EL PASO—More than 250,000 multimedia gospel compact discs arrived in El Paso in late July—enough for Baptists to blanket every home in the county with Scripture in the near future.
In the coming months, El Paso Baptists plan to place one CD in every home in the area. The region is the first portion of the state to be covered with Scripture through Texas Hope 2010, a Baptist General Convention of Texas initiative to share the hope of Christ with every Texan by Easter 2010 and meet critical needs.
Texas Baptists are attempting to place Scripture—in the form of multimedia CDs and printed materials—in all 8.8 million Texas homes by Easter 2010.
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Wes Phillips, pastor of First Baptist Church in Horizon City, picked up more than 10,000 multimedia Scripture CDs for distribution in his church’s ZIP code.
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The BGCT-designed multimedia CD presents Spanish and English audio readings of John 3 and a gospel presentation when placed in most car CD players. When placed into a computer CD-ROM drive, the disc shares Spanish and English audio readings of the entire Gospel of John, an audio gospel presentation in both languages and several video gospel presentations of Texas Baptists sharing the impact Christ has had on their lives.
The disc enables users with Internet access to download the New Testament in more than 350 languages.
El Paso Baptists are mailing 33,000 CDs directly to homes. The rest will be shared by churches who have volunteered to lead Scripture distribution efforts in their ZIP codes. Congrega-tions will give the CDs to people in their communities by going door-to-door, holding block parties and delivering them through benevolent ministries such as food pantries.
The distribution effort is being supported by a media campaign of billboards and advertisements on movie screens and radio stations that point people to two websites— www.WhatsMissingTexas.com and www.QueTeFaltaTexas.com—which also share the gospel using some of the same materials contained on the multimedia CD.
BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett called El Paso the ideal place to begin distributing Scripture across the state.
“El Paso was an obvious place to for us to launch the Scripture distribution phase of Texas Hope 2010 because of the great opportunities and the great need,” he said. “We have wonderful churches in El Paso and a mixed community ethnically, large student and military populations and strategic location adjoining Juarez, a city where there has been significant recent violence. We are praying that God will use this gospel tool to transform lives and entire communities.”
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John Roman, pastor of Nuevo Pueblo Baptist Church in Clint and co-coordinator of the El Paso distribution effort, said the multimedia CDs will help congregations deliver the gospel to people who have never heard it before.
“I hope it helps to further our efforts to give every Texan a chance to respond to the hope that is offered in the gospel,” he said. “I think this is a tremendous opportunity.”
El Paso Baptist Association Director of Missions Joseph Christopherson said many people in the area sense something is missing from their lives. He hopes the CDs will help them understand that a relationship with Christ can fill the void in their hearts. As a result of discovering that, Christopherson would like to see people connect with a Baptist church and grow in the faith.
Wes Phillips, pastor of First Baptist Church in Horizon City, picked up more than 10,000 CDs for his ZIP code. He hopes the discs will enable his congregation to reach people with the gospel.
The pastor wants to “make contact with all the people in our ZIP code. I want it to be a good source of encouragement.”
Bill Yung, member of First Baptist Church and co-coordinator of the El Paso distribution, called the multimedia CD a “piece of art for the Lord.” He believes the CD is a tool that will engage people across El Paso with the gospel, changing lives at it travels.
“I firmly believe that faith does come by hearing,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for people in Texas to hear the gospel.”
For more information about getting involved in the Texas Hope 2010 Scripture distribution, call (888) 244-9400 or visit www.texashope2010.com. To give to Texas Hope 2010, visit www.bgct.org/give.
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