Dante Perez said it has long been on his heart to reach the community of Anaheim’s First Southern Baptist Church through sports outreach, so this year’s Crossover effort was a perfect fit.
“I’ve been praying for a while for an opportunity like this that would bring families together so they can learn more about Jesus,” Perez said.
The idea for a sports ministry grew through conversations with his pastor, Victor Chayasirisobhon, and other local pastors. Perez made more connections, and then the church partnered with the North American Mission Board to serve as a Crossover Serve Tour site June 11 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim.
Perez said the news was, in a word, “amazing.”
“I thought, ‘I’m going to be part of what?’” he said with a smile.
Spreading the word
In preparation for Crossover, church members got busy inviting friends, neighbors and relatives to come for a 4-hour sports camp at the church’s campus in Anaheim.
Church staff members helped recruit adult and student volunteers from the congregation and from the church’s Anaheim Discovery Christian School to serve. And on June 11, 50 or so children and teens enjoyed playing together at three skills-and-drills stations focused on baseball, basketball and soccer.
At a fourth station, children heard the gospel through object lessons that included foam dart guns, water balloons and sports analogies.
Throughout the day volunteers from FSBC, other churches in Orange County and Serve Tour volunteers like Jeannine Carter and Pat Sawey, both members of First Baptist Church Dallas, Texas, chatted with parents as they cheered on the young athletes.
Reaching the community
FSBC discipleship pastor Tito Sanchez said opportunities to build relationships are vital to reaching the diverse population of Anaheim and Orange County. Sanchez noted that one of the local volunteers serving had come to know Jesus through playing soccer with members of the church.
“We just don’t know how [our efforts] will open doors to others,” he said.
Chayasirisobhon, who is also associational mission strategist for the Orange County Southern Baptist Association and the current president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, said he was grateful for the children and students in attendance and also for all the volunteers who came out after a challenging ministry season during the pandemic.
“It’s been a long time since people have joined in and wanted to try something different than what we normally do,” he said. “But with our partners and friends from all over the country, our state convention and our association encouraging us and knowing other churches were going to try it, too, we wanted to be bold for Jesus.
“It’s a great ‘shot in the arm’ for our churches,” he said. “It says, ‘We’re back.’ And I say, ‘Let’s keep it going. Let’s win some souls for Jesus.'”
View photos from this Crossover event here.
For more stories from the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, visit thebaptistpaper.org/sbc2022.
