SURVEYING THE FIELD
A.	THE NEED TO SURVEY THE FIELD:
•	The whole world must be witnessed to. 
•	When an evangelist or missionary receives a burden to take the gospel to a new city he should begin this work at once. 
•	Careless work here may easily mean much waste of effort and needless delay. 
•	The home missionary simply cannot become too familiar with his prospective field of labor.
B.	A FILE FOR ESSENTIAL INFORMATION:
•	As the pioneer evangelist begins his survey, the first thing he should do is to start a file, and begin to compile all the information that he can receive concerning the place of his call.
•	He may start with a file for each of the following: 
(1)	Religion and established churches; 
(2)	Real Estate, rentals, available halls to rent; 
(3)	Personal contacts with individuals, names and addresses of prospects; and 
(4)	General, for all other information.
C. ESSENTIAL INFORMATION:
Here is a suggestive list of information to be filed:
2.	1. Names and addresses of all people who have been contacted; 
3.	Churches and established religions;
4.	Radio stations with rates;
5.	Newspapers with subscription rates;
6.	Cost of real estate and rentals;
7.	Available halls that can be rented;
8.	Schools;
9.	Hospitals;
10.	Nationality and customs of the people;
11.	Industry;
12.	Job opportunities and wage levels; 12. Cost of food and living.
D.	WHERE THE INFORMATION MAY BE FOUND:
•	The home missionary may go to the library and find books describing the new field. 
•	A good method to use at this stage is to subscribe to a daily newspaper. 
•	By reading the local newspaper he can find much information that will be very important and essential to the success of the missionary endeavor.
E.	A SCOUTING TRIP:
•	If the city is not too far away, and he can afford it, a scouting trip to the city can be a tremendous blessing. 
•	He should not feel pressed for time but allow himself two or three days to travel throughout the city, carefully and prayerfully, meeting and talking with people, locating auditoriums and church buildings that would be available for rental or purchase.
•	He should earnestly seek God for guidance as to the section of the city where he should begin his work of evangelism. 
F. THE VALUE OF MAKING A SURVEY:
•	By studying carefully the nationality of the people, the economical conditions and the religious backgrounds, he will know the problems that will be facing him. 
•	If the pioneer evangelist has followed through carefully in this work in surveying the field, he will find a tremendous burden for the place will grow, and he can become so familiar with the field that it will seem that he already had lived there for several months. 
•	This will confirm his call, and save him much lost time, expense, and heartache when he eventually arrives at his field of labor.