:16 AMP, the world's greatest answer. It's an invitation for eternal life. It expires when you do."

When at Walmart, I always make sure I am a customer with items in my basket. In the pharmacy area, often someone is checking their blood pressure. I place a coin next to them, stating, "This is the real question, not what your blood pressure is, but where you will spend eternity?" There usually are a number of people in line at the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions. I start at the front of the line, and, handing each person a coin, I say, "I have a prescription for you."

Sharing the Gospel isn't complicated. Initiating conversation for me is. This is where the coins are superb. Once the coin has been given, you will find the door wide open. Don't stop there. Go into tracts or the Bible. Bring them to church. The objective is to make disciples of men. Fellow believers will ask, "Is that all you do, is give out coins? I respond, "It's just the beginning."

I have been accused by a few with, "What right do you have to change their religion?" I respond by saying, "I'm not changing their religion but restoring it!"

Is there anything in the Jewish religion that says Jesus Christ is not the Son of God?" No.

God's Word says Christians are to be "salt and light." (Matthew 20:13-15) Someone asked, "What does salt do?" The first response is that it makes things taste better. Another response is that is preserves things. A Chinese girl chimed in, "It creates thirst." Shouldn't we be cultivating a thirst for God's Word?

Another response to the question of what the coin is: "It's the greatest reason for Thanksgiving; it's the real meaning of Christmas; it's the world's greatest Valentine's Day message; it's the real meaning of Easter, the empty tomb, the resurrected Savior; it's the reason we are a free country!"

I will often have several girls before me. After giving each girl one or two different coins and explaining each to them, I will give each a little Bible booklet, two inches tall and one and one-half inches wide, calling it a "Baby Bible." They always get very excited... drawing them into God's Word. You can procure these from 1 800 923 6304 or SowerOfSeed.com (pBv's)

When I have several girls before me, thirteen and up, and being single, I tell them the, "Where will you spend eternity?" This coin is the single girl's coin. "Any time a guy approaches you, you make certain he understands that question, 'Where will you spend eternity?' If he has any problem acknowledging, identifying, or agreeing with that question or anything on that coin, you tell him to hit the road." It's encouraging her to investigate the Gospel and to share it with her boyfriend. Often her parents will be right there with her, saying "Yeah! Yeah!"

When I see someone I believe to be a Muslim, I ask them, "Do you speak Arabic, Farsi, or Urdu?" Often the response may be Arabic. I say, "Wonderful; that Christ died on the cross for my sins is incredible, but to me even more significant is the motivation behind the act. Isn't this the reason we go to Bible class?" Often the Muslim is two steps ahead of you and has you figured out and what you are trying to do. I say, "When you pray, it's beautiful; your forehead touches the ground. This is such a reverence for the Lord. We Christians could learn so much from you, but it's only fear and submission." I hold my left hand very high and say, "Here is perfect God," and then my right hand down low, nodding forward, saying, "Here is fallen, corruptible man, but it's only fear and submission. It demands the intercessor Christ." And I put my arm right in between the two, and they usually respond with, "Cannot be! Cannot be! Jesus was wonderful prophet, but not Son of God. If Jesus is Son of God, where is the rest of family?" I respond, "Believe in Christ and you can become part of that family." I tell them that when a baby is born, this too is a miracle I can't understand. How God is able to provide the miracle of Christ's birth I don't understand fully either, but He did it, and it is the perfect solution to the problem. I give a coin in their language, and Jeremiah 29:11 AMP, Jeremiah 1:5 AMP in English on another coin, and shake their hand, saying, "Thank you for coming to America." Jeremiah 29:11 was given specifically to Israel, but can have applications to the church. It is what is missing in Islam and Hinduism, a personal intimate relationship with their god. Jeremiah 29:11 and Jeremiah 1:5 are nothing less than magnetic to Muslims and Hindus, drawing them into God's Word. When I say, "Thank you for coming to America," they are shocked and say, "it is not very often that we hear this!" It validates the motivation behind the act that the Gospel was shared in love, something new to them.

What is the worst crime in the world? If I was dying of cancer and found some pills and took one curing my cancer, and I hid the bottle and didn't share it with others, wouldn't this be the worst crime? Isn't this what believers are doing with the Gospel?

Within thirty miles of where I live there are more than 240,000 Vietnamese people. I see somebody who I think may be Vietnamese and I ask them, "Are you Vietnamese?" They respond with a yes. I give them the Vietnamese coin and say, as I give it to them, "Kam ang Kam ang" (Thank you Thank you), and I shake their hand saying, "I am so happy that you are here." And they respond with, "So happy, so happy." They love this country more than Americans because they lost theirs to communism. And then I ask, "How many children?" and they respond with, "Two children, two children." And I say, "Not enough. We need more Vietnamese children." And they get very excited because they know that you love them. I give them the English coins for their children, who are right there with them, and the children start reading them out loud. One of the greatest things I've observed is "How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear..." (Romans 10:14 AMP)

Children believe in God until they are taught not to.

