Scripture is the secret to effectively sharing your testimony, says Southern Baptist evangelist Ronnie Hill. Relevant motivation can help open the door.
Hill developed and continues to use a “three-minute story” witnessing tool with those he meets. For mass events, he couples the witnessing concept with an intriguing give-away several other groups also use, including the F.A.I.T.H. Riders’ ministry to motorcycle aficionados at six venues each year. (Keep reading to learn about the give-away that draws a crowd for Hill.)
“If you do not get the gospel in your testimony, it is just another story and [your listener’s] life will not be changed,” Hill said. “I can read your story in the Readers Digest. The power comes from the gospel!”
Evangelistic niche
Hill found his evangelistic niche in personal witnessing via the three-minute story technique and in training others to effectively share their testimony.
The 57-year-old evangelist gave his life to Jesus when he was 8, was called to preach at 14, and ministered as part of evangelist Kelly Green’s ministry for 10 years before starting Ronnie Hill Ministries in January 1997.
While ministering he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees, and in 2001 a doctor of ministry degree in evangelism from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
“We were at a church one time — I was Kelly’s youth associate — when the Lord said to me, ‘There’s no reason for two evangelists to be in the same service,’” Hill recalled. “I told God, ‘I don’t have my own bookings,’ and God said, ‘I called you. I will provide.’ That was the summer of 1996.”
Hill continued with the youth evangelism experiences — school assemblies, summer and winter camps, single-day events — he had been doing with Green, a Southern Baptist evangelist out of Alabama. As Hill’s ministry expanded, the younger evangelist began reaching adults at revival services and area crusades, as well as overseas missions to Africa, South America, Europe and Canada. His main website is ronniehill.com.
‘I’m preaching’
Five years after Hill became a full-time itinerant evangelist, his best friend Wayne Epperson invited him to a NASCAR Race in Bristol, Tennessee. Hill said, “If I’m coming up there, I’m preaching.”
Epperson contacted the Bristol Motor Speedway chaplain and commandeered a tent with plans for Hill to preach the gospel at the top of each hour to NASCAR fans. Those who listened would get a chance to win a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which was provided by the Plyler Foundation. It was less expensive than a car would have been, Hill said.
He got the idea for the give-away from offering pizza to teens to encourage them to attend events. He later added cash when pizza alone did not bring in as many, and sometimes gives away used cars when generous church members donate them.
“I preached three days straight,” Hill said about his first year at NASCAR. “We’d have like 200 people waiting at the top of the hour, and many more would get tired of waiting and walk away.
“The second year I trained Christians to share their testimony to people while fans were waiting, so we would not lose anyone.” Hill continued. “The good thing is, I’m training believers to share Jesus back in their hometown as well.”
Hill’s schedule in 2002 included the Calgary (Alberta, Canada) Stampede in July, a world-famous 10-day festival celebrating western heritage, rodeo and indigenous culture that draws perhaps a million attendees. He wasn’t allowed to preach inside the festival proper but garnered space on a church lot about two blocks from the entrance.
“As people walked by on their way to the Stampede, I’d rope their feet and it would go up to their waist,” Hill said. “They’d ask how I did that, and I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you if you give me three minutes.’” People who listened could enter their name for a cash prize.
Ride the bull, hear the gospel
The second year for Hill at the Calgary Stampede, he bought a mechanical bull — the insurance alone cost $20,000 — and told people they could ride the bull for free if they’d give him three minutes. He even gave them a number that looked like the ones used by bull riding competitors at the Stampede.
“Everybody wanted to ride that bull,” Hill said. “City folks, rich folks, Muslims, whatever. We were having people from all over the world get saved from that,” because everyone who rode the bull heard the gospel message personalized for them.
Hill’s third year (2004) in Calgary was his last. The church building was owned by the city, which leveled it in 2005. Before he wrapped up in Calgary, however, Hill’s NASCAR ministry caught the attention of Dakota Baptist Convention’s then new executive director Jim Hamilton, who was familiar with the biker culture and South Dakota’s annual Sturgis motorcycle rally.
Hamilton had Hill train volunteers at Sturgis for three years in how to effectively give their testimony.
“Ronnie was a huge help,” Hamilton said. “I think what he taught us was the key to our success: relevancy. We wanted to share the gospel. How could we do that effectively at Sturgis, where the people passing our booth were interested in motorcycles? With Ronnie’s help we became relevant to that group of people because we offered something they were interested in, and for us, it wasn’t relevant without spiritual conversations.”
30 weeks a year
Hill ministers away from home at least 30 weeks a year. So far in 2026 he’s preached in revival services, one-day evangelistic events and wild game dinners. He ministered to rodeo contestants in January at the Fort Worth Stock Show, to the World Champion Carolina Cowboys, professional bull riders, this spring, and has other rodeo-related events planned for later this year.
In addition to occasionally preaching at his home church, Greenwood Baptist Church in Weatherford, Texas, where Hill recently spoke for its one-day harvest and saw 50 baptized, Hill also leads a weekly Bible study for at least 50 young adults — 18 to 28 years old — in his home, where “we feed them. We’re going through books of the Bible. We’re in John now, verse by verse, book by book. I present the gospel every single week, and we have had over 300 saved and baptized out of our small group in the last three years.”
Hill and his wife, Jennifer, also lead a monthly Bible study for 15 couples in their home, in addition to a group he leads via Zoom in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Manitoba.
Speaking the truth
“Ronnie is a godly man who speaks the truth,” Greenwood Baptist’s pastor Brian Bond said, confirming the numbers. “It’s definitely been a blessing to me as pastor and to our church that Ronnie is a part of our church.
“He’s fun to be around and to listen to,” Bond continued. “He’s involved with college rodeo ministry here and in the area and is on staff here as evangelist. He’s taught us a lot about evangelism and winning the lost.”
No matter what the venue, Hill includes the gospel message of God’s love and the gift He gave.
“I just want people to be saved,” Hill said. “My job is just to tell people. God does the rest.”
See the evangelist’s second website — threeminutestory.com — to watch how Hill shares his testimony. It follows a typical pattern: My life before Jesus; how I met Him; how He changed my life; do you want this? Hill adds Scripture at each point, which somehow turns the story from being his, to being God’s story.
People who view Hill’s story on his website can sign up to win a cash prize in December.
“God’s anointed me to do this,” Hill said. “I can make the gospel simple and clear so people can respond. It’s also my job to train believers how to share Jesus.”
