The Gulf Coast of Alabama is blessed with a usually warm, emerald-green ocean for swimming and sugar-white, soft-sand beaches for sunning. It’s a paradise that draws 6 million people a year, but 70 percent of them don’t know Christ.
Thea and Jeff FordJeff and Thea Ford are North American Mission Board resort missionaries who head up Gulf Area Resort Ministries in the twin resort cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala. Ford’s ministry is supported not only by NAMB, but also by the Baldwin Baptist Association and the Alabama State Board of Missions.
“Someone once told me that lost people are most open to the gospel two times in their lives,” Ford says. “The number one time is during a crisis. And the second time is during times of recreation, leisure or vacation.”
The Fords are only two of more than 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. He’s one of eight Southern Baptist missionaries highlighted as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 4-11, 2007. The 2007 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $57 million.
Ford’s ministry varies in focus depending on the season. Fall and winter on the Alabama Gulf Coast attract senior adults – “snowbirds,” as Ford affectionately calls them – from the north and midwest, who come south to the Gulf for up to six months to escape harsh winters.
“During our snowbird ministry, we hold worship services at campgrounds and have a bicycle club where Thea and I ride bikes with the snowbirds, just trying to build relationships,” he said.
NAMB resort missionary Jeff Ford, left, plans beach evangelism strategy with summer missionaries Derrick Fields, center, and Matt Goins on the beach at Gulf Shores, Ala.But Ford’s busiest time is spring break and summer, when college, high school and junior high students – and kids with families – swarm the beaches.
Starting with a website – www.barefootbelievers.com – and a NAMB-developed program called “Innovators,” the Fords use a myriad of methods to creatively spread the gospel. “Barefoot Believers” comes from Romans 10:15, where Paul refers to a verse in Isaiah that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.”
“We spend a lot of time barefoot on the beach – handing out bottles of water, frisbees with the gospel message imprinted on them, setting up face-painting and hair-wrap booths or feeding people cold watermelon,” Ford said. “We just want to have a presence.”
Ford says his spring and summer ministry also uses worship services, Christian music concerts, backyard Bible clubs and other forms of beach evangelism.
“Last year, we worked with about 1,000 Barefoot Believers. These were senior adults, adults, families on mission trips and a lot of students – from college-aged down to junior high-aged.”
Ford also uses teams of “Innovators,” college students for whom he finds summer jobs. They may work in a hotel, resort or tourist attraction, and then spend the rest of their day witnessing or teaching Bible studies to children.
“People, of course, come to the beach on vacation to try to find a little peace and quiet – some peace of mind. They want their kids to escape from life for awhile and have a fun time. But the fact is, if they don’t have a relationship with Christ, they’re not going to find that real peace or experience the best for their families because Christ is not in the equation of their lives,” he said.