As in past years, Southern Baptists geared up for their annual meeting last
week by taking – and demonstrating – gospel love to St. Louis residents
Amid the swirling mix of food, games and excitement at the
New Life Community Church block party last week in St. Louis, Lucille Lee found
a receptive audience for the gospel in one 9-year-old boy.
As in past years, Southern Baptists geared up for their annual meeting last
week by taking – and demonstrating – gospel love to St. Louis residents
Amid the swirling mix of food, games and excitement at the
New Life Community Church block party last week in St. Louis, Lucille Lee found
a receptive audience for the gospel in one 9-year-old boy.
Then, his brother became interested, followed by his other
two siblings – and, finally, both parents. By the end of the day, the family
members were among more than 50 individuals who had made professions of faith
at the East St. Louis event.
“I have never seen that happen before, where I would be
sharing with one person, and they would get their friends and ask them to come
over – and I would share with them, too,” said Lee, a Southern Baptist
church member in Atlanta. “God was just really working there. It was just
wonderful.”
The event was one of about 45 evangelistic block parties held
the weekend of June 7-9 as part of Crossover St. Louis, an evangelistic blitz
prior to last weeks Southern Baptist Convention. Hundreds of volunteers
from across the country joined 80 local churches for the annual event, which
included community surveys, inner-city evangelism, street evangelism, encounters
on college campuses, giveaways of free water in Christs name, a ministry
to exotic dancers and other efforts.
As of June 11, more than 1,800 professions of faith had been
reported by churches and volunteers.
“Its been absolutely great,” said Doyle Echols,
a worker with the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association. “Im positive
it will affect our small inner-city churches especially, … because it will
give them the encouragement they needed. To me, its the best thing thats
happened in many, many years.”
The block party at New Life Community Church was one of the
largest such events, offering not only food and fun but an opportunity to learn
more about the church, its members and the God who has transformed their lives.
Meanwhile, in St. Charles, Mo., a group of 21 youth and adults
from Cowpens, S.C., traveled 13 hours in their churchs 1975 model tour
bus to help pastor Mike Adams host a block party at The Church of St. Charles.
Despite a breakdown only 30 miles from home, the out-ot-state workers were undeterred.
“We came to the conclusion that we didnt care where
we went with it – if the bus stops, thats where were going
to stop and minister,” youth minister Phil Gallman said. “Weve
got people in our church who are just dying to do mission work.”
For Geyer Road Baptist Church in Kirkwood, Mo., hosting its
first block party involved nearly half of the 150 regular attendees. The churchs
preparation began weeks ahead of time, as members prayerwalked every street
in their city of 30,000 residents. The preceding week, the churchs youth
group visited nearly 400 houses within a four-block radius of the church, passing
out free light bulbs and information about the church, as well as an invitation
to the block party.
During the four-hour event, about a dozen church members walked
through the crowd, inviting guests to read the Roman Road gospel presentation
highlighted in giveaway copies of the New Testament.
“I think this is one step to bring the harvest in,”
church member Mark Mays said. “If you can get them here, then you can talk
to them. Now, we have names and phone numbers.”
During the door-to-door surveys conducted as part of Crossover
St. Louis, residents were asked opinions about their biggest concerns, the needs
people think churches should be meeting and their own spiritual beliefs. If
the respondents seemed receptive, they were asked if they would be interested
in hearing about how they could be sure of their eternal life.
Many accepted Christ immediately, but the value of the ministry
went far beyond immediate decisions. The invitation for prayer concerns and
to pray with residents often led to visits of 20-25 minutes. “We did more
than just share the gospel message,” one volunteer noted. “We were
able to minister to people who had problems.”
A local minister said praying with the persons opens the door
for ongoing ministry. “That will open the door for us to contact them again
and say that we are continuing to pray for them,” he said. “I see
that as a strong follow-up.”
A new aspect of Crossover this year was a more focused effort
to share Christ on college campuses. To that end, a group of about 70 college
students from around the country conducted spiritual opinion surveys on 10 different
campuses.
The student-to-student conversations provided not only openings
to share their faith but also contacts for later follow-up by existing campus
ministries.
Meanwhile, in another Crossover emphasis, shoppers at the Soulard
Farmers Market in St. Louis were greeted with friendly smiles and free
bottles of water during one of five “Kindness Explosion” events at
parks and other public venues.
Most exchanges were brief, but imprinted on the bottles was
Christs promise of water that would remove thirst forever, from John 4:13-14.
There also was a toll-free number for those who wanted to learn more.
At the base of the famed Gateway Arch, evangelist Carl Carrigan
of Shreveport captivated small groups with illusions designed to illustrate
the gospel. A few would leave when the intent of his performances became clear,
but others stayed – and gratefully accepted the evangelistic tracts he
offered.
Other vocational evangelists at the same location made balloon
animals for children, shared the gospel using artwork, or just simply started
sharing the gospel one-on-one.
Later, that same group began working with a block party at
Lemay First Baptist Church in St. Louis, where the days events reached
a fitting culmination. About 2,500 helium balloons – each containing a
gospel tract – were released at 5 p.m. The “Jesus Loves You”
tracts included a toll-free number to receive gospel information.
“Sometimes, those things will go 300 to 600 miles, so
it could be weeks before we see any of those results,” said Ray Jenkins,
an evangelist from Fayetteville, Ga.
All in all, the 27 volunteers working with Jenkins reported
that 246 prayed to accept Christ during their efforts, including one young woman
who began their conversation by saying she was an atheist. She eventually conceded
she was an agnostic, with strong doubts, so Jenkins took the time to read the
entire first three chapters of John with her. “The power of the Word of
God broke her heart, …” Jenkins said. “She said, Ive
been looking for the truth, and I finally found it.”
As has been the case for the last several years, inner-city
evangelism (ICE) teams accounted for a sizable number of the professions of
faith. Twenty-three volunteers from four states traveled to St. Louis for this
years ICE efforts.
They met with sometimes surprising results.
For instance, Victor Benavides received an unexpected invitation
to speak to 50 people, mostly children, at a daycare outing. After he presented
the gospel, about 10 people raised their hands to accept Christ, including several
adults.
The blessing of inner-city evangelism is that God works a step
ahead, creating such divine opportunities to share the gospel, said Benavides,
an inner-city evangelism specialist with the Southern Baptist North American
Mission Board.
ICE volunteer Hiram Acree spent his time witnessing in St.
Louis neighborhoods, standing in the afternoon sun, wearing a baseball cap and
backpack full of New Testament Bibles.
At one stop, 20-year-old Michael told Acree he had never owned
a Bible. “Ive never read it,” he said.
A few minutes later, Michael held Acrees hand and prayed
to accept Jesus Christ.
“Welcome to the family of God,” Acree told Michael.
It was a phrase repeated often last week in St. Louis. (BP)
(This article includes information from a pair of releases by James Dotson
and Lee Weeks)