Panhandle Reach – a partnership to spread hope

October 25th, 2011 at 1:44 pm

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AMARILLO – Donning their cowboy boots and hats, members of two local cowboy churches mounted their horses and proudly rode into the arena on the south side of the city during the Panhandle Cowboy Church Ranch Rodeo finals. They did this not only for the love of the competition, but also from the desire to see their neighbors and fellow ranchers know the love of Christ.

On Oct. 22, the Palo Duro Cowboy Church in Canyon and the Saddle Mountain Cowboy Church in Channing partnered with Texas Baptists to hold the ranch rodeo finals where 14 teams from the cowboy churches and local ranches competed in front of 500 people in events like wild cow milking, sorting, cow mugging and branding.

“The whole purpose is to bring Jesus Christ to people who may have not ever been introduced to the Lord,” said Bobbi Norwood, a member of Palo Duro Cowboy Church and a volunteer at the rodeo. “For some of these guys, this is the only opportunity they get to hear the word and to learn about Jesus Christ. Some of these cowboys are out there with just the horses, cows and them. So [with the rodeo], they get an opportunity to come to town and hear about the Lord and hopefully make a decision in their life.”

The ranch rodeo was part of Panhandle Reach, a partnership between Texas Baptists and 112 Panhandle churches and ministries to reach out to those living in the area with the love of Christ through more than 20 outreach projects during the weeks leading up to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Annual Meeting in Amarillo during Oct. 24-26.

To this point, 432 people have made first-time decisions to follow Christ, and another 584 have rededicated their relationships with Christ.

The outreach efforts have focused on sharing the hope of Christ with the Western Heritage culture, Hispanic families, college students, high school and middle school athletes and coaches, bikers and many others.

Photo by John Hall

“Panhandle Reach is about strengthening Panhandle churches in reaching the lost and unchurched to the glory of God,” said Scott Willingham, Texas Baptists church evangelism director and Panhandle Reach coordinator.

Panhandle Reach kicked off in early September with a back to school rally and Hispanic parents conference hosted by Iglesia Bautista Hispana in Dumas, a town 47 miles north of Amarillo. The church was able to share the gospel with more than 200 parents and students through the two events.

“These kinds of events are important because they give the church an opportunity to work together, grow in number, mature spiritually and minister alongside each other joyfully. These events also help us show our community that there is a church that preaches the word of God,” said Ernesto Rodriquez, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Hispana.

The church saw 18 people begin relationships with Christ, and four will be baptized at the church Oct. 30, Rodriquez said.

Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida in Hereford hosted a two-day evangelism conference to train their members to better reach their communities for Christ. Participants had an opportunity to hear from evangelists and trainers like Gilbert Herrera, Rueben Hernandez and Sammy Fuentes. The effort drew more than 250 people from Hispanic Baptists churches and towns such as Friona, Bovina, Muleshoe, Morton, Littlefield and Hereford.

“What the conference did, it united our little churches to work together,” said Pablo Garcia, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida. “…God showed me that we didn’t have to go to Amarillo in order to do a meeting of this sort, that it could be done in other little towns and be a witness not only for the lost but for the brethren in the churches. Working together, we can do more.”

Photo by Kaitlin Warrington

The Saturday before annual meeting, St. John Baptist Church and Joshua Tabernacle Baptist Church partnered to conduct a block party and health fair in the park with the help of Texas Baptists as part of Panhandle Reach. Between children bounding in bounce houses and adults competing in a barbecue contest that raised money to buy shoes for Amarillo children in need, church members young and adult shared the hope of Christ through word and song.

“We wanted to connect with the community through health care as well as music and testimony,” said Larry Rhea, interim pastor of St. John Baptist Church.

Another 101 volunteers from many churches and various parts of the state spent Oct. 20-22 ministering to 3,800 offenders in the Potter and Randall County jails as well as the Neal and Clements prison units north of Amarillo through a partnership with Bill Glass Champions for Life Ministry.

More than 263 offenders grasped the gospel and chose to follow Christ during the rallies, with another 405 renewing their walks with Jesus. Texas Baptists also is partnering with Texas Baptist Men’s Inmate Discipler Fellowship in the coming weeks to follow up on the decisions made during the prison outreach, providing a way for the offenders to be encouraged and taught how to grow in their journey with the Lord.

Big Al Alceves also participated in a motorcycle rally hosted by Community Heights Baptist Church in Lubbock. Several church members rode up from Lubbock and joined other Panhandle area bikers to ride to the Palo Duro Cowboy Church in Canyon for a rally, barbeque lunch and evangelistic message by Big Al. Through his message, hearts were touched and many renewed their call to share the hope of Christ with others.

Photo by Leighton Flowers

Last week, the Texas Baptists Youth Evangelism department partnered with Wayland Baptists University and 20 churches in the Plainview area to host a BMX youth outreach. The Real Encounter evangelism team that uses BMX bikes and skateboard tricks as a platform to present the gospel, shared with more than 500 students and saw 40 students choose to follow Christ with another 30 rededicate their lives.

At a Fellowship of Christian Athletes game day rally at West Texas A&M University on Oct. 22, more than 400 students from towns throughout the Panhandle had an opportunity to worship, fellowship with other athletes and hear a message about Christ’s saving grace and empowerment brought by Evangelist Jon Randles.

More than 77 students began a relationship with Christ and nearly 140 more stated again that they want Christ to rule and reign in all parts of their lives.

At another effort at the university, the Baptist Student Ministry grilled more than 500 burgers Oct. 24 in an effort to connect with students on the campus and have an opportunity to conversationally share the hope of Christ.

Though more than 1,016 people made either first time decisions for Christ or rededications, hundreds more gospel seeds were sown as nearly 4,500 lives were touched in some way during the Panhandle Reach efforts.

“It often takes someone seven times to hear the gospel before accepting Christ,” Willingham said. “In Panhandle Reach, we did a lot of sowing, being the first, second, third and fourth times of sharing about this hope. But with the sowing and the reaping, we rejoice together.”