Photo from Rose Bud First Baptist Church Facebook
ROSE BUD, Ark. – The congregation of Rose Bud First Baptist Church put in the work, and God blessed it.
In a seven-day span, the church hosted three events that led to 44 salvations and 34 baptisms.
When Pastor Chris Miller joined the church in June 2024, he described it as a “match made in heaven.” The church, which had been in decline, was ready to work, and he was ready to win people to Jesus.
They began praying and planning.
“I told them if you all will put in the work, God will bless it,” Miller said. And He did.
Rose Bud First Baptist Church held a Pumpkin Patch Party fall festival on Halloween, Oct. 31, followed by a No Sale Yard Sale on Saturday, Nov. 2. The yard sale was free and open to the community. The only stipulation – they had to spend a few minutes talking to church members before shopping. Miller said they invited Lowery Beck and his team, connected with Central Baptist Church in Paragould, to come down and assist their evangelism efforts.
That day, they saw 11 salvations.
On Sunday, Nov. 3, the church kicked off a four-day revival led by Evangelist Ronnie Hill of Texas. The final night of the revival, Wednesday, Nov. 6, was baptism night. They celebrated 25 baptisms.
“It’s been neat to see a church that was on a downward trend and to see their desire to not stay that way,” Miller said. They have desire in their hearts to want to grow and to want to win people for Christ.
He said it was great to see the congregation’s “desire be put into work and see it all come to fruition and see God work.”
Miller said they have people calling in the middle of the week, “Hey, I need to get saved.”
“It is really cool to see God doing that, how God is blessing my church members’ efforts, and then seeing the joy on their face when they see how God can use them,” he said. “We’re a small church, but God can still do big things here.”