Texas Baptists churches are at work strengthening churches to fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission every day in Texas and beyond. I wanted to share a story with you about how your church’s gifts to the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program made an impact on hundreds of people in Texas this summer.

Over 6 million people visited Texas for the FIFA World Cup this summer. The Texas Baptists Evangelism Team launched an initiative called "Sharing Christ at the Cup" that saw 150 churches engage in outreach opportunities and more than 500 salvations during the five weeks of games.

In March, the Evangelism Team hosted a training at First Baptist Church Arlington, where church leaders were invited to come and learn three evangelism strategies to use during the World Cup to share the gospel with their communities.

On June 27, five churches joined together in Grand Prairie to host a TellGate, a door-to-door evangelism strategy where a team can purchase a grill to walk through a neighborhood, grill hot dogs for the community and share the gospel. The team of 60 volunteers saw 30 accept Christ during the event.

By utilizing the Soccer & Spirit Camp resources, FBC Pharr hosted a soccer barbecue festival, including a few soccer games, cooking and eating together, a message from FBC Pharr Pastor Luis Martin and a time of prayer. Joel Cavazos, a member of FBC Pharr, said he has seen unity among men in the church, who have begun sharing the resources and what they learned from the event with their families.

Churches also hosted watch parties for their communities and around the world, including First Baptist Church Nederland, which partnered with Texas Baptists to host watch parties in Haiti.

First Baptist Church Arlington partnered with Visit Jordan and the City of Arlington to host several events for the Jordanian delegation and visitors in Texas for the World Cup from June 25-27. The church also helped host watch parties over the three days, culminating with the match between Jordan and Argentina on June 27.

Dennis Wiles, lead pastor of FBC Arlington, said the church has developed connections with officials from Jordan that will result in future partnerships.

Texas Baptists Evangelism Director Oza Jones and Texas Baptists en Español Director Rolando Rodriguez both said the initiative’s goal is expected to surpass 1,000 salvations by the end of the year.

This kind of impact only happens through local churches making a difference right where they are. Thank you for your generous gifts through the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program. Because of your gifts, we are able to strengthen churches to fulfill your calling to love God, love others and make disciples.