BALLINGER—Lake Ivie Baptist Association purchased 10,000 multimedia gospel compact discs to help churches move forward with Texas Hope 2010 in a seven-county area.
The CDs are available for churches to purchase from the association, in turn, to use in individual city and county outreach efforts.
The CD, an evangelism tool promoted by the Texas Hope 2010 campaign to share the gospel with every Texan, includes gospel presentations and a link to download the New Testament in more than 300 languages.
“In our association, there are 17,139 households within seven counties,” said Barry Taylor, director of missions for Lake Ivie Baptist Association. “We have been going county-to-county having meetings with our pastors. We voted to at least have an initial purchase of 10,000 CDs to make available to the churches in our association.”
Taylor already delivered CDs to seven churches that purchased CDs from the association—First Baptist of Brady, First Baptist of Rochelle, Mercury Baptist in Mercury, First Baptist of Santa Anna, First Baptist of Mason and First Baptist of Menard. Their goal is to distribute the gospel to households in Coke, Coleman, Concho, Mason, McCullough, Menard and Runnels counties.
Gregg Fletcher, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brady, distributed CDs to some of his church members recently, telling the congregation to share them with their friends and neighbors.
The church is assembling packets that include the CD, a New Testament, a tract and information on their church. This month, the church plans to launch a door-to-door outreach so all the people in their county will receive a visit.
“There are a lot of churches working together to make sure that our county is covered with the gospel,” Fletcher said. “It's a joint effort. We had a countywide meeting Aug. 10 and had great feedback. It was great to hear that they were excited.”
Bobby Broyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Ballinger, said his church voted to purchase 1,000 CDs to use in their Texas Hope 2010 efforts.
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First Baptist is partnering with Hopewell Baptist Church and Seventh Street Baptist Church, both in Ballinger, to deliver a CD to every home in their area.
The three churches are discussing the best method of delivery and will begin distribution in coming months.
“We're hoping we'll get prospects for church and have evangelism opportunities,” Broyles said. “As we deliver, we’ll ask if they have prayer needs to find ministry opportunities in the area. Then we can help with that.”
Although these churches hope to complete their CD distribution by Easter Sunday 2010, Fletcher insists the delivery should not be rushed.
“It's important that we have a well-planned, meticulous effort so we have a positive influence for Christ,” he said. “It's important that we have clear communication of the gospel.
“If we get into this and realize that we can't get to every home by Easter Sunday, we will make this Texas Hope 2011 or Texas Hope 2012. We will continue on until we finish the task. I just keep telling the church that it is important that we do a good job and properly represent Christ as we go door-to-door and deliver these CDs.”
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