San Saba churches busy following up after evangelistic rally_50304

Posted: 5/03/04

San Saba churches busy following up after evangelistic rally

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SAN SABA–God moved among the people of San Saba, with nearly one resident in five making a commitment to Christ at a recent evangelistic crusade. Now the churches are moving, trying to contact everyone who made a decision.

San Saba has a population of only 2,637. But 540 spiritual decisions were recorded during the recent Heart of Texas Crusade, including 284 first-time professions of faith.

The four-day event, led by evangelist Rick Gage, was just the beginning of the work. Now the churches of San Saba County and a portion of Lampasas County are following up on those decisions.

“What we're finding as we get into some of the homes is that some people did not fully understand the decision they were making,” said Sam Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church in San Saba. “So, it's really important that the churches follow up and get them well-grounded in their understanding and get them involved in the life of the church.”

Many who made decisions are not waiting for the churches to come to them but are going to the churches.

“More than 40 people walked the aisle of my church the Sunday after the crusade to make public the decisions they made during the crusade,” Crosby said. “We have already started a class for new Christians. Four adults were saved in homes immediately after the crusade as the Spirit of God continues to move mightily.”

Crosby's congregation had averaged about 250 each week in Sunday school, but 310 attended the Sunday following the crusade. Easter Sunday buoyed those numbers to 550.

Twenty-four churches worked six months to prepare for the crusade, praying it would touch all the 7,000 people who live in San Saba County, and about 1,000 residents in the Lometa area of neighboring Lampasas County.

“As we prepared for the crusade, we prayed for a mighty moving of God's Spirit. We prayed like Isaiah, that God would rend the heavens and come down. And God far exceeded our expectations,” Crosby said.

More than 7,000 people attended over the course of the four evenings.

“We've never seen anything like it,” said Tom Brand, pastor of The Father's House Church. “I have been pastoring here in San Saba for almost 12 years, and this is the most exciting, unbelievable move of God that has ever hit this county. As churches worked together, we felt the greatest sense of unity and a spirit of cooperation that has ever occurred in this area.”

That spirit of cooperation has continued after the crusade. Crosby has been helping Brand's nondenominational church incorporate the FAITH outreach program into their follow-up efforts.

“Last night, they held their first real organized visitation effort,” Crosby said. “The crusade has helped them see a need to become more intentional about their outreach efforts.”

The crusade impacted not only a community and its churches, but also individuals who came to a saving faith in Christ.

Shay Hardy, a local radio disc jockey, and his wife, Betty Sue, made commitments to Christ at the crusade.

“I am a different man,” Hardy said. “This week with Jesus changed my life.”

The Hardys were baptized at First Baptist Church on Easter, along with 15 others who made professions of faith at the crusade.

Perhaps the most dramatic story of the crusade involved a man from Gonzales who came to San Saba to visit his incarcerated son at the local Texas Youth Commission facility. As he drove through San Saba, he noticed the activity at the football stadium and stopped. That night, he made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

Later, Crosby learned from an employee at the juvenile correctional facility that the man died just days later in a car accident as he was driving to church.

Since the youth at the detention facility could not come to crusade services at the local football field, the crusade team went to them. More than 40 of the young people made professions of faith.

The youth in the community were likewise affected by the message they heard.

Butch Horton, youth pastor at First Baptist, said: “My students are now telling me that the peer pressure at school is to be a Christian. Christ-likeness is cool.”

It just goes to prove the old-time gospel still works, Gage said.

“It is hope for the individual, for society and for the world. Saturating our communities across America with the gospel must be done at all costs,” he said. “It takes time, money and involvement to reach lost people, but it will be eternally worth it one day.”