JACKSON – Building on relationships made during fall block parties, over 100 members of the First Baptist Church here came together, Dec. 21, to load food boxes and share the gospel with people in their community.
Hosting community events and delivering holiday meals are only the first steps in First Baptist Jackson’s innovative local missions strategy, according to Pastor of Students and Missions John Chidester.
When Chidester arrived at FBC Jackson in June 2014, he brought with him an idea to view multifamily dwellings as ‘villages,’ similar to the way the International Mission Board identifies villages around the world. Chidester relayed that he had seen similar ministries work in other areas of the country.
Following this vision, in September the church hosted block parties at four area apartment complexes—villages—in an effort to build relationships for further ministry.
“We were able to use the association’s block party trailer,” Chidester said. “The area we were given for one block party was covered with dog poop. Our people got to work cleaning the area.”
The church selected two of these apartment complexes and made plans to bless the residents with a holiday meal and the gospel witness. Team members canvassed the apartment buildings with door-knockers heralding the day and time of their coming and set to work gathering supplies.
An anonymous donor gave 400 pounds of hamburger meat for the effort. The church raided Sam’s and filled five large tarps full of food. When Dec 21 arrived, more than 100 people of the approximately 300 person church gathered to help. After packing the boxes with food and copies of the Gospel of John, the group formed an assembly line to load the meals for delivery.
Teams went out in groups of 3 or 4 to deliver the boxes, pray, and witness to the families. The church gave boxes to 57 families that day and later made several special deliveries to families who weren’t home at the time.
“We were able to pray with everyone who opened the door that day,” Chidester said.
He noted that although no one accepted Christ that day, the strategy calls for long-term engagement based on relationships.
“The overall strategy is to view these places as villages,” he said. “Within a year or so we want to build a good enough relationship with the management to strategically move Christian people into those apartment complexes to serve as missionaries.”
The enterprise was funded in part by a $2000 grant from the Missouri Baptist Convention.
For more information about FBC Jackson or this ministry, visit firstbaptistjackson.tv.