A recent “epic” event in Sidney, Nebraska, culminated a busy summer of outreach in the state’s panhandle.
With the help of mission teams, The Well Church staged outreach events in the area this summer. The Well also celebrated its fourth anniversary in June. Justin Brown is pastor of The Well. He and his wife, Jess, were born and raised in Sidney, which has a population of 6,200 and is located about 60 miles from the Wyoming state line.
Impact Sidney
The event on Saturday, Aug. 6, was called Impact Sidney. Two teams from Kansas — Lenexa Baptist Church, Lenexa (Kansas City area) and Reach Church, De Soto — assisted with Impact Sidney. Reach Church is a campus of Lenexa Baptist Church.
The Well Church members and the visiting volunteers transformed the church building into a ministry center on Aug. 5. Impact Sidney offered free services including an eyecare clinic, haircuts, oil changes, lunch, backpacks full of school supplies, inflatables and snow cones.
80 decisions for Christ
Church members and the visiting volunteers offered to pray with each person who came through. When the day was over, 80 people had received prayer and four accepted Christ as their Savior.
Brown said the goal was not to get people into the church building but for The Well to be seen as a church that is investing in the community.
“That is exactly what is happening,” he said.
“One person came up to me and said they have lived here for over 40 years and had never seen a church be involved in a community like we are,” he added. “She had never seen an event like this that benefitted so many people. This is a nonbeliever/unchurched person.
“Then she started asking more questions about why we are doing it and it gave me an opportunity to present the gospel and to share what it means to be a follower of Jesus,” Brown said.
“With the help of our friends from Lenexa Baptist and Reach De Soto, and the Vision 316 team, this was an epic outreach!”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Eva Wilson and originally published by the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists.
