Texas Baptists Evangelism event sees 630 prayed for, 21 accept Jesus in Abilene

On Nov. 15, prior to the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting in Abilene, the Texas Baptists Evangelism team, Forgotten Ministries, Broadview Baptist Church and other churches partnered together to evangelize to three Abilene apartment complexes.

Forgotten Ministries is a ministry founded by Jeremiah Herrian, which exists to help churches “rediscover compassion, leave the building and bring the hope of Jesus to the homes that need him most.” 

“Outside the comfort of four walls, there is an entire world in anguish, and the church must rediscover the compassion that moves believers to action,” said Herrian. 

Since 2007, the ministry has accomplished this with their “Grill Walk” strategy.

The “Grill Walk” is a door-to-door evangelism strategy where volunteers are divided into groups of four: two grill cooks and two food preppers, and “as the grill moves down the street, groups stop at houses, knock on doors and offer free hot dogs.” This allows volunteers to share the gospel and their testimonies, pray with residents and invite them to church.

Herrian “framed the day” by emphasizing compassion. He gave volunteers a “final charge” before beginning their “Grill Walk” in Abilene. 

“People are more spiritually lost today not because they reject Jesus, but because they’ve never truly heard about Him,” said Herrian. “Knock on every door. Offer a hot dog at every door. Share Jesus at every door.”

The Texas Baptists Evangelism team, along with 80 volunteers from 9 different churches, delivered 710 bags of groceries, served  700 hot dogs and provided 600 pairs of socks to families in need. Volunteers knocked on 630 doors, “praying with residents and offering encouragement.” The team saw 21 individuals surrender their lives to Jesus.

“I often ask churches across the state, ‘If your church ceased to exist, would your community miss you?’ God did not call us to just be a church in the community, He called us to be the community church,” said Oza Jones, director of Evangelism at Texas Baptists. “The Grill Walk allowed us to saturate the community by serving and sharing. [It] helps us to mobilize the local church for maximum impact.” 

To learn more about Texas Baptists Evangelism and how it can resource your church, visit txb.org/evangelism.