1. EVERYONE CAN TELL THEIR STORY

EVERYONE CAN TELL THEIR STORY
Evangelism
God’s Disciples Behind Prison Walls
one-on-one chaplaincy
program at the Oklahoma
County jail has reached
18,375 individuals with
2,321 making professions
of faith.
Baptist Collegiate
Ministries —
BCM
reaches over 13,000 young adults on 39 campuses each year. In
2005, over 1,000 BCM students participated in witnessing
training resulting in 559 of their peers making decisions for
Christ. College-aged students are utilizing cyberspace to share
their testimonies through
majorthing.com
, a strategic tool
developed to help reach young adults for Christ. The Web site is
promoted through a customized vehicle which travels to various
campuses throughout Oklahoma and is equipped with audio
and video capabilities for outdoor ministry activities.
Associational Outreach —
Many associations are experiencing
growth as a result of Associational Outreach Leadership strategies
(AOL), a partnership between the BGCO and local associations
to strategically reach the lost. Panhandle Association has
experienced an 88 percent increase in baptisms while many other
associations are experiencing similar growth as a result of AOL.
Oklahoma Life — Reaching the
Un-churched —
What are
un-churched people looking for in
a church? How do they feel about
Baptists? Do they understand the
Gospel? These questions were
answered during the summer of
2005 following a comprehensive
study of un-churched people in
Oklahoma. Results from the
study, commissioned by the
BGCO Evangelism Group, are being used by ministers to
develop targeted outreach strategies for the local church and a
statewide media outreach campaign entitled
Oklahoma Life
. The
report is available through the BGCO.
New Church Starts —
Oklahoma Baptists planted 44 new
churches in the first eight months of 2005. The Cooperative
Program provides support for church planting across the state.
Since 2004, over 1,203 people have been baptized through new
church starts and 5,442 people have participated in Sunday
worship services at new Southern Baptist churches.
Chaplaincy and Community Outreach —
With 315 chaplains
statewide, Oklahoma Baptists are touching the lives of
thousands through wagon trail experiences, horseshoe-pitching
competitions, Cowboy churches, disaster response and
chaplaincy ministries to inmates. There are currently 17 active
Evangelism Explosion ministries in state penitentiaries. The
I met DeRay as he was serving a 47-year sentence at Lawton
Correctional Facility. After DeRay learned that God was not
stopped by prison walls, he was able to understand the
importance of sharing his faith with others in his situation.
Many of those men began witnessing to other inmates within
the prision walls and beyond. Later, I was amazed to meet
Rodney, an inmate at a county jail who has become a great
Christian influence in prison for the last two years. I was blessed
to discover that Rodney was witnessed to by a gentleman that
DeRay led to the Lord many miles away, behind different bars
and different razor wire. Numerous men have been paroled
because of their life change, including DeRay.
— Eddie Coast
Coordinator, Criminal Justice Ministries
BGCO
Trough the Cooperative Program,
y of those men began witnessing to other inmates within
the prision walls and beyond. Later, ed to meet
y, an inmate at a county jail who has become a great
Christian inison for the last two years.
to discover that y was witnessed to by a gentleman that
ay led to the Lord many miles away, behind dierent bars
and dierent raor wire. umerous men have been paroled
because of their life change, including ay.
Coordinator, Criminal ies
O
Trough the Cooperative Program,
to share the Gospel with university
students statewide.
Student witnessing training is
possible through your
Cooperative Program dollars.

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