In 2022, on Easter Sunday, we launched Connect Church Liberty Hill. Connect Church is another campus of Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin, TX. We currently meet in an elementary school, where we have anywhere from 80 to 100 people attending our service.
One of the things I am most proud of about our church is the way we have mobilized and multiplied our people to evangelize. By God’s grace, a Ukrainian pastor and his family, who were fleeing the war, moved into our neighborhood. We quickly became friends, and I realized that this man of God has a heart for evangelism. Not only did he have a heart for evangelism, but he was doing so throughout Eastern Europe. This pastor had led teams and schools of evangelism for years and seen thousands of people profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
We dreamed up ways to train our people in street evangelism. We started off with an Evangelism Workshop that shared the “why” behind evangelism with our people. We then moved to the practical on “how” to evangelize. A few weeks after our training, we took to the streets . . . well, the community park!
The energy was palpable that first outing. Everyone was nervous and excited at the same time. It was fun to see my new Ukrainian pastor friend in his element. We watched as he used simple tools, like a balloon that read “Jesus Loves You. John 3:16,” and 4 cards (one with a heart, one with a cross, one with a division sign, and one with a question mark), to share the gospel with people in our community. We also had popcorn, other snacks, and drinks to draw people in.
It wasn’t long after we saw him do it that we all began to do it. A team of about 15–20 people set out to share Jesus with people at a park. One man even gave his life to Jesus. We couldn’t believe how simple and easy it was! I think sometimes we come up with all of the reasons NOT to share the gospel. We believe the lies of “I don’t know enough,” or “What if someone asks me a question I don’t know,” or “Isn’t it dangerous to share Jesus in this day and age?”
As Christians, we know better than to believe those lies, but how often do we combat them with the truth of God’s word? The truth that the Holy Spirit promises to help us. He promises to give us the words to say. Now, that’s not an excuse to come unprepared or to skip a training, but it’s amazing how, if we just put ourselves out there, the Lord can use us in mighty ways!
I remember leaving the park and everyone asking me when the next Evangelism Day was. One guy even asked if we could do it every month. Another asked if we could do fewer men’s and women’s events and focus more of our time and energy on these Evangelism Days.
The bug was caught! There’s nothing like sharing Jesus with people. It’s contagious and addictive. In a good way! I found myself evangelizing with people in my everyday life. I didn’t want to just wait for the next Evangelism Day; I wanted to live a life on mission every day.
Our Ukrainian brother is back in Eastern Europe doing what he loves, taking to the streets to share the love of Jesus. Every week, he reports back on people being saved. I’m grateful that the movement he helped start didn’t die when he left! We are continuing to do Evangelism workshops and days. We have done about 6–8 Evangelism days since he left, and we have an Evangelism workshop coming up in May on “How to reach your Indian/Hindu neighbor.” We have many Hindus in our neighborhood, and we want to reach them with the gospel. We look forward to hosting workshops on “How to reach your Mormon neighbor” and other belief systems in the future.
I praise God for the work he is doing in our little church in Liberty Hill, TX. I pray we never lose the fire to go out to where lost people are and share the gospel. It’s not enough to just hope and pray that lost people will walk into our buildings on a Sunday morning. It’s our job to obey the Great Commission and to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our communities.
The devil can handle a lot of what we do in American churches today. But what he can’t handle is a praying church on fire for Jesus and sharing the good news with their neighbors. Let’s be bold for Jesus and be the instrument that God uses to save one more soul for heaven!
