Lured by a few simple handwritten signs and some orange traffic cones, long lines of people recently showed up for a drive-through prayer initiative in Swainsboro, Georgia.
About 30 of them surrendered their lives to Christ.
“In our area, we have seen a hunger for God,” said Joe Bedgood, pastor of Dellwood Baptist Church and evangelism director in the Emanuel Baptist Association. “Most of the people who came through had something major going on in their lives. They knew they needed prayer, that God was the only One who could help them.”
Prayer stations ready to go
Bedgood said about 50 volunteers from six churches in the Emanuel Baptist Association set up drive-through prayer stations on a street in downtown Swainsboro and at a nearby housing development.
“I didn’t know what to expect when we decided to do this,” he said. “At one point, we had an entire one-way street filled with cars. I saw tears in every vehicle I went to.”
Thousands of people, The Christian Index reports, have been turning to Christ all across Georgia since the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
Annual church reports submitted to the Georgia Baptist Mission Board show baptisms have risen by an eye-catching 47% in the past two years. They rose from 10,243 reported in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was gripping the state to 15,071 last year.
The upward trend appears to be continuing this year.
Summer decisions for Christ
Jenni Carter, kids ministry consultant for the GBMB, said thousands of children made salvation decisions during the summer break at Vacation Bible Schools held at churches across the state.
Carter said churches of every size and in every region of the state reported not only the highest attendance in years at VBS but also large numbers of children committing their lives to Christ.
At Fayetteville’s New Hope Baptist Church, 86 children responded to the gospel during VBS attended by more than 630 children on the congregation’s two campuses in June. And at the 1025 Church in Monroe and Statham, some 500 children gathered for VBS in June. Of those, 45 made professions of faith.
More than 30 migrant workers who came to southwest Georgia to harvest watermelons prayed to receive Christ at dinner at First Baptist Church of Rochelle earlier this month.
Read full story from The Christian Index.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Roger Alford and originally published by The Christian Index, news service of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