Christians have a desire to share their faith until they are taught not to.

It takes a sentence to tell a child about Christ. It takes paragraphs to tell him God doesn't exist.

You can give without caring, but you cannot care without giving (the Gospel).

After receiving or trusting in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, go tell someone what happened.

When I observe a Christian making a bad decision, I ask, "Do you think satan is a winner? Why are you taking sides with him?" (Isaiah 14:12-14 AMP)

If we who have an accurate Gospel don't share it with the lost, someone with a false gospel will share a false one.

When Christians accurately communicate the Gospel, share their faith, it must put satan into epileptic seizures. (Revelation 12:10-12 AMP)

If evolution is incapable of contending with something as elementary as aging, by what stretch of the imagination could it evolve into a species?

Amercians know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

John D. Rockefeller was one of America's first billionaires. Upon his death, one of his accountants was asksed to reveal how much he left at his passing. His response was, "Mr. Rockefeller left all of it." What in your life has eternal value?

The average human lifespan is 2.3 billion seconds. What are you doing with yours?

We spend money we don't have, to buy things we really don't need, to try and impress people we really can't stand.

Often a believer will ask, "What am I supposed to do with the coin?" I tell them, "It's outside the door, eight thousand miles in diameter, twenty four thousand miles in circumference. It's called earth." (Matthew 28:19 AMP)

To the Buddhists I say, "This peace you are seeking, have you ever found it?"

Our policy for our soldiers in Iraq, general order #1, "You can kill, but you can't save them"

If you're not getting tackled, perhaps you're not carrying the ball.

Go to God about man before you go to man about God.

Many Christians say witnessing is not their gift. Can you please show me in the Bible where it is not yours? (Hezekiah 1:1 doesn't exist)

Light has different effects on different creatures. God's Word is light. When the sun comes up, birds start to sing, and rats run for cover. (Psalm 119:105 AMP)

Judas kissed the highway to heaven (John 10:9 AMP) on the highway to hell (Matthew 27:3-5 AMP).

If you don't share your faith, perhaps you don't have any faith to share. Couples committed to be married would be more than happy to you introduce you to the love of their life (Revelation 2:4 AMP.

"He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot, keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - James Elliot

"The things in the Bible I don't understand don't concern me as much as those that I do." - Mark Twain

Are you brave enough to pray that God will use you somehow, some way, no matter what the cost?

The late Vernon McGee's summary of Gideon, "The earthen vessel must be broken before God's light can shine."

At what point in life should we start to apply the biblical truths we are learning - ten years, twenty years? Hebrews 5:12a AMP, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers..." James 4:17 AMP "To him who knows what is right and does it not, it is sin."

If Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried for three days and rose again, what kind of foolish theology could silence us? The Great Commission has not be repealed! (I Corinthians 15:12-20)

John 4:35 AMP says, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white with harvest.!"

I would like to encourage you to use the coins in one on one witnessing with tracts and Bibles. The coins are great door openers, conversation starters. A window of opportunity usually exists to further the contact beyond the coin. God is teaching us with the coin how to witness without it. Requests for coins exceed the resources available by a factor of ten. Of necessity I must embrace those requests where there is a clear, accurate Gospel and good custodianship. I pray for wisdom within God's budget.

More tracts:
Evantell 1 800 947 7359 "May I ask you a question?" (many languages)
VIG 1 800 784 7223 "What religion will get me to heaven?" (Enlgish only)
VIG 1 800 784 7223 "Am I going to heaven?" (English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog)
(Please don't give out the coins without tracts)

It is difficult to imagine that we can kill time without injuring eternity.

One thing I love about the aging is that God is very gently, kindly, patiently, telling us we have an inescapable appointment with Him."

The founder of CEF ( Child Evangelism Fellowship) said, "If I spend two hours evangelizing twenty adults in a room, at the end of the two hours one may accept Christ. If I spend two hours evangelizing twenty children in a room, at the end of two hours nineteen will accept Christ. If I had to do my life over I would spend it with children."

Often when I see a child, I hold up a coin and say, "Make sure you get one of these," The child says, "Gee thanks. What is it?" I tell them, "It's the world's best kept secret." They respond with a "WOW!!!" Then they return to their parents with the parents (big children) asking, "What is it?" And the children respond with great authority, "It's the world's best kept secret." Often children will evangelize their parents unknowingly.

