A conversation with Lynn Peters, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Prosperity, is like running a litany of ministry marathons back-to-back. With uncanny enthusiasm, Peters gratefully tells of how God has used nearly every member of the 300-person congregation in some form of ministry in Prosperity, the nation and the world.
“We are listening to where God wants to send us, whether right outside our door or around the world,” he says.
Currently, Bethel Baptist is working in two Good News clubs in public schools, three backyard Bible clubs and taking dinner to shut-ins once a month. Church members have partnered with the Boys Farm in Newberry, a safe-house for orphaned boys, to rebuild a cottage to increase the capacity by eight.
Bethel adopted the Acts 1:8 mission strategy, agreeing to minister in their community, in the state and around the world. It is a call the church takes very seriously.
More than 45 members, nearly 15 percent of congregational membership, are part of a disaster relief team, whose shower unit is still stationed in Gulfport, Miss. Following Hurricane Katrina, Bethel also adopted Riverside Baptist Church in Pascagoula, Miss., through the North American Mission Board’s Adopt-A-Church program.
Other church members have committed to work around the world in places such as Peru and Israel. Recently, a team traveled to Jordan to work with Iraqi refugees. One couple, Eddie and Judy Fulmer, have participated in disaster relief work in Sri Lanka. Peters stresses that though the church is Southern Baptist, part of kingdom work is branching out to work with other denominations and ministries ministering all over the world.
“We know that God is bigger than what we are doing here,” said Peters. “We are committed to our denomination, but we know the kingdom is so much bigger.”
So is everyone in the church involved in ministry? Peters answers with a laugh.
“I am really proud of how the church listens to God. If a person feels called of God to make it happen, it is not about the money. God has provided.”
As a whole, this small church is proving God can be big in the hearts of his people.
“God is doing amazing things here,” Peters said.