OWENSVILLE – More than 100 people made decisions for Christ during a Missouri Baptist LIFE Outreach organized by First Baptist Church here in mid-October.
Eight different churches, as well as the Gasconade Baptist Association, were involved in helping with the outreach, which drew nearly 1,500 people to an evangelistic event, where they watched motorcycle and bike stunts from Real Encounter and heard a gospel presentation by Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Making Disciples director Brad Bennett.
Amber Grayson, a member of First Baptist, Owensville, who helped to organize the event, attributed the success of the outreach to God. It was only through much prayer and God’s grace, she said, that doors opened to partner with local schools and with other churches in the area.
“It just blew me away,” Grayson said. “That was not us. … To have people that you never even reached out to show up and people coming to the Lord like that, that’s all God.”
Grayson added that the MBC’s Making Disciples group were extremely helpful in the year-long process of organizing the outreach. The Making Disciples group outlined steps for making the event happen, they invited one of the pastors to a LIFE Outreach in another area to help them envision what the event would look like, and they trained church members in the area how to share the gospel and guide people to faith in Christ.
“They laid out, in a very easy way, how to witness to others and how to share your faith with somebody, and it made a big difference for people,” Grayson said, adding that people still approach her to say how helpful the training was.
Pastor Kevin Sullivan of FBC Owensville said roughly 160 people from churches in the area attended the evangelistic training. He said members of his church were encouraged to see how different congregations joined hands to make the LIFE Outreach successful.
Sullivan also encouraged other Missouri Baptist churches to consider partnering with the MBC to host a LIFE Outreach in their area. To learn more about how to do this, visit mobaptist.org/life or contact Brad Bennett at bbennett@mobaptist.org.