JONESBORO, Ark. – Hundreds of Arkansas Baptists could be found ministering to the community throughout the Jonesboro area on Saturday, Oct. 4, as they participated in the One Day Acts 1:8 Missions Experience.
While assisting with yard work at a home along Overhill Road, Sandra Todd of Gaither Baptist Church in Boone County said, “It’s just a rewarding way to show people the love of Christ and be able to help someone who is really in need of help and may not be able to get it through other services. We’re glad to do that for people.”
One Day provides an annual opportunity for Arkansas Baptists to impact lostness in a specific area within the state. This year, the location was in Jonesboro. The day was comprised of numerous prayer walks, community outreach projects, block parties, senior adult and kids’ ministries, home repair projects and more.
“We use all these ministries to bring people to Christ. It’s a way to get people there so we can talk to them and share Christ. I’ve done many of these. I love them every time we go, and I hope Arkansas Baptists keep this up. It is a very important ministry,” said John Brown of Highland Drive Baptist Church.
Todd and Brown were two of the more than 1,700 Arkansas Baptists that took part in One Day, serving as the hands and feet of Jesus. Participants served the community through more than 160 ministry sites. The day’s events had a great turnout, with the Medical + Dental Clinic seeing 132 patients and providing over $74,000 worth of free care.
In five hours of ministry, Arkansas Baptists shared the Gospel and witnessed at least 453 people trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Larry Bailey of Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro said One Day provides an opportunity as a prayer walker “to pray for each house to have an encounter with God.”
“I believe in Philippians 2:13, which says for it is God that causes to will and do his pleasure. I pray that God gives people will to seek Him. I really believe God is going to send a spiritual awakening to our churches and our country. This is an opportunity for me to get out there and pray over people and meet people that I normally wouldn’t,” Bailey said.
Bailey was among the leaders gathered in the evening on Friday, Oct. 3, for a banquet, where they enjoyed a meal, worshipped, and prayed for a successful One Day that glorified God. Attendees were treated to a special performance by the Williams Singers of Williams Baptist University.
During the kickoff Saturday morning held at the Valley View High School football stadium, Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Missions Assistant Team Leader Clint Ritchie and Missions Team Leader Sam Roberts told participants what the event is all about.
“Today is about sharing Jesus. Various ministries will be done, but it is all about sharing Jesus. You are going to encounter a lot of people today, some folks are hurting, some folks are anxious, a lot of them are hopeless, some folks their life is going great as far as they’re concerned,” Ritchie said. He encouraged participants to remember Paul’s word in Colossians 4:5-6, “Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.”
“Let’s take advantage of every opportunity today, let’s respond to every obstacle, every situation, every person with grace and let’s point them to Jesus,” he told those gathered in the bleachers.
Additionally, ABSC Executive Director Mark Dance and Mt. Zion Associational Missionary Ed Gillham shared brief words and prayed over One Day and the participants before they dispersed to ministry sites across the Jonesboro area.
Bobby Davis of Ruddell Hill Baptist Church in Batesville, who spent his morning serving at a yard work site, said their church has participated in One Day for several years. He called it a blessing to all involved.
“It’s a blessing for our church and it’s a blessing for us individually. They think that we’re out here blessing people, and we are, but we get the biggest blessing by being able to do it,” he said.
Jonesboro is in the Arkansas Delta, where it is agricultural harvest season. “Today we have been part of a spiritual harvest,” Ritchie said in a video shared on social media following One Day. “People who were confused, bewildered, angry, hurting, lots of other emotions have been confronted today with the reality that they need a relationship with Jesus. We’re still getting reports in, but we know that there have been many people who have placed their faith in Him today and a lot of unchurched people have been discovered. Now, the local churches are beginning to make contact with these individuals this evening and working on a strategic follow-up plan. Thank you to the more than 1,600 Arkansas Baptists who came and served today and thank you for your prayers and gifts to the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering. Your praying, serving, and giving has made an eternal difference today.”
Ritchie encouraged Arkansas Baptists to mark their calendars for Oct. 3, 2026, to participate in the next One Day Acts 1:8 Missions Experience in central Arkansas.
