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 Rev. Tim Koch’s 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—and with no guarantee of the board approving the suggested modifications!—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.

If you desire to know what changes were made to OAFC’s material/structure and the rationale for such changes, please reach out to Rev. Tim Koch who can supply you with said information.

2022

If you go to the Statistics Page, you can see what congregations were served by JD2D in 2022.

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.”

Following the May Travel Team, Pr. Koch, in consultation with DCE Michael Leapley and Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, modified the canvassing survey and witnessing methods, requiring modifications to the forms that were used to gather data. These new forms and witnessing methods were utilized for the first time in August of 2022.