Nearly 1,000 people made decisions at Crossover prior to SBC meeting
SAN ANTONIO—During the week leading up to this year’s annual meeting in San Antonio, thousands of local and national Southern Baptists joined forces in strategic evangelistic efforts throughout the city, touching a total of 2,493 homes in the evangelistic focus called Crossover.
Of those who heard Gospel presentations, 959 made first-time decisions for Christ.
Several Missourians took time and extra travel expense in order to be part of the evangelistic event. Pat Regaldo, pastor of Hispanic Ministry First Baptist Church, O’Fallon, took a group of nine people who sang Mariachi music at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. The group was led by Filo Ordonez who is a musician at the Hispanic Mission of the church. Regaldo preached at the First Mexican Church in San Antonio on Sunday.
Ryan Stiffler, pastor of Corticelli Baptist Church, Russellville, assisted a local Hispanic church with a block party. Stiffler noted the great excitement and boldness the local church members exhibited in waving traffic in and meeting people.
The church was on a very busy road and many folks stopped by for free bottles of water wrapped in a label that had the gospel printed on it. The church also cooked food, did face painting, and had games, prizes, and music. Nearly 200 people from the community interacted with the church, with many of them hearing the Gospel.
In similar fashion, Russell Roderick, associate pastor. First Baptist Church, Carl Junction, along with his wife, Heather, worked alongside a local church in holding an event at a community park. Fun booths, food, piñatas, singing – these were all used as a door for community evangelism.
The Rodericks took their three young sons and all were able to help out in their own ways. “We are planning for next year’s event in Indianapolis, so that we will come prepared to do ministry like clowning and face painting,” said Roderick. “It was definitely a good thing for us to go, and I would encourage others to take part in the future.”
Josh Wollberg, a landscaper from Nixa who volunteers as the national missions leader at StoneBridge, Nixa, took part in direct evangelism on the streets and going door-to-door. He worked alongside 25 evangelists from all over the world who took part in “ICE” – Intentional Community Evangelism, sponsored by the North American Mission Board.
“I’ve been on a lot of mission trips, but in that week in San Antonio God worked through me more than I’ve ever seen. I had some real good witnessing encounters, and the whole experience is life-changing,” said Wollberg.
Missouri Baptists can begin making plans to take part in future Crossover events, especially since the next two annual meetings are held in cities closer to home – Indianapolis (2008) and Louisville (2009).