When people would ask me why I am giving out these coins, I say, "Because I don't want my worst enemy to go to hell."

It's important to note that no decision for Christ is a decision.

A pastor friend when communicating with teenagers, would say, "Believe in Jesus Christ and you will have eternal life. I dare you! I dare you! (Acts 16:31 AMP)

The atheist is an atheist because it is the only justification he has for acting independently of God.

Witnessing is as simple as one begger sharing a piece of bread with another begger.

If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

It's not that life is so short, but that eternity is so long. (Matthew 20:16 AMP)

The biblical missionary is not someone going someplace to preach the Gospel, but someone who is going someplace and is preaching the Gospel all along the way. If you don't witness at home in your own backyard, you may not do much better or expect to be fruitful in the mission field.

In the parable of the seed sower, Luke 8:5-18 AMP, the seed did not fail.

To Buddhists I say, "The peace you are seeking, have you ever found it?"

On occassion when exiting a church I would see a sign, "You are now entering the mission field."

He who lives for the next life gets this one in the deal. He who lives for this life loses them both. (Luke 17:33 AMP)

A friend calls the coins "little subpoenas" compelling a response "what think ye of Christ?"

Three hundred million years from now what will have been significant in this life: your house, your car, your job, your college degrees, or those you led to the Lord?

If a four year old girl was ready to cross the street and you knew she was going to be hit by a car, wouldn't you have a desire to run out and save her? The human race is born under a curse and is on its way to hell and is going to get there without Christ. (I Corinthians 15:22 AMP)

The smallest package in the world is someone who is wrapped up into himself.

Many times a Jewish person would say, "We are still waiting for the Messiah." I respond, "So am I, but it will be the second coming. The first time he came as a suffering servant (Isaiah 53 AMP), the second time will be to reign." (Luke 1:33 AMP) "It has occurred to me that all the Old Testament animal sacrifices, none were a payment for sin, but rather than anticipating Yeshua Ha Meshiach, and we missed it. We missed it!" (I Corinthians 2:8 AMP)

It is interesting that many Muslims are seeking Israel's Messiah.

One thing you can't do in the next life is witness.

Occassionally ask youself: 1. Why am I doing what I am doing? 2. What do I hope to achieve? 3. Am I self-absorbed?

One little boy said to another, "Did you know that after Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins that He went to hell?" "Really, what for?" the other boy replied. " To cancel our reservations." (Revelation 1:17-18 AMP)

Preach the Gospel everywhere you go and if necessary use words.

You catch 'em, He'll clean them.

At public schools, teachers and parents cannot talk about Jesus Christ, children can. I give approximately forty coins to a child, and tell him to give them to all his friends, and then one to all his enemies. The Bible says love your enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48 AMP) If you gave one to your enemies, you will find out that they were not your enemies after all, you just thought they were. If the teacher says anything, you give the teacher one too.

Any witnessing opportunities should be viewed as a Divine appointment.

Many Christians study God's Word and have large notebooks, but no application in their lives. We have an illustration of this in the world; it's called the Dead Sea.

Please commit John 4:24 AMP to memory: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth."

Is there any unconfessed sin in your life? (I John 1:9 AMP) Are we witnessing with a grieved or quenched Holy Spirit? (Ephesians 4:30 AMP)

I John 1:9 AMP "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all righteousness."

One way to know that one is filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit is that we have confessed all known sins and are yielded to God's will.

We need the filling of the Holy Spirit for proper witnesing to take place.

Accurate information, proper motivation, and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth." John 4:24 AMP

Redeem the time

"...how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear..." Romans 10:14 AMP

The Gospel coin ministry started around 1997 and has expanded to more than 23.3 million coins in 101 languages. They have been given out to and by some of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, distributed in prisons including Siberia, used in the mission field by evangelists - a wonderful tool in the hands of believers eager to share the Gospel. Do you have compassion for the lost?

Recommended Guidelines

Precede all witnessing with self-examination ( 1 John 1:9 AMP) to ensure the filling of the Holy Spirit so that our activity is fruit of the Spirit ( John 4:24 AMP) and not of the flesh (carnal) (Galatians 5:16 AMP). Followed by prayer: (example) "Thank you, Father, for the privlege of sharing Jesus Christ with a world that does not know Him. Please guide me to see opportunites, please give me the words to speak, let it be Your power not mine. Please remove the scales from their eyes (Acts 9:18 AMP) that they may recognize their need for a Savior. Draw them to Your Word that they may recognize Christ. Please proect the avenues of distribution; our freedom to witness. In Christ's name. Amen."

