Jesus Door-2-Door (JD2D) was started by Rev. Tim Koch of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD on Sept. 13th of 2021 and grows directly out of his long-time involvement with an organization called Ongoing Ambassadors For Christ (OAFC). Desiring to modify and improve OAFC’s canvassing survey, forms, tracts, general structure, and witnessing methods without getting bogged down in the shackles of bureaucratic bylaws and red-tape, Rev. Tim Koch decided to branch out on his own. Jesus Door-2-Door is the manifestation of those desires.

The changes that were made to OAFC’s canvassing survey, witnessing methods, and event structures were field-tested in May of 2021 during a weeklong “travel team” comprised of 12 youth and 3 adults from SD who canvassed seven different times for five different congregations in two states (Wisconsin and Michigan) over the course of six days.

Having already scheduled OAFC events in Rugby, ND and Aberdeen SD in August and September of 2021, and seeking to honor those organizational commitments, JD2D was officially launched on Monday, September 13th, 2021. JD2D as an organization was showcased as a vital tool for rural missions at the Rural Field Seminar that was hosted at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Aberdeen on Sept. 25th, 2021, and the first official JD2D canvassing event occurred on September 18th, 2021 at Hope Lutheran Church in Idaho Falls, ID. The event was led by Rev. Garen Pay who had never done this before. The first official JD2D event that Rev. Tim Koch led was October 9th at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Madison, SD (entirely conducted with youth and adults from Milbank, SD).

2022

On May 1st, 2022, Rev. Tim Koch was installed as the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Linn, KS.

The May 2022 Travel Team was comprised of 5 youth from Milbank, SD, 4 youth from Aberdeen, SD, and 1 youth from Linn, KS. We travelled through Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa. While in Missouri, we teamed up with Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler for a day of “Bible Telling.”

On August 20th of 2022 we began to gather data on, “Where do you believe you will go when you die?” Previously we asked this question but never recorded or collected that data. The responses to that question are have been recorded and gathered since.

2023

On September 16th, 2023 while canvassing in Garden City, KS, we officially added the question, “Would you say that Jesus is ‘made up’ or a real person?” to the survey. We have been gathering and recording that data ever since.