LOWRY CITY – After traveling to Greensburg, Kan., in 2009 and Statesboro, Ga., in 2010 to do Gospel outreach ministry, First Baptist Church here chose in 2011 to reach its Jerusalem with “MISSION POSSIBLE!” to Lowry City and surrounding areas.
The church sent 32 members to tackle 17 different housing repair projects July 25-29. Among those were sewer pipe repair, drywall installation, yard and brush cleanup, deck construction, demolition of an abandoned shed, and the repainting of an entire house.
“Our folks were relentless in their determination to serve the Lowry City and Osceola communities despite the oppressive heat and difficult jobs,” said Jeff Ferguson, pastor of First Lowry City. “I am extremely proud of their effort.”
Temperatures reached 100 degrees or more each day of the outreach.
“Several of the homes that needed yard work were overgrown with posion ivy and had not been mowed all year due to illnesses of the homeowners,” Ferguson said.
“We’ve already had very positive feedback, with a community member not affiliated with our church writing a letter to the editor of our local paper commending our serving others.”
The church did not want to be seen as doing only humanitarian deeds. Upon completion of each project, a gift was presented to the homeowners and the Gospel of Christ was shared with the residents.
“We had a Gospel tract customized for our outreach and coupled it with the personal salvation testimony of the one presenting the tract to the resident,” Ferguson said.
“Civic groups and clubs can clean yards and do repair work, but only New Testament churches can share the life-changing Gospel of Christ in fulfillment of the Great Commission,” said Becky Hyke, director of the MISSION POSSIBLE! team.
She matched the unique project requirements with the specific skills possessed by each team member.
“We were able to tackle every job we were presented with except one, a roofing repair project on a roof with too steep of a pitch,” Hyke said.
The youth group of First Lowry City was active working throughout the week alongside the adults. Youth Pastor Steve Mason said he thought some of the church’s youth “turned the corner” during the week, going from being followers to leaders.
Nightly youth activities and Bible studies followed the daytime work, with those who worked several days being rewarded with a trip to Incredible Pizza in Springfield on July 30.
The week ended with a free community-wide barbecue and concert July 29 featuring “In One Accord,” a country Gospel band from Osceola. Two days previous the team went door-to-door throughout the area with Gospel tracts that doubled as invitations.
“It seemed that nearly half the folks that came to our dinner Friday I had never seen at our church before,” Ferguson said.
The church is planning a trip next year to assist the Sinnissippi Baptist Association in Illinois with church planting efforts.
BY STAFF