On Saturday, October 3, the annual One Day mission trip went local as over 115 churches registered to participate in service projects and community outreach events that their churches planned and implemented.
One Day typically happens in one location, where Arkansas Baptists gather together to serve local communities as one large group. Over a year of planning is made for this day to take place in this one area. However, due to COVID-19, the Missions Team at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention knew that gathering together in a large group wasn’t safe. Ministry still needed to happen so One Day: Serve Local! was created to meet that need.
Free car washes, sports camps, movies in the community, free family portraits, and more were held from Russellville to Paragould to Crossett to Bella Vista. Churches served their communities in many ways and were able to share the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
First Baptist Church in London held a ‘No Sale, Yard Sale’ with donated items laid out on tables and racks for the community to come through, browse, and take what they needed/wanted. Brett Cottrell, the senior pastor at FBC London, said they’d already shared the Gospel several times by 10:30 a.m. after opening around 9:15 a.m.. One person said she’d never heard the Gospel before Cottrell had explained his bracelet to her.
A movie on the campus of Arkansas Tech was shown in the courtyard area by Second Baptist Church in Russellville, and they saw three salvations. In Jonesboro, a life group from Central Baptist Church went door-to-door sharing the Gospel and saw 18 professions of faith. A sports camp was put on by First Baptist Church in Dardanelle and they saw 20 professions of faith.
While some didn’t see an immediate response to the Gospel message, they were still able to share the love of Christ with their communities in different ways, which planted a seed in the hearts of many. First Baptist Church in Jacksonville developed evangelical goodie bags to hand out to all the convenience stores in town. Ruddell Hill Baptist Church in Batesville hosted a drive-thru picnic lunch. Each car drove through stations to gather information about the church and hear the Gospel. At the end, they received a free, hot meal.
In all, many Gospel conversations were had on Saturday, and lostness in Arkansas was impacted for the Kingdom. Fifty-one professions of faith have been recorded so far. Many churches registered, but some still put on events without registering or decided to do outreach events later on in the week because of scheduling conflicts. Ministry will continue throughout the coming days as a result of One Day: Serve Local! and more ministry stories will continue to be shared.
We encourage you to mark your calendars and plan to join us for two dates in 2021. On May 15, One Day: Serve Local! will be happening once again as ministry continues in your own communities. On October 2, we’ll return to our previously scheduled One Day location of Russellville to serve the River Valley Association.
Click here to watch the highlight video and see even more of what Arkansas Baptists did around the state Saturday.