SARCOXIE – Carol Peck, ministry assistant and Bible Drill teacher at First Baptist Church here, said the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Block Party Trailers are an important tool, a weapon even, that Missouri Baptists should use.
“It’s a terrific drawing card,” she said. “We are not competing for the people’s attention, but we are battling. We are in warfare and Satan does everything to draw people away. The Block Party Trailer is a tool that helps us host good events that allow us to share the Gospel mission.”
First Sarcoxie, a member church of the Spring River Baptist Association (SRBA), is one of eight locations around the state where Missouri Baptists can access a Block Party Trailer for evangelism events.
“The reason the trailer is located in Sarcoxie is two-fold,” said Steve Patterson, director of missions for the SRBA. “First, Sam Wilson (the church’s pastor) was my evangelism team leader and his church volunteered to maintain, restock and schedule its use. Secondly, the trailer needed to be available to the Southwest Region, which encompasses 10 associations.”
And he said because First Sarcoxie is the eastern-most church in his association, it was the obvious choice for a Block Party Trailer site.
“It has been a great blessing to have this located in our region,” Patterson said. “Before, people would have to block out two days for picking it up and returning the trailer to Jefferson City. Back then very few area churches used the trailers, but now they are booked regularly.”
“We weren’t even aware of it until it was brought into our area,” Peck said. “We’ve sent it out 52 times and have received nothing but positive feedback on it.”
Though the church schedules its time just like everyone else, Peck said having the Block Party Trailer so handy has been very beneficial to outreach and discipleship events.
“We have done some big events like our Back to School Bash where we use the whole trailer and then we have also been able to just borrow an inflatable for an hour as a special treat for my Bible Drillers,” she said. “It’s been great.”
First Sarcoxie, which averages about 200 in worship, has experienced significant growth this year. Though Peck said it isn’t all because of the Block Party Trailer, she said the trailer has been a wonderful tool.
“We have been blessed to have a new young pastor and he is enthusiastic and very interested in evangelism and preaching the truth,” Peck said, referring to Wilson. “I think that is where our growth is coming from and the trailer is just one tool we have used.”
Wilson introduced the church to its new mission statement, “Ordinary People Serving an Extraordinary God,” a declaration Peck said is a perfect fit for the church.
“We are just ordinary people and it really is just as simple as that,” she said. “We are special in God’s eyes but we are really just sinners saved by grace. We are all saved by grace and nobody is more special than anyone else. When people come to our church we want them to come comfortable and just as you are. Come and be part of this group of ordinary people.”
KAYLA RINKER/contributing writer