Crossover and the Annual SBC Meetings
I will make a brief interlude from my series of blog posts on the Cooperative Program to share some thoughts about Crossover Louisville and the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. First, Crossover Louisville. What a great success! Hundreds of volunteers from around the US came and were joined by Long Run Baptist Association church volunteers to make a huge spiritual impact on Louisville and the surrounding area.
There were so many great things that took place during Crossover, that it would be impossible to write about them all in the space allocated for this post. Let me highlight a few events and activities: Hispanic outreach-The 9 Hispanic Southern Baptist churches were heavily involved in the Crossover event. Members of these churches worked alongside volunteers from throughout Kentucky and the US in many evangelistic endeavors including block parties, concerts, evangelistic services and one-on-one evangelism. The Crossover events ended with a huge Hispanic Festival in Iroqouis Park which recorded 1025 registrants and an attendance estimated to be around 1500. 115 professions of faith were registerd at the Festival and there were 318 Hispanic professions of faith recorded during the weeks activities. The 9 Hispanic churches have already begun follow-up and discipleship processes. Please be in prayer for them as they disciple these new believers and work with the residual harvest that will come from the Crossover efforts. I am grateful for Carlos de la Barra, KBC Ethnic Associate and Joshua del Risco from NAMB for their great leadership during the Crossover Hispanic efforts.
Street Evangelism: Many Long Run Baptist Association church members and volunteers from around the US worked in ICE Teams that were involved in engaging the lost with a gospel witness. These volunteers included students from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. On Thursday of last week, several of the KBC staff (Eric Allen, Ross Bauscher, Scott Pitman, Ross Bauscher and me) joined the ICE Teams, heard some amazing testimonies about people who had made decisions the previous day, then went out to witness with the teams. We had various experiences but I want to share a couple.
One team met a guy outside a grocery store. He was witnessed to and made a profession of faith. As they were following up he told the group that he had actually been on the way to the grocery to steal a package of diapers for his baby. He knew he could not do that now. The group purchased those diapers for him before he returned home. A second team sought refuge in another grocery store due to a horrendous thunderstorm. One of the members witnessed to an employee who prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Another employee, who is a bi-vocational pastor, shared that he had been witnessing to this young man for a long period of time. He was so thrilled to know his friend had been saved. Encounters like these two were repeated over and over during Crossover. Somewhere between 1,025 and 1,035 professions of faith were recorded during Crossover. Please pray for the Louisville Baptist churches as they do follow-up with these new believers and pray for the new believers as they begin their walk with Jesus.
The Convention: There were many high points during the convention. Excellent preaching, excellent reports, business conducted mostly with a Christ-like spirit and a strong emphasis on the Great Commission. During the IMB and NAMB reports, I sensed that I needed to go to one of those desparate places around the world and around North America where Jesus needs to be preached. But then God reminded me that somewhere between 75-80 percent of Kentuck y is lost and I am in a position that can change that. I prayed for wisdom and strength to reach the lost in Kentucky and to support our missionaries all around the world. I pray you will join me in reaching people far from God with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
0 Comments posted by: Larry Baker on June 25th, 2009
