ALEXANDRIA–LBC evangelism team leader Wayne Jenkins reported 1,788 profession of faiths, construction of a chapel, and hundreds of people treated by medical and dental teams on the state convention’s annual summer mission project to Brazil.
ALEXANDRIA–LBC evangelism team leader Wayne Jenkins reported 1,788 profession of faiths, construction of a chapel, and hundreds of people treated by medical and dental teams on the state convention’s annual summer mission project to Brazil.
The teams also enhanced a security wall for an orphanage that was being pillaged by neighborhood gangs.
This year’s projects were in San Paulo, the New York City of South America, with project needs identified by Southern Baptist missionaries on assignment in the region.
“In all, 149 people went with us and we worked with 17 churches,” Jenkins said. “We did revivals and evangelism campaigns. We had a building team that built a chapel in 5 days that will seat about 150.Our construction team built a security wall around an orphanage and we started on a dormitory. We had five medical /dental teams that treated a little over 2,000 patients. We even had a sports team that used basketball and shared the gospel.
“God uses all kinds of skills to help us share the gospel,” Jenkins continued. He spoke of street witnessing, drama, and in middle- and upper-class areas of the city, scrapbooking and interior decorating.
“One of our young men was skilled in restoration of vintage cars,” Jenkins said. “There are many old cars in the middle and upper class neighborhoods of San Paulo. The young man was able to hold a clinic on auto restoration and share his faith.”
One of the things that has occurred over the years with the Brazil mission trip is the growing number of families and people from smaller-in-attendance churches who participate with the group, the evangelism director said.
“We’ve been at it long enough, that people who took there children are now taking their grandchildren,” Jenkins said. “I took four grandchildren with me. Two of my 12-year-old grandchildren worked with a 12-year-old interpreter who was a missionary child and they led two adult ladies to the Lord.”
James Carson, director of missions for Caldwell, Dear Creek and Richland Baptist Associations, joined the missions group this year. According to Jenkins, Carson took with him a man who worked construction and the man’s wife, who was a nurse. The nurse , who worked in the clinic, went soul-winning when the patient load lightened one day.
So many were saved in such a short time that she wanted to continue witnessing instead of reporting to the clinic the next day, Jenkins said.
Many Louisiana Baptists are willing to go on a mission project but they don’t know about flight arrangements and local accommodations.
“We do all that for them,” Jenkins explains. “We take care of flights, lodging and assignments.”
The evangelism director challenged more Louisianians to get involved next year, the third week of July, 2007.
“Someone may ask, ‘What can I do?’” Jenkins said. “The size of our groups are such that we do many things to engage people in ministry. We had one lady this year who was a relatively new believer. She had a rough past, but was willing to go. She told me she was a beautician and cut hair. No problem! She cut hair and talked with the children at the orphanage.
“We’ve discovered there are times when someone goes and we don’t know exactly how their giftedness is going to plug in,” Jenkins said. “The next thing we know we get a missionary who says, “Do you have anybody on your team who does this?’
“One year our group was coming in late, about 10 p.m. As we drove up to our hotel, our missionary contact got on the bus with us and said, “Before you get off, I need to know, is there anybody here who’s ever taught seminary?”
Herb Dickerson, director of missions for Big Creek, Central Louisiana and North Rapides Associations said he had taught for several years at a German seminary in the Dakotas. The missionary said, “Well, we need you to teach tomorrow.”
“I didn’t know that about Herb,” Jenkins said. “I just knew he was pastor at First Baptist Church, Jonesboro. So God has a way of putting people on mission with Him and our role is that of connecting