SEDALIA – Preparing for a mission trip to New Orleans isn’t always what God wants. New Hope Baptist Church, Sedalia, found God was pointing them in a different way.
“I’ve been to the New Orleans French Quarter to minister to the homeless at least five times,” Marc Knapp, pastor, said. “We were preparing to take a group there. I was explaining to them what we would encounter on the trip, but we began to pray, and we discovered that God wanted us to do it here.”
“We realized that we were to minister to the homeless in our town,” Knapp continued. “We made arrangements to borrow the Disaster Relief showers and we offered the showers and laundry services to the homeless in our area.”
The church also provided a meal. “We gave out peanut butter sandwiches and chips. We also made-up bags with items they might need like toothbrush/paste, Chapstick, and other nonperishable snacks. They were free to take as many bags as they wanted.”
David Derden, New Hope member, said the ministry had an impact on the church members. “We had the opportunity to sit and talk to them. A lot of seed was planted.”
Knapp described these opportunities as the “gospel funnel.” “All we do is ultimately to share the gospel,” he said, “every handshake turns into a conversation and every conversation turns into a gospel presentation.”
“We don’t know how many actually accepted Christ that day,” Derden said, “but, a number of them returned for a worship service.”
New Hope didn’t stop with just ministering to the homeless. “On Saturday, we went to apartments with residents of lower income to do a block party. There are about 30 buildings in the complex and we met in the center attracting many families.”
Derden described the event with party games and a bounce house for the kids. “We grilled hot dogs and furnished lemonade. The families were having a great time.”
Knapp said this “home mission trip” gave the church a new direction for ministry. “We decided to do this more than just the summer,” he said, “we want to install some showers and a stackable laundry center so that we can do this ministry year-round.”
Derden described both the ministry to the homeless as well as the ministry to families. “We were able to talk to the individuals and families,” he said. “It just gave us a chance to love on them.”