DEEPWATER – For a church that’s over 160 years old and has an average Sunday morning attendance of 40, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Deepwater seems surprisingly youthful and energetic in its ministries. Its largest ministry, the Storehouse at the Mount, serves the community through regular distribution of food and household items. It was begun by member Alesha Jenkins, who says the pantry was miraculously founded and continues to experience miracles. She had been homeschooling three sons … [Read more...]
Missouri evangelist Roger Alford goes where God guides
WARRENTON – “After pastoring for 42 years the Lord led me to hang up my pastor hat and start traveling as an evangelist as well as to do mission work,” says Roger Alford, a member of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists. It was 10 years ago Alford moved from the pulpit into evangelism to start leading New Faith Ministries (NFM), which conducts church revivals, tent revivals, home groups, and one-on-one soul winning. He has 12 to 20 events a year, … [Read more...]
FBC Hayti hosts DR for nearly one year
HAYTI – “What would you do if Disaster Relief came to your area? Would you be ready?” Those are questions First Baptist, Hayti, Pastor Mark Hoover says every church should ask, because Disaster Relief (DR) workers quickly need local church support when teams move into an area to help communities clean up following natural disasters. For the church in Missouri’s Bootheel the story is a little different: It’s shared its building resources with DR teams since mid-February on an extended … [Read more...]
Baptist Homes’ Ozark campus brings VBS to the young at heart
OZARK – “What would VBS look like for participants in their 80s, 90s, and 100s?” That’s a question Baptist Home leaders in Ozark had to answer before offering Vacation Bible School to their residents on June 19-23. They decided it didn’t have to look much different than for children as many residents already had fond memories of experiencing VBS. Residents said the VBS made them “feel like kids again,” Pam Workman-Chainey, administrator for the Ozark campus of The Baptist Homes, told The … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptist evangelist Ron Mills takes hope to the desperate
BLUE SPRINGS – Ron Mills was desperate over 37 years ago and needed hope. Once he found it, he’s brought it since 1987 to other desperate people as a vocational evangelist. That includes providing hope to those in churches where Mills also sees the need for repentance, holiness, and restoration. “From time to time,” Mills says, “I went to church as a child and was exposed to the gospel as a teenager.” Despite that, the church was never part of his priorities. In 1980, he and his wife … [Read more...]
‘Get Clean’ ministry offers physical, spiritual cleansing
SPRINGFIELD – A common daily habit for many people – a hot shower – is a tremendous luxury and Gospel tool in Southwest Missouri. Freeway Ministries in Springfield recently began offering Get Clean, a shower trailer that serves those without access to regular cleanliness. “Get Clean is an opportunity for unsheltered and underserved people in our community to take a hot shower,” says John Stroup, executive director and co-founder of Freeway Ministries. “When you live on the streets, a … [Read more...]
With needle and thread, FBC Clinton women stitch together a global impact for Christ
CLINTON – A dozen women here practice missions around the world, one spool of thread at a time. Mission Action at First Baptist Church, Clinton, produces all kinds of sewn items to supply the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its community and people across the globe. “The items we make are just small gifts that meet a need and help open the door to pray with someone, invite them to church, introduce them to Jesus, or just let them know they are loved,” says Mission Action Team … [Read more...]
Southern Gospel duo encourages churches, declares gospel message
FULTON – For a couple whose Christian ministry is built around the musical style, Marty Forman admits, “I didn’t know what Southern Gospel music was until 13 years ago.” Marty is half of Forman Ministries, which is a singing duo that includes her husband, Norman. “I sang in church and in college, but didn’t know that genre of music.” Now, when the two sing together, audiences “can expect a time of fellowship, a time of worship, a time of enjoyment,” Norman says. “We like to laugh and just … [Read more...]
MBC evangelist: ‘No greater thrill’ than seeing people come to Christ
JEFFERSON CITY – When God took hold of Michael Quinn’s heart, becoming a revival evangelist didn’t factor into Quinn’s plans. He remembers “the call to preach was harder to answer than the call of Christ.” “The thought of preaching terrified me. I never wanted to be a public speaker. However, the Lord would not leave me alone. He kept putting that desire in my heart.” Today, Quinn serves as staff evangelist at Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City and, besides serving at the church, … [Read more...]
‘Whoever the Son sets free is free indeed’: Missouri Baptist evangelist discovers strength to forgive mother’s murderer
BRANSON – To say that chaplain and evangelist John Ray McBride has had a tough life would be an understatement. To say he’s recovered well through God’s grace would be also. At five years old McBride saw his mother murdered in California. “From five I was thrown about to different aunts and uncles,” McBride says, “and eventually to a stepmother that raised me until I was 16. At 16 years old my stepmother kicked me out. I was sitting on the curb with a bag of clothes.” “So, I got a job … [Read more...]
‘Tell them the greatest news’: FBC Arnold on mission at home, around the globe
ARNOLD – Adam Cruse, senior associate pastor at First Baptist Church here, says “one of the greatest ways to disciple people is to get them on an airplane.” “We have found that there’s a huge difference in people when they return from being on (a mission trip). Their faith grows by leaps and bounds and it impacts how they live and serve long term.” He says that growth then helps drive Christians “to see people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and see strong, … [Read more...]
Lifelong passion for missions inspires Meeks’ pro-life efforts
JEFFERSON CITY – In the early 90s,14-year-old Brandy Meeks sat on a church pew on a Sunday evening and listened to a medical missionary share their experiences of serving Christ overseas. Meeks says she instantly connected to the stories about meeting physical and spiritual needs that showed Christ’s love and mercy. After the presentation she felt called to serve in medical missions. However, years later in a high school biology class the sight of blood while dissecting frogs caused her … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 7
- Next Page »