Friday, February 16, 2007

Outdoorsmen's Ministry

In January of 2006, our church had a list of prayer concerns for the year, one of which was that the men of Maysville Baptist would experience a revival. We had been praying and determined to continue praying that our men would rise up as head of their homes, becoming godly men who loved the Lord and served others. Throughout the year God honored that request in many ways, most notably by leading the men of our church to begin an Outdoorsmen's Ministry. A business man in our church, knowing the lack of space we are struggling with, offered the use of his restaurant on Wednesday nights as a place for the men to meet. That was the last week of July. Between then and now, we have seen nearly 60 salvations as a direct result of that ministry. The men who already knew Christ as their savior began experiencing the revival we had been praying so earnestly for. At least 7 of the men who were saved had their wives or children follow them in trusting Christ. In 2005, we had a Sunday School challenge (Mission Impossible) of 250 people in Sunday School by October. This past Sunday, we had an attendance of 383! Last night our Outdoorsmen's Ministry hosted a Wild Game Dinner for the men in our church and community. The event quickly grew to the point that we had to move it to the civic center in a nearby town. Over 700 men attended! They were served deer, elk, wild boar, alligator, quail, squirrel, rabbit, turtle stew and yard bird (chicken). But as David Sharpton, our minister of education and evangelism, said last night, that was just the appetizer. Chris Pritchett, a pastor from Bowman, GA, served the main course of the Bread of Life. When the invitation was given, 49 men gave their lives over to Jesus Christ!

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