More than 200 women met Sept. 20-21 at First Baptist Church, Columbia, for worship and evangelism training, then put their training into practice at ministry project sites across the Midlands. The Women’s Ministry Group at the South Carolina Baptist Convention hosted the GO Conference, a spiritually enriching evangelism experience for women of all ages that can be easily replicated in other communities.
The conference targeted teenage girls and college-age women with a Friday night concert and inspirational message from speaker Marian Jordan Ellis. The training continued Saturday morning with worship led by the praise team from Journey Church, Charleston, and a multigenerational evangelistic challenge from Ellis.
Members of Old Fort Baptist Church, Summerville, Jessie Hayden, Betty Love and Donna Roberts assembled 52 bags for children attending the literacy program at EdVenture Children’s Museum during the GO Conference.
“Sharing Jesus with other people is not an event; it is a life we choose to lead,” said Ellis. “Jesus doesn’t save us to make us comfortable, he calls us to send us. Be ready in every season to share how he has changed you, and how he is working in you now with the people he puts in your life.”
Kim Montgomery, a member of First Baptist Church of West Columbia, went to the conference with her teenage daughter so they could minister together. Jessie Hayden, a member and women’s ministry leader at Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, brought 10 church members to get them excited about a women’s event they are planning early next year. Melanie Ratcliffe, women’s ministry strategist with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and her planning team prepared the day for women just like them.
“My desire was for the women of the church to be moved to action in their own communities after participating in the GO Conference. God prepared amazing opportunities for each lady and teen present to share their life-changing story with someone in their path,” Ratcliffe said.
Participants put their evangelism skills into practice with Saturday afternoon outreach projects, many of which were coordinated through Bill Wright at Columbia Metro Baptist Association. Apartment complexes in Irmo and Camden served as block party sites, with activities and food that drew families to the location. The participants learned how to engage adults with comfortable conversation starters and were coached on interactive activities like face painting.
Other groups followed prayer-walking routes through downtown Columbia that ended in Finlay Park, where they distributed bottled water and talked with people in the park. One group circulated at a popular downtown festival happening that day and prayed with some of the people they met there.
Another group went to Edventure Children’s Museum to serve alongside student volunteers from Read-a-Rama, a literacy and service learning program through the University of South Carolina. Members of Shandon Baptist Church, Columbia, also brought inner city children to the museum for the program.
A different group sought out college students on the University of South Carolina campus where they gave out popcorn and cotton candy, played live music, and had other activities. A group of women from First Baptist Church, Newberry, stood at a table with “Soularium” cards, postcard-sized images used to start spiritual conversations with students who were passing by. They were able to pray with some and gathered contacts for the local Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Vicky McLain met an exchange student there and shared her faith with him.
“He said he grew up Catholic but now believes that God doesn’t exist, and that he doesn’t need him. It is sad. He was educated and articulate, but is living in darkness,” McLain said. Despite his rejection of the gospel, she said Christians can’t be discouraged about sharing the gospel because “we are just messengers who are commanded to share; the Holy Spirit does the rest.”
Another group’s project was changed at the last minute, and those participants reported seeing God work through their flexibility. Instead of helping Suburban Church, West Columbia, hold a block party, Haley Adkins and her group prayer-walked the church’s unsafe neighborhood with police protection and invited residents to worship. “We prayed for God to go before us and protect us in this dangerous area, and he did. We invited families to come to church, prayed with many of them, and gave out candy to children,” she said. Adkins, a member of First Baptist Church, Powdersville, added that her church is open to partnering with Suburban Church in the future.
SCBC evangelism group director Lee Clamp encouraged the women to continue to go, living out their faith in similar ways in their own communities. “You have painted a picture of who Christ is today in this city. It would be exciting to see a movement begin outside the walls of a church, from the sanctuary to the streets,” he said.