Pray in confidence - witness in confidence! Isaiah 55:11 AMP promises that God's Word will not return void. We are not sharing poetry or the philosophy of man, but God's Word. (John 1 AMP)

Only give out one coin per person unless you have suffient confidence that the person intends to share the coins. It would be wasteful for someone to merely collect them, frustrating the purpose. The coin is NOT a good luck piece. It is NOT to be worshipped. It is a communicating tool to share the Gospel, also an encouragement to the believer. It is rare for the coin to be discarded. Even if they have read it and discard it, the seed has been planted.

When asked, "What is this?" I respond, "It's the world's best kept secret!" When asked, "Why did you give this to me?" I respond, " John 20:31 AMP - "That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name."

Muslims say they believe Jesus was a prophet, not the Son of God. I respond, "God, the Father, said, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him" ( Mark 9:7 AMP) and He called himself the Son of God. If He is a prophet, true prophets do not lie. The god of Islam wants you to send your son to die for him (as a terrorist). The God of Christianity sent His Son to die for you! (John 3:16 AMP)

I tell Buddhists that Buddha was a wonderful man, with wonderful teachings - but not a Savior. Jesus Christ is the only Savior.

Muhammed's tomb is occupied. Buddha's tomb is occupied. Burial places of founders of world religions (Jesus' burial lasted 3 days!).


Jesus Christ's tomb is empty! (Youtube)

Be emotionally prepared for rejection - expect it (Acts 4:1-31 AMP). It is not you but Christ they are rejecting. Don't get angry but pray for those who reject the greatest gift - their hears may not be hardened and that God will give them another opportunity.

We are witnesses for Christ, not attourneys.

Pray for the provision of accurate pastors and seminaries around the world, and that God will steer believers to them. Do you pray for your pastor?

I find the coins to be one of the greatest door openers, coversation-starters for further witnessing. It is superb to follow up with a Bible in their language. Let THEM read John 3:16 AMP, John 3:36 AMP, Romans 3:23 AMP, Romans 6:23 AMP, Romans 8:38-39 AMP, etc. and give the Bible or New Testament to them. A significant aspect of the Gospel is that we are condemned from birth. (I Corinthians 15:22 AMP) In order to go to hell we need to do nothing. (John 3:18 AMP) Conversely, if not condemned from birth, who needs a Savior?

One of the themse for the coin ministry is I John 4:19 AMP, "We love because he first loved us." Galatians 5:14 AMP says that you have fulfilled the law if you love your neighbor as yourself. There can be no higher manifestation of loving your neighbor, the unbeliever, than to share the Gospel.

A few suggested fields for use: fairs, drug rehab centers, the homeless, Halloween, funerals, funeral homes, children to give to other children on the playgrounds, at any and every occassion, with all correspondence including bill-paying. Encourage other believers in how easy it is to witness, but PREPARE for witnessing! That the unbeliever may know the simplicity of salvation by faith in Christ alone, the brevity of life, and that tomorrow is never a certainty. LIFE IS NOT A PLAYGROUND, BUT A BATTLEFIELD.

If you would be kind enough to write a letter describing: who the coins went to, how they were used, are they well received? Any other languages? "For if I preach the Gospel, I have no reason for boasting because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!"( I Corinthians 9:16 AMP) "Not that he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." ( I Corithians 3:7 AMP)

A friend once said to me, "Don't you see God is teaching you with the coin how to witness without it."

God doesn't need us, we need God.

Operation Grace
792 Montrose Ave
Palo Alto, CA, 94606
(650) 493-8974

"...How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear..." (Romans 10:14 AMP)

I was introduced to the Gospel Coins somewhere in the 1990's through a missionary friend and an Army Airborne Ranger of the Vietnam era who said, "Better to send John 3:16 AMP before we send an M-16." It wasn't until around 1997 that through such a favorable tool to introduce the Gospel and a compassion for the lost that I was moved to have them produced in other languages.

No, I am no an expert in languages, but God does open doors. The coins are now available in 101 languages with more than 23.3 million having been provided. They have been given out to and by some of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistand, distributed in prisons, even in Siberia, and in mission fields around the world.

I live in California, near San Francisco. At least 87 languages are resident here. I carry with me coins in at least 35 languages. How dare I keep Jesus Christ a secret! "We love because He first loved us." ( I John 4:19 AMP)

FAITH

(From a tract written by an atheist, which motivated C.T. Studd to become a missionary)

"Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of (faith) in this life influences destiny in another, (faith) would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. (Faith) would be my first waking thought, and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labor in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of Eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand, nor seal my lips. Earth, its joys and its griefs, would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon Eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach too it in season and out of season, and my text would be, "What shall it profit a man if gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

This above is the entire packet I received in hard copy and in the order the pages were sent. Links were added for richness and texture and stickiness by JesusIsLord.org.

Last updated: 05/10/2017