Voices: How Freedom crosses over

Jesus clearly articulates the mission of the church is to reach the world with his gospel—his good news. Act 1:8 tells us about the power, the people, the plan and the possibilities of reaching the world with the good news:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Does your community see you and your church living out this mission?

I often ask pastors and parishioners, “If your church ceased to exist, would your community miss you?”

Freedom Church in Bedford answered this question as they blitzed the community of Westdale Hills in Euless during the Southern Baptist Convention’s Crossover Dallas 2025.

Crossover is an evangelistic strategy implemented each year just ahead of the SBC annual meeting in the city where the meeting is held. This year, the SBC and Crossover came to Dallas, and Freedom Church maximized the moment.

During Crossover, Freedom Church and Lead Pastor Robert White trained more than 400 parishioners in evangelism before deploying 75 people to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Westdale Hills Apartments in Euless.

The results of this outreach were amazing. Freedom Church was able to saturate the Westdale Hills community of more than 2,000 apartment units, giving away 1,000 bags of groceries, engaging in more than 200 gospel conversations with 27 lives rededicated to Christ and 12 souls saved.

Partnering made it happen

How was Freedom Church able to do this? They did this by partnering instead of pioneering. Partnership is the key for the local church to experience community saturation.

Freedom Church partnered with the North American Mission Board of the SBC, Texas Baptists, Apartment Life and Forgotten Ministries to reach their community. Most importantly, the members of Freedom Church took the challenge and showed up to plant seeds and share the gospel.

Apartment Life is a faith-based, nonprofit organization that has been serving the apartment industry since 2000.

Freedom Church connected with Markeala and Duncan Dotson, Apartment Life coordinators and one of the teams at Westdale Hills Apartments. This team was instrumental in giving Freedom Church the community layout and strategies helping the church to serve in the most effective way.

Forgotten Ministries has a desire to serve God through service and love provided to communities across the world. Jeremiah and Sarah Herrian are the directors and founders. When Jeremiah was asked if they could assist with Crossover Dallas, he said “yes” without hesitation.

Jeremiah and his team brought two TellGate grills, 1,000 bags of groceries, more than 1,500 hot dogs, 2,000 bags of chips, 12 team members and an 18-wheeler with the words “The Church Has Left the Building” written on the back. TellGate grills are custom made for gathering people where they are, feeding them and telling them about Jesus.

What God did through Freedom Church and this partnership was just a snippet of what he did in the Dallas area during Crossover.

Testimony from Crossover participants

Debora and Daniel Monteiro hosted the Forgotten Ministries team.

“Hosting the team from Forgotten Ministries was an unforgettable and deeply meaningful experience for our whole family,” the Monteiros said.

“It was a true blessing to open our home and welcome each missionary, hearing the powerful stories of how God has been working in their lives. Their boldness and simplicity in sharing the gospel—sometimes through something as humble as a hamburger or hot dog—was both inspiring and humbling.

“I also had the joy of taking my two kids with me to join the team as we knocked on doors and reached out to the community. They were simple, bold and full of childlike faith.

“My son had an especially touching experience. He knocked on a lady’s door and kindly offered her a hot dog, but she declined. Then he offered groceries, and she explained that she was on a restricted diet.

“Without hesitation, he looked at her and asked, ‘Would you like me to pray for something special?’

“She asked for prayer for her health and her family. He prayed over her right there, and by the end, she was smiling with tears in her eyes, saying she truly needed that prayer.

“Moments like that remind us we don’t need to be experts or have everything figured out—just willing hearts. God can use anyone, at any age, to bring his love to others.

“Don’t limit yourself. Open your heart, open your home, get trained, and start reaching the lost right in your own neighborhood. You never know how one simple act of faith can touch a life—and how your own life will be transformed in the process.”

Freedom is good news

Crossover Dallas was the cumulative work of 89 churches and 2,935 volunteers partnering to have 17,033 gospel conversations that saw 711 souls saved.

I tell people, “It’s only good news if it gets there in time.” Crossover Dallas got there in time for all those people. That’s good news!

Crossover Dallas was an example of what God can do when churches and other ministries come together with one kingdom focus—sharing the story of Jesus Christ. I hope you and your church will follow that example.