One In A Million: “The Bible Belt has become a mission field now”

CANTON  If churches within the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention are to reach their goal of taking the gospel to 1 million homes by 2020 as part of the “One In A Million” campaign, then it will take the same type of compassion, conviction and boldness recently exhibited by an elderly woman from Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton.

An introvert by nature, she was out of town visiting a family member when she decided to get outdoors and go for a walk. Eventually, she needed to rest.   

“She saw an older gentleman sitting on a bench, and she sat down and shared the gospel with him,” said Lakeside Baptist pastor Mark Moore, adding that the woman had taken the “Can We Talk?” evangelism training.  

“Because she had a strategy and because she had confidence, she did it,” Moore said. “This introvert shared with a complete stranger.”

The One In A Million campaign is being billed as the one of the largest evangelism efforts in Texas history, and it is being launched at a time when the state is more diverse than ever. In fact, three regions in Texas—San Antonio, Dallas-Plano-Irving and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown—were listed by CNBC among the 10 most diverse cities in America. 

One In A Million also is being launched at a period when the gospel is desperately needed in the state: Approximately 70 percent of Texans don’t know Christ, which accounts for more than 18 million people. 

“Texas used to be the buckle of the Bible Belt, but it certainly is not any longer,” Moore said. 

One In A Million has four goals:

1 Identify the lost within Texas.

2 Train 1,000 pastors to teach the “Can We Talk?” evangelism strategy to their members.

3 Equip churches to take the gospel to their community.

4 Reach 1 million homes with the gospel by 2020.

“Our biggest desire is to see churches set goals, create intentional strategies to reach those goals, and join together with SBTC churches from across the state to do something bigger than we could do individually,” said Nathan Lorick, SBTC director of evangelism.

Begun by pastor John Meador of First Euless, “Can We Talk?” teaches church members how to share the gospel with family members, neighbors, friends and co-workers during everyday conversations. 

West Conroe Baptist Church is among the churches using “Can We Talk?” 

“Several of our folks have said this has just given them tremendous confidence in sharing their faith,” said Jay Gross, West Conroe’s pastor. 

Among those is a Hispanic couple who recently joined West Conroe and went through the “Can We Talk?” training. On one Wednesday night during September, the husband stood up and explained how he had shared the gospel with a man he had wanted to talk to about Christ for a long time.  

“I knew what to say and knew how to talk to him,” the husband said.

West Conroe is situated in Montgomery County, an area just north of Houston with a population of 500,000. It’s “rapidly growing,” Gross said. 

“The world is moving here,” Gross said. “The projected growth of Montgomery County is unbelievable in the next five years. They are people from all sorts of backgrounds. Our folks are beginning to realize, ‘This is not your grandmother’s little country town.’ It’s truly become a suburban mix of all kinds of nationalities, all kinds of religions, all kinds of backgrounds.”

The lostness of Texas, Gross said, cannot be ignored. 

“Our nation as a whole has so turned away from God that it’s affected the Bible Belt,” he said. “The Bible Belt has become a mission field now.”

Gross has trained about 150 members to use “Can We Talk?”

“This has to be pastor-led,” Gross said. “We don’t hand this off to a staff member. It’s been so fulfilling for me as a pastor to know I’m training people personally. I feel more fulfilled doing that than I have anything else.”

Although “Can We Talk?” is being promoted by the SBTC, it certainly is not required to participate in One In A Million, Lorick said. 

“Whatever churches are utilizing to reach homes with the gospel, we encourage that and are cheering that,” Lorick said.

One of those churches that is using something different than “Can We Talk?” is Calvary Baptist Church in Kaufman, led by pastor Robert Webb. His church uses Share Jesus Without Fear, created and popularized by Bill Fay. 

The One In A Million campaign, Webb said, “fits in well with what we do.”

“We systematically go door to door and share the gospel,” Webb said. “We drive through our community.” 

There are two primary reasons his church goes door to door, Webb said. First, it “gives us a systematic way of tracking what we’re doing”—that is, which neighborhoods have been reached with the gospel. Second, it allows people who are timid about sharing their faith to tag along with a staff member who is more experienced.

“It gives us an opportunity to give them some time on the field watching somebody else share the gospel—here’s what it looks like when somebody shares the gospel,” Webb said. “You don’t have to say a word. We just want you to stand there, smile and pray quietly, and watch. And then, with that support, it gives them the opportunity to stick their toe in the water. 

“We’ve seen great success with that.”

If SBTC churches are to reach 1 million homes with the gospel by 2020, church members must get out of their comfort zones and outside of their circle of Christian friends, Webb said.

“The longer you’ve been a Christian, the fewer lost people you’ve probably known,” he said.

Gross said Christians must get a sense of urgency.

“I think it’s going to take a movement of the Holy Spirit of God in the hearts of his people,” Gross said. “There’s going to have to be revival in our hearts. It all starts with God’s people really understanding the urgency of the gospel. Every day people are dying and going to a literal hell. I think we have lost that sense of understanding how significant that is.” 

For more information on the One In A Million campaign, visit sbtexas.com/evangelism. For more information on “Can We Talk?,” visit oneconversation.org.