A team from Southern Illinois University recently drove west to South Dakota to work with church planter Kenneth Brock. His plant, Mercy Gate, launched earlier this year in Rapid City.
The team included Baptist Campus Ministry team leader Brandon McNeely, Illinois Baptist State Association church planting director Kevin Jones and six college students.
“Our goal is to facilitate the local church wherever we go,” said Jones, who also specializes in collegiate ministry for the state association. “We walked door-to-door, then worked the bounce houses and games at the block parties so Mercy Gate’s congregation could connect with their neighbors.”
Outreach opportunities
When the group arrived in South Dakota, they attended Mercy Gate’s Sunday morning worship service. That afternoon they mingled with the congregation and prepared for their work. Monday through Wednesday, the group canvassed the areas around Summerset, the church’s Rapid City neighborhood, inviting residents to the block party and then sharing Christ or praying with them as the opportunity was presented.
Block parties on Monday and Tuesday reached between 200 and 300 people each. Four people came forward to profess faith in Christ at a service Wednesday evening.
“One woman in her late 60s said, ‘I’ve never heard that, nor have I ever been to church,’ ” Brock reported. “We also had over 120 people in the Sunday service after the block parties. This was a first for our new church plant.”
The new pastor said he feels deeply the lostness in South Dakota. Brock said he is excited to follow up with connections that were made that week. He hopes to plant two more churches there.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This article was originally published by the Illinois Baptist State Association.
