Twenty-eight years ago, members from First Baptist Church in Kissimmee began to pray that the church might someday own the field that adjoined their church property. As part of the events surrounding Crossover from June 1 to June 6, the church hosted its first outreach efforts on the land they recently acquired.
FBC Kissimmee is one of more than 50 churches in and around the Orlando area that hosted events, conducted service projects, or sent out volunteers into the community to share the gospel as part of Crossover Orlando, an evangelistic effort put on by the North American Mission Board and the Florida Baptist Convention in partnership with local associations and churches.
A diverse group of congregations — large and small; Hispanic and Haitian; white and black; urban, suburban and rural — all came together to serve their communities and proclaim the gospel in and around Orlando.
“A wide array of Florida Baptists joined under the banner of Crossover to take the gospel outside the walls of their churches,” said Tim Dowdy, NAMB’s vice president of evangelism. “I’ve already heard encouraging reports from the pastors and churches involved, and I am praying for a great harvest here in Orlando.”
Four years ago, Tim Wilder, lead pastor of FBC Kissimmee, had a vision to build onto the campus in ways that would enhance their ability to reach the community: establish counseling services, combat human trafficking, strengthen their crisis pregnancy ministry, and a host of other ways to engage their neighbors in need.
“So, I shared this four years ago on a Sunday morning,” Wilder recalled. “I said, ‘I feel like this is what God wants us to do. Problem is, we have no land to do that.’ Well, the lady who owned that land was in our church that Sunday morning.”
Over time, she eventually felt led to donate the property, and last week, the church hosted hundreds of kids for various sports camps and shared thousands of dollars’ worth of food and medical services with their community as part of Crossover.
“This past Sunday, we spent the whole service in the morning praying like we’ve been praying for years for God to move,” Wilder said in an article for Florida Baptists. “I believe this week of Crossover could be that spark to get that fire going, and that’s just the beginning. Once we share Christ, we will be following up and starting discipleship.”
Florida Baptists leverage sports to make gospel impact, see response through prison outreach
While he was pastoring in the Tampa area, Jeffery Singletary saw sports as an opportunity to reach his neighborhood, and he started Huddle Touch as an avenue to help other churches do the same. As the central regional catalyst for Florida Baptists, he used his background to host several sports-themed events as part of Crossover.
Whether through a basketball tournament, a track and field event, softball, flag football, or the seven-on-seven football tournament hosted at First Baptist Orlando, Singletary said they were able to share the gospel with hundreds of students, coaches, and parents.
Singletary said they were seeing the lost come to the Lord, encouraging people who had not been to church in a while to reconnect with a local congregation, and displaying for believers the impact sports can have to help them reach their communities.
Following the seven-on-seven tournament, Stephen Rummage, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, shared a gospel presentation. Several of the athletes gave their lives to Christ and were baptized right by the field.
Another major effort from Florida Baptists involved a day of ministry within an Orlando correctional facility. Volunteers were able to have 838 conversations with inmates. There were 502 decisions reported, with roughly a third of those being first-time professions of faith.
“Florida Baptists came together all over the greater Orlando area with different expressions of intentional evangelism,” said Patrick Coats, east regional catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention. “We are overwhelmed by passion and zeal to reach people for Christ. We thank God for Florida Baptists.”
Student rallies spur dozens to profess faith
On Friday and Saturday nights, June 5–6, student rallies hosted by churches in and around Orlando inspired dozens of people to come to faith in Christ. Following entertainment from an illusionist and a worship set, Shane Pruitt, NAMB’s national NextGen director, presented a gospel message.
CrossLife Church in Oviedo hosted the first rally on Friday night, and more than 150 students attended. By the end of the night, 28 professed faith in Christ. At First Baptist Church Umatilla on Saturday night, another 13 students responded to the gospel.
“We really started to lean in heavy to Romans 6:4, that we’ve been buried with Christ in the likeness of His death, then we were brought to life in His name,” said CrossLife student pastor Wesley Arnes. “We saw that happen. We saw students go from death to life.”
Block parties spur community engagement, drive gospel change
CAYA Baptist Church, a predominantly Haitian congregation, provided free food, health screenings, and prayer as part of their block party at their church. Cansky Masson, pastor of CAYA Baptist, said that eight people professed faith as he and their volunteers connected with those who drove up.
“We are doing so great, and we already have eight souls come to Christ, and we hope for more later on,” said Masson, who also helped to facilitate other Haitian Southern Baptist churches to engage with Crossover.
First Baptist Church of Leesburg and volunteers from the Woman’s Missionary Union hosted a block party that featured bounce houses, food and other activities. The church’s Christian Care Center features a variety of compassion ministries to those in need, and they were the primary audience who were invited to be part of the block party.
“What a sacred privilege it is to serve at Crossover and have the opportunity to meet needs and share Christ,” said WMU executive director Sandy Wisdom-Martin. “This is when Southern Baptists are at their very best. We come in the hopes of being a blessing. Without fail, the experience blesses us.”
Churches host drive-thru service opportunities for their neighbors
Alvin White has led Greater Trinity Baptist Fellowship Church to routinely minister to their community by providing clothes and other resources to families in need. This past Saturday, they hosted a drive-thru on their campus as part of Crossover and served more than 100 people.
“We have been a member of Southern Baptists on paper, but never a member like today,” White said of his church’s participation in Crossover.
University Baptist Church offered free car washes and a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs to those who stopped by on Saturday. A nearby tent served as a place where people could stop and receive prayer from one of the pastors or a volunteer.
“We’re a bivocational model, multiple locations, just trying to make church happen,” said UBC pastor Nathan Wilder about the partnership generated through Crossover. “Just pulling up to the church, I felt wind in our sails by seeing other people from outside of our church coming in together. It’s going to help us today. It’s going to help us tomorrow … to build trust in this area.”
— Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.
