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SAN ANTONIO?Southern Baptists from as far away as Florida and from closer places such as Dallas ventured to San Antonio to help local churches on June 9 during Crossover, the annual effort to evangelize in the host city prior to the SBC annual meeting.
Out-of-town Crossover San Antonio participants from Anglo and Hispanic churches in North Texas, for example, traveled to south San Antonio to help with the block party of Iglesia Bautista Theo Avenue.
The SBC reported June 12 that nearly 1,000 salvation decisions were recorded during the outreach.
For Benny Gonzales of Dallas-area Primera Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida in Garland, it was “a chance to share the gospel with the lost.” He and five other members of the church mingled with those attending the outdoor activities, including a brief concert featuring recording artist Aaron Greenway of the Garland church.
More than a dozen teenagers and adults from Inglewood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie staffed the booths at the block party, offering face painting, games and food. After plans for a mission trip to Ohio fell through, staff leaders quickly redirected their travel to serve the San Antonio neighborhood in response to the Crossover appeal.
Thirty years ago the keys to the church facilities of Theo Avenue Baptist Church were handed to Efraim Diaz, then a layman who had begun teaching a Bible study in Spanish at what had been an Anglo church from its founding in 1923.
In the early years, Inglesia Bautista Theo Avenue was the only Hispanic Baptist congregation in Texas that recorded more than 100 baptisms a year, ranking alongside Trinity Baptist, First Baptist and Castle Hills of San Antonio.
“What gave us the real growth was witnessing person to person,” Diaz said. “Most of these people are from a Catholic background and when the Lord saved them, he saved them!”
“Years ago the Anglos moved out and Hispanics moved in,” explained Joel Noriega, a member of the church for the past 10 years. “Pastor Diaz preaches bilingually, doing English as fast as he speaks in Spanish,” he told the TEXAN. “He goes by the book,” Noriega insisted. “It’s straight from the Bible,” he added, describing his commitment to Bible exposition as a priority he appreciates.
Ted Hofius of Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., was on hand also to help in the set-up for the block party while his wife attended the Woman’s Missionary Union meeting downtown.
“I lived in this neighborhood 40 years ago,” he explained, appreciative for the opportunity to be of service to the church He and his wife have participated in six Katrina-related disaster relief efforts as well as traveling to Indonesia and Mexico following a tsunami and earthquake, respectively.
“I think this is great getting people to come to the church who wouldn’t normally come,” he shared regarding the Crossover strategy. “It’s real rewarding to get to know the people as you work among them,” he added, describing the many mission opportunities where he served.
Welch works with new church
In another south San Antonio neighborhood, about 20 members of a newly planted congregation, Genesis Bible Baptist Church, along with former SBC president and retired Florida pastor Bobby Welch and Florida Baptist Convention evangelism director David Burton, shared the gospel door to door, introducing themselves as new neighbors in the community.
When the teams of two and three reported back later in the morning, at least 22 professions of faith had been made, numerous contacts were established and prayers were offered for the sick, with one team laying hands on a bedridden woman through an open window.
“The last profession of faith?we couldn’t have planned it,” marveled Beltran, who was Welch’s partner as they went house to house. “The young man was 16 years old and it wasn’t even his home. We talked to him about the gospel and he said that he was ready. Once he confessed Christ and prayed with us and we gave him a Bible, his aunt and uncle showed up and didn’t want anything to do with us. So we were able to lead him to Christ just in time to shake the dust off our sandals.”
Beltran’s grandmother, who raised him, along with his aunt and wife, were among those who canvassed the neighborhood.
Ray Ybarra and his Crossover partner planned on visiting a specific person, but when those plans failed, they came upon a 22-year-old man and subsequently led him to faith in Christ.
“He opened his heart to the Lord, even though he wasn’t the person we set out to see,” Ybarra said.
April Rodriguez helped lead a woman and three of her children to salvation. She reported to those present at the church afterward about the woman: “After we prayed, I could tell she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She was crying and her face was red and she was asking about where church was and when it starts.”
Welch exhorted the church members afterward, “You established today that you care about this community. Now, you’ve got to follow up and visit the rest of the neighborhood.”
A few minutes into the Crossover effort at Genesis Church, a group of a dozen or so Jehovah’s Witnesses showed up on the same street. After about 10 to 15 minutes, they left the neighborhood.
