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Rockcastle ‘Find It Here’ Revival Bearing Fruit
06/22/2011
This is the first of two stories about Kentucky Baptists' "Find It Here 2011" evangelistic emphasis.
People gather to pray at the front of the Northside Baptist Church sanctuary in Mt. Vernon at the close of a revival service earlier this year. The Mt. Vernon congregation was among more than a dozen churches in the Rockcastle Baptist Association to host a 21-day revival prior to Easter. Randy McPheron, Northside's pastor and the director of missions for Rockcastle Baptist Association, said several people in the area who attended the revival services, and were prayed for by local Kentucky Baptists, recently have accepted Christ as Savior or have attended church. The revival and prayer focus were part of "Find It Here 2011," an evangelistic emphasis coordinated by several Kentucky Baptist ministries and the Kentucky Baptist Convention. (Photo courtesy of Shirley Cox)
MT. VERNON – The spiritual seeds planted during Rockcastle Baptist Association's 21-day "Find It Here" revival in April have begun to bear fruit.
According to local pastors, several adults and children who were the focus of prayer by Kentucky Baptists' and other believers have accepted Christ as Savior or have attended a local church for the first time—or the first time in a long time.
"It didn't happen all during the 21 days, but we're starting to see people coming to Christ," said Randy McPheron, director of missions for Rockcastle Baptist Association.
The local revival was one response to the statewide evangelism initiative, Find It Here, coordinated by Kentucky Baptists that followed up on last year's nationwide effort launched among Southern Baptists by the North American Mission Board.
In 2010, Kentucky Baptists reached 1.3 million households in the commonwealth with the gospel through a door-to-door campaign.
This year Kentucky Baptists were encouraged to pray during the weeks leading up to Easter for three people in need of Christ. Many people also fasted during that time. Then believers were challenged to share the gospel with the people on their lists and to invite them to Easter Sunday services.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention distributed thousands of booklets containing the gospel message and portions of scripture to assist believers in their 21-day focus on the spiritual health of others.
It seems that just about all of the new believers mentioned by pastors in the Rockcastle County area were on someone's prayer list.
Among those making decisions was an 18-year-old man visiting his dad on Father's Day. He accepted Jesus as his Savior that evening at Northside Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, where McPheron serves as pastor.
The teenager's father is a new believer too. "His dad got saved right before the revival and immediately got busy with this stuff," McPheron said.
The father told McPheron that his son "was number one on my prayer list."
Pastors from Rockcastle Baptist Association churches carry a cross during a passion play at Mt. Vernon Elementary School on Good Friday. Kentucky Baptists and other believers in the area worked together to host a 21-day revival as part of "Find It Here 2011," an evangelistic emphasis organized by Kentucky Baptist ministries across the commonwealth and the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Rockcastle Baptist Association pastors report that, weeks after the revival, people are accepting Christ as Savior or visiting local churches as a result of the prayers and gospel witness of others. (Photo courtesy of Shirley Cox)
Eddie Nation, pastor of First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, credited six recent conversions at this church to the spiritual activity stirred by the revival.
Among the new believers were five children who accepted Christ at the end of vacation Bible school the week of June 6.
A man in his 50s who had previously attended church responded to an invitation to follow Christ the morning of June 19.
"He had been on my prayer list and his wife's," Nation said of the newest convert. "It had been a little while since we had seen any salvations, but we're starting to see that."
At Brodhead Baptist Church, five men who had been on various prayer lists attended VBS commencement exercises June 18. Two had never visited the church before.
"It was a big breakthrough," said Pastor Ralph Baker, noting that this year's VBS enrollment was nearly 40 percent higher than in 2010. "It's helped our church."
Brodhead Baptist had already seen two salvations and baptisms because of Find It Here; both people had been on the pastor's prayer list.
Baker said the association's 21 member churches forged closer ties as a result of this spring's special services. The day after the revival ended, the association sponsored a passion play at Mt. Vernon Elementary School.
"Randy and the association are doing more things together," said Baker, a bivocational pastor. "I know churches are working together for a common cause way more than before, and we're having better results."
McPheron applauded Find It Here 2011, saying it inspired the association-wide revival.
"Once we embraced the strategy it became very exciting," he said. "We began to see the potential of praying and fasting for 21 days."
McPheron said he especially appreciated the emphasis on fasting. Some pastors in the association used KBC materials to teach church members about fasting and other topics in spring sermons.
Some people abstained from activities other than eating, such as time spent texting or on Facebook.
McPheron said he chose to fast for 21 days as an example to others in the association.
Although he had learned from Matthew 6 that Christians should not let anyone know when they are fasting, McPheron told his family and others so they would pray for him.
"It was like a greater awareness and sensitivity to spiritual things," McPheron said of the benefits he gained. "The Lord began to expose things in my heart that led me to a deeper level of confession and a greater burden for the lost."
The association saw about 15 salvations as a direct result of its revival. The new Christians included the husband of a Northside member who helped organize the passion play.
Another man accepted Jesus as his Savior after two members of Valley Baptist Church near Berea visited him in the hospital. Only weeks later, the man died.
"I went to his funeral visitation; his wife attended Valley," McPheron said. "What a comfort to know this guy was saved before he went into eternity."
Plans are underway in Kentucky and across North American for next year's Find It Here evangelism emphasis.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Story by Ken Walker, KBC Communications
