Mission trip to Utah highlights differences between Mormonism, Christianity

Mission trip to Utah highlights differences between Mormonism, Christianity

A youth speaker is on a mission to teach Christians how to effectively witness to Mormons.

For the fourth straight year, Brett Kunkle of Stand to Reason Ministries -- an apologetics ministry based in California -- led a mission trip to several cities in Utah. According to Kunkle, at least one Mormon was converted to Christianity during a one-on-one witnessing encounter, and a number of Mormons were questioned in depth about their faith, beliefs, and practices.

"In some conversations, some of the Mormons we talked to ... walked away a little rattled. I can attribute that to the fact that this is the fourth year that we've taken this particular church up to Utah," says the student impact speaker. "These folks really know what they believe and why they believe it. They're confident -- they're able to kind of gently point out to these Mormon folks not only the differences between true Christianity and Mormonism, but then also all the flaws that you find in Mormonism."

It is unfortunate, says Kunkle, that too many Christians still do not know how to defend their faith when confronted with the confusing doctrine of Mormonism. He likened witnessing to Mormons as trying to save someone from a burning building. "What would you do [in that situation]?" he asks. "You would do everything that you could to try and tell that person to get out of the house -- and even if they didn't believe you, you would try and persuade them."

Kunkle says in their mission trips to Utah, they want to convey a genuine concern to people -- and not make them feel bad, but rather show them that truth matters. And while he acknowledges that some Mormons were offended by the witnessing attempts, Kunkle urges believers to never back down from opportunities to tell others about Jesus.