By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor
JEFFERSON CITY—February is a preparation month for Missouri Baptist participation in God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS), a North American Mission Board (NAMB) evangelism initiative that will be ongoing from 2010-2020.
Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Evangelism Director Gary Taylor said he cannot assume that a majority of the state’s pastors are going to wake up March 6 and say, “Let’s go prayer-walking.” They must be taught to do that, he said.
Taylor said he recently spent some time with a pastor from one of the larger MBC churches who asked him what people actually do when they prayer-walk. On another occasion in a room full of Missouri Baptists, he counted five raised hands out of 40 who indicated that they had ever heard of prayer-walking.
“I find that everywhere,” Taylor said.
But even though the need for training would appear to be great, an overall enthusiasm for the GPS campaign would appear to be building.
The end of January was an exciting time for MBC personnel as around 500,000 of the Gospel presentation pieces that are to be delivered to Missouri residents arrived in Jefferson City. The plan calls for directors of missions to come to the Baptist Building to pick them up for eventual distribution in plastic bags with a brochure from the local church inviting people to Easter Sunday services April 4.
The Gospel piece in the GPS initiative is called “Find It Here.” It can be accessed at www.findithere.com.
One director of missions in Missouri has gotten so excited about the outreach that he has ordered 35,000 of the “Find It Here” brochures for his churches.
“The DOMs are really buying in, big-time, as to what’s going on,” Taylor said. “I have met in the last six months with about 25 DOMs talking about what we’re doing, so that’s the result.
“It looks like Missouri Baptists are rallying around reaching Missouri for Christ.”
The February preparation is all pointed toward a massive Easter outreach that Taylor hopes will resound throughout Missouri. He has been telling a whole lot of folks that company is coming on that day. Churches need to get ready.
“Some of your church signs have not been painted in 5-10 years,” he said. “You need to paint them up. Some of them are hanging sideways. You need to straighten them up. Make sure your grass is cut when it comes to Easter. What about your foyer? What’s it look like? What about your nursery? Company’s coming.”
Taylor said his dream for Easter Sunday would be many salvations. “I’d like to see our Missouri Baptist churches experience the hand of God drawing people in their community to worship with them on that Sunday.”