Saved by a Tract

March 25, 2026

By Curtis Peter van Gorder

“In scattering divine literature, we liberate thistledown, laden with precious seed, which, blown by the winds of the Spirit, floats over the world. The printed page never flinches, never shows cowardice, it is never tempted to compromise, it never tires, never grows disheartened. It travels cheaply, and requires no hired hall. It works while we sleep, it never loses its temper, and it works long after we are dead. The printed page is a visitor which gets inside the home, and stays there. It always sticks to what it has said and never answers back. It is bait that is left permanently in the water in our attempt to be fishers of men.”—D.M. Panton

A local fellowship that I work with here in Dresden, Germany, received a donation of about 10,000 publications to distribute. It had testimonies from a wide range of people: from ex-porn stars to showbiz celebrities who had all come to Christ. The man who sponsored this project is a wealthy shoe manufacturer who discovered Christ through a tract. His plan was to print enough of these papers to put one in every mailbox in Germany. (In the United States, this is illegal and can result in fines, but here in Germany it is allowed if there isn’t a sticker on the mailbox saying that they don’t want anything other than mail. It is good to check out the laws of your land.)

Our fellowship group, along with other churches in the area, coordinated efforts so that each had a certain area to cover. This was also done in other cities throughout Germany. Maps were drawn up, areas were assigned, and out we went. We went out regularly to distribute these publications and our own tracts as well.

About 80% of the people in the fellowship I work with are immigrants from Iran who have fled a repressive regime and have become Christians. As they are still learning the local language, this was a good opportunity for them to participate and share their faith with Germans.

I thought that this approach might be a way for some of us who, for various health or other reasons, can’t get out so much. Of course, there are pros and cons to this method of placing tracts in mailboxes. One pro is that the people receiving the gospel literature can look it over before either accepting or rejecting the message, whereas if they see someone in the street distributing tracts, they might be in a hurry or not really know what it is or be pressured to ignore it by friends, etc. Of course, the cons are that the recipient doesn’t see your happy smile and they might throw the lit away as junk mail. However, regardless of how you distribute tracts, they are powerful tools to go where you can’t and will continue to speak even when we are not present in person. Truthfully, God can use a tract to touch people no matter how they get it.

Many people have been impacted by the power of gospel tracts who never met the distributor of the tract, such as Hudson Taylor. At 17 he wandered into his father’s library, and not wanting to dive into one of the lengthy tomes on the shelves, he picked up a tract that was on the desk. Hudson was struck by the insight that Christ had finished the work of our salvation. This revelation led him to accept Christ and go on to serve the Lord faithfully for 51 years in China.

Stories abound about the power of a tract. Sadhu Sundar Singh was passing out Gospels of John on a train. He gave it to one passenger who angrily ripped it up and tossed the pieces out the window. A man walking on the tracks picked up one of the bits, which contained the words “The Bread of Life” in his native language. He was intrigued by this phrase and wondered what it meant. Eventually, he found out it was from the New Testament and read the whole story in John chapter six. He was so moved that he became a pastor and evangelist for that area.

An atheist received a tract in his postbox that proclaimed, “Prepare to meet thy God!” He was about to burn it in disgust but decided it would be clever to send it on as a practical joke to his fellow atheist friend. However, his plan backfired because the tract touched the one who received it so much that he converted and came to faith. He passed it on to another friend, who also came to faith in the Lord.

Whether you are lowly or great, you can pass out tracts. Queen Mary of Britain (1867–1953) made it a habit to pass out tracts in her travels from place to place.

A chief’s son from the kingdom of Arakan, which is about 250 miles from Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon, Burma), received a gospel tract which he could not read. He found a missionary who taught him, and in 48 hours he was able to read the tract. He took a basket full of tracts and returned to his home, where he attempted to preach the gospel to his people. As he was a man of influence, many came to hear him, and he baptized over 1,500 people. The cost to print that tract was one cent, a truly worthwhile investment!

Here are some quotes on the effectiveness of gospel tracts, which I drew from an article online:

John Wesley wrote: “God does nothing but in answer to prayer, and even they who have been converted to God without hearing of a Bible, were converted by the instrumentality of a tract.”

Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the “Great Awakening,” also saw the potential of tracts to reach beyond local communities. He wrote: “By means of ... printed discourses, not only many in the neighborhood, but others in distant places, may be instructed and warned.”

George Whitefield, a powerful Christian preacher and evangelist during the Great Awakening, placed great importance on the distribution of gospel tracts. He said: “We must use the printing press for the glory of God. Gospel tracts are a good means to awaken sinners, and to confirm and establish those who are seeking the Lord.”

In a sermon he preached in 1739, Whitefield said: “I love those souls that are of a public spirit. I love those who publish abroad the gospel by sermon or tract. The latter are, I think, too much neglected. Why should we not scatter them everywhere? They are like the leaves of the tree of life, for the healing of the nations.”

In his autobiography, George Müller wrote: “I am convinced that thousands upon thousands of tracts have been blessed to the conversion of sinners, and to the edification and comfort of saints.”

Charles Spurgeon, a famous Baptist preacher and evangelist in the 19th century, was a strong advocate for the use of gospel tracts. He once said: “Tracts are more useful than sermons, because most people will read a tract when they will not come to hear a sermon.”

In a sermon he preached in 1873, Spurgeon said: “Tracts are one of the most useful forms of literature, and we ought to use them continually. They scatter the good seed far and wide; they bring truth home to men’s business and bosoms, and thus they work wonders.”¹

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“There’s no telling what one tract can do or how far it will go. The message in a tract can make a difference in a person’s life, no matter who they are or what their lifestyle or career.”—Maria Fontaine

“A simple tract can change someone’s life for eternity. When you hand a tract to that person who passes you on the street, you could literally be playing a part in saving their soul. Maybe you don’t have time to talk to them, or you don’t speak their language, but if you’re faithful to hand them a tract, you have played a part in giving them a chance to know Me and find eternal salvation.”—Jesus

PS: Here is a link to an Anchor post with an article on the subject.

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