By BRIAN BLACKWELL, Special to the Message
PINEVILLE – Holding up three phone books, MegaForce member Tim Stigner prepared to fulfill a promise to more than 200 youth, parents and others at Louisiana College’s Wildcat Field.
Thirty seconds later Stigner used his two hands to tear in half the phone books, much to the approval of the crowd.
“It doesn’t matter if your name is in a phone book,” MegaForce leader Steve Carrier said moments earlier. “It matters if you’re in the Lamb’s book of life.”
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Carrier, Stigner and two other members of the evangelistic power team MegaForce, based in the Dallas, Texas, area, shared the gospel message while displaying a combination of strength exhibitions such as using their hands to slice through concrete bricks on fire, breaking wooden baseball bats over a knee and bending a 1.5 inch-thick rod into a fish shape, which often is associated with Christianity.
The event on Nov. 12 was part of CrossOver, a week of local evangelistic events that preceded the annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The CrossOver events also included tent revivals, Christian contemporary concerts and a block party.
The MegaForce team appeared in 36 Central Louisiana schools throughout the week of Nov. 8-12. Carrier said that while his team was prohibited from sharing the gospel message in the schools, MegaForce used the opportunity to discuss issues students struggle with on a daily basis, with the hope they would accept the invitation to the evangelistic rally at Louisiana College.
The rally was the third time Christine Goodman, a student at Cherokee Elementary School in Alexandria, had watched MegaForce perform that week. She described their performances as fun but scary.
“It was scary because I thought they would get hurt each time I saw them,” Goodman said. “But it was fun because they presented the gospel in a cool way.”
Sammy Wright, a student at Pollock Elementary School, voiced excitement, mimicking some of MegaForce’s moves.
“This is one of the coolest things ever,” Wright said. “They’re actually breaking those bricks with their bare hands.”
David Garza, a catalytic church planter for Central Louisiana association, attended the MegaForce rally and a block party at Alexandria’s Enterprise Park on Saturday. He said both events were effective tools for reaching the community with the gospel.
“I had prayed earlier in the week that the Hispanic community would be reached with the gospel and during the decision time at the MegaForce rally some came down to accept Christ,” Garza said. “And the block party was an important way to cross some bridges. It allowed people in that area to meet church goers.”
Garza was among volunteers from several churches in the state who served hot dogs, made balloon animals and manned games at the block party. The main sponsor for the event was New Life Christian Fellowship, which was adjacent to the park.
New Christian Life Fellowship Pastor Charles Veal said the block party was a way for the community to have fun in a Christian setting while planting the seed for witnessing to their neighbors.
“The block party was important because people need to meet people,” Veal said. “Having the rides and food is a way to do that.”
Keith Manuel, Louisiana Baptist Convention evangelism associate director, said that in the coming weeks volunteers from the area plan to conduct follow-ups for more than 300 people who made decisions during the CrossOver events. About 225 of those decisions were professions of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
“The association organized themselves and they’re set to follow up,” Manuel said. “It doesn’t get better than that. The most important thing is the event after the event.”