Tom Elliott is a creative evangelist who uses comedy and illusions to share the Gospel message with people, but he's just as excited by the power of social media.
He started his blog, Life on Overflow, as a personal evangelism tool to connect with friends. It now has nearly 2,000 subscribers.
"I write a lot of stories from my own life, things that are in the news or twitter and I use them as an illustration to bring out a simple Gospel message, that's relevant to non-Christians," he shares.
Tom, whose blog was runner-up in the Christian New Media Awards 2012, is encouraged by the positive response he's had, from non-Christians who read it as well as from Christians who share it with others.
"I think there's something personal and honest about blogging. It's very much like sharing your life with people," he says.
"With the increase of social media it's a key opportunity. Social media gets a lot of bad press and here's a way we can breakthrough that with a positive message and also if people aren't very good at the conversational aspect, but if they can write it's a way of being creative in sharing the Gospel with their friends."
Now he is encouraging other Christians to reach out to their non-Christian friends by setting up their own blogs.
"Blogging can act as the starting point. I know for a lot of people starting the conversation is the difficult bit. I can send my blog to a friend and then ask them what they thought of it. It doesn't have to be a major commitment," he said.
"I put aside an hour a week. It doesn't have to be weekly but with it being regular it builds up readership. But it's just as good if you want to write every now and then and post it on social media. Investing an hour a week is really worthwhile."
The blog complements his evangelistic efforts with his UK Gospel tours, like his next one 'When Life Hands You Lemons', inspired by John 10.10.
He added: "One of the things I'm keen on is encouraging people to be creative in their evangelism and so one of the ways I do that is through touring a comedy and illusion show, which aims to share the Gospel in a way that people can connect with and engage with."
