God is Working Through His People
Compiled by Elaine Helms
All across North America this spring, the church is out serving the needs of people and sharing the Gospel in their communities. Jesus said, “Go into all the world,” so we need to go where the people are.
Meeting the felt needs of people in an encouraging, even entertaining environment can soften hearts to prepare them for understanding the love Jesus has for them. There is no better demonstration of our love for Him and our neighbor than to generously share the Good News of Jesus, along with our service or gifts we give.
Especially in times like these, people are looking for answers and truth to believe in. The following stories, about the variety of ways churches are “going,” may spark your creativity with ideas in your area. We hope you’ll share your story with us as well.
From Rochester, New York – Pleasant Valley Baptist Church holds first annual “Spring Fling Health Thing”
“Did you ever have an idea for an event, and once things got started it just took on a life of its own? As everyone got involved, it became so much more than you had originally envisioned? Well, that was what happened this Saturday at our Spring Fling Health Thing.
It started as our big annual clothes giveaway day when we brought out spring clothes and prepared to put away the winter items from our clothing ministry. We wanted to add a few other incentives for people to come, so we invited the Livingston County Health department to participate.
They eagerly brought representatives from Compeer, mental health, drug and alcohol awareness, chances and changes, blood pressure and body mass screenings, to name only a few. The sheriff’s office came to check car seats. The Livonia Fire Department brought their trailer to talk to kids about fire safety.
Ladies from our church provided “spiritually healthy” crafts, a puppet show, an obstacle course, lap quilts for door prizes and several nutritious snacks. The kids each received a “passport to health” on which they could put stickers as they went to the various stations and then turned them in for small prizes.
Needless to say, the church was buzzing with activity. So many volunteers got involved. Our church members and the community volunteers interacted a lot. Tracts were handed out. Connections were made and needs were met. Information was gained and new ministry possibilities explored. We even handed out some clothes along the way!
It all goes to show what prayer can do. We asked God to make it His day and He turned it into so much more than just our usual clothing giveaway. We feel blessed for having served and pray that others who participated felt that blessing as well. Thank you to all who prayed with us to make this day pleasing in God’s sight.”
From Shun Abram, a church planter in Memphis, Tennessee
“This past year and a half about 125 people prayed to receive Christ in Binghampton. We’ve knocked on at least 95% of homes in a two-mile radius. We’ve knocked on approximately 99% of homes in a one-mile radius twice or more. We have 500+ names on record, 160 on the priority list, 60-70 that we’ve had significant contact with.
April 12, 2009 (Easter) was our first worship service. About 60 adults attended, including 15-18 from the neighborhood. In our second worship service, we had about 40 people in all—30 adults and 10 children, with 11 adults and three children from the neighborhood. Four adults and one child prayed to receive Christ. On April 26th we had three baptisms and one prayed to receive Christ.
We have a discipleship plan in place that we believe will strengthen the church. We will focus on those 60-70 contacts. The names will be divided among a group of disciplers. They will have one to three names of the 60-70 neighborhood contacts. They will call the contacts at least twice a week to see how they are doing, and maybe drop by to spend time with them. We also have a main coordinator over this effort who is part of the core team, and he will do this as well.
I will also call and disciple them. Hopefully this will reduce the number of people who might fall through the cracks. If someone on the priority list is not open to interact or grow, we’re not going to throw him away, but will take him off priority, put him on the prayer list, and insert the next person on the list who is ready to get closer to God. Eventually, we’ll check with the unwilling person again (weeks, maybe months later) to see if the timing is right.
We will also be a resource hub for the people in our community. Binghampton has 54 non-profits within a two-mile radius. We will partner with them, along with other non-profits in Memphis, to meet the needs such as rent, MLGW, furniture, food, clothing, etc.
By doing this we will meet the very important social needs of the people without becoming bogged down and losing sight of what we do best – evangelism and discipleship. We will also have weekly evangelism classes and on-the-job training.
One of our main goals is to ignite the outreach program of other churches. We’ve currently trained three churches and a group of pastors in evangelism. Hopefully, by the grace of God, many more lives within our city will be drastically changed for the glory of Christ.
Some of the people we are praising God and praying for are these who have professed faith in Christ: Elizabeth, Vella and her son, Ashly, Elizabeth and her daughter, Tommy, April Isom, and all the others who prayed to receive Christ in our neighborhood.”
For another article on what God is doing in greater Memphis, Tennessee, click here.
Across North America 2010 Pilot Stories
Many of you prayed for the success of the “Across North America 2010” Pilots this past Easter. The following are some highlights of what God did from those involved in the Gospel distribution/media effort:
From Pastor Michael Pigg, Philadelphia Baptist Church, Stone Mountain Baptist Association, Georgia… I do believe that the process of distributing gospel literature (coupled with prayer) on the days prior to Easter was the one significant reason for the huge Easter attendance in the life of the Philadelphia Baptist Church. God moved in miraculous ways! From a pastor’s perspective, the greatest value of the pilot was to see the congregations of our association energized and mobilized to connect with the people in their communities.
From Associate Director of Missions Ed Sena, Lubbock Area Baptist Association, Texas… I was moved to tears when I learned that a 94-year-old saint took her walker and distributed gospel literature in her neighborhood. In addition, a young mother had her 4-year-old assisting her with the hanging of gospel bags at the door. From ages 4 to 94, it brought great joy to our people to be involved in such a simultaneous effort.
From Paul Eshelman, an Observer of www.FinditHere.com in Corona, California, Inland Empire Baptist Association, California . . . I heard of your site on the radio. I peeked in expecting some cult from the enemy. What a wonderful and refreshing thing to see God's most beautiful gift honestly shared. I just wanted to write to thank you and to let you know that I too will pray to our Father through His perfect Lamb for your great successes in this ministry. Thank you so much!
From Pastor Brian King, Ezekiel Baptist Church, Moderator, Greater Philadelphia Baptist Association, Pennsylvania… Our reputation within the community went up. Neighbors commented positively about our presence. A Muslim said that he wanted to work with our church in helping the neighborhood. When introducing ourselves to a neighbor she said enthusiastically, “I know exactly who you are!” Taking the message of “Find It Here” to the streets of Philadelphia has made a lasting impact for some time to come.
The common denominator of every pilot’s success has been prayer. Thank you for being a part of the team that was willing to PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens). At date, there were 315,240 known souls impacted for the kingdom because of this 2009 pilot, using four official areas of the United States.
Just think . . . multiply that number across the continent for 2010, when the campaign is officially rolled out for all Southern Baptists! What a “God Story” in the making! Keep praying, asking our Lord for His favor upon “Across North America.”
These stories are just a glimpse of how God is drawing His people back to Himself, and sending us out to do the “good works He prepared beforehand for us to walk in.” See Ephesians 2:10. We hope you will send us your story too. You can use the form on www.namb.net/mcpr. Since God is at work, let’s share what He is doing, and “ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name” (Psalm 29:2, NASB).
Elaine Helms is the Prayer and Spiritual Awakening Coordinator at the North American Mission Board. Visit www.namb.net/Prayer.
| 
