Turning Telemarketers to Jesus

Back in December 2016 after flying into Florida for my annual stay at Alcance Misionero (a missionary house in Tampa), I noticed a highway sign from Chick-fil-A stating: “Feed our herd or we’ll give yer number to telemarketers.” The next day, I answered three phone calls to the house landline. All I heard were prerecorded sales pitches. I hung up on all of them.

Calls from telemarketers can be annoying when you’re trying to relax at home or about to eat dinner. Years ago, I worked a few jobs like that (including one for Billy Graham). The rejection rate can be discouraging, especially when people respond with profanity and other rude remarks. After becoming an evangelist, I started looking forward to sales calls on my landline. Instead of reacting to them as inconveniences, they became witnessing opportunities. 


One day I got a call from a telemarketer named Michael. After he gave me his sales pitch, I asked Michael to take part in a “survey.” Michael eventually said he was hoping to go to heaven. After praying with me to get saved, Michael said he felt a lot lighter and then asked if we were living in the last days. Michael later told me he had been thinking about God earlier that day. It was no coincidence Michael called my house.


Another person that received salvation over the phone was a call I initiated. After purchasing an iPhone, I needed help getting the SIM card working, and called my carrier at the time. The TracFone rep was very friendly, Before getting off the phone with him, I felt led to ask Francisco if he was certain of going to heaven. He didn’t think anyone could know their eternal destiny in advance. After reviewing the gospel with him, Francisco prayed with me and got born again.


Due to the surge in scammers and robocalls, I’ve refrained from answering calls from unknown numbers on my cell phone. If it’s someone I need to speak with, they can leave a message for me to call back. In recent years, I’ve set up filters on my iPhone. If it detects a potential spam call, it automatically goes to voicemail. Otherwise, a caller whose number isn’t in my contacts list will hear a voice asking for the purpose of their call. If they begin leaving messages, I’ll see a live transcript and can answer if it’s someone I want to speak to immediately.


At the missionary house in Tampa, telemarketers continue to call the landline several times a day. Occasionally, it’s a live person who only speaks Spanish. However, most of the time, they are robocalls. Usually, I hang up on those, but there have been exceptions. One time I heard a computerized voice ask, “How are you doing today?” I answered, “Saved and going to heaven. How about you?” The computer didn’t know how to respond and disconnected the call.


A friend of mine recently emailed me asking for suggestions on how to witness to telemarketers. She had been getting call after call about Medicare (the missionary house has been contacted about that as well). Suddenly, this idea popped in my mind. When a telemarketer from Medicare starts their pitch, you could firmly say, “I’m not concerned about Medicare because when my life ends, I’m going to heaven. How about you? If you died right now, where would you go - heaven or hell?” Even if the telemarketer won’t answer your question, you still gave them something to think about.


One could be patient and possibly reach a live person after answering a robocaller’s questions. Otherwise, Americans have the option of signing up for The National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov). Since doing that, the sales calls to my cell phone and Google Voice number greatly diminished. There are also smartphone apps available that block unfamiliar numbers. In today’s world, with so many distractions, it’s important to establish boundaries.


“redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” - Ephesians 5:16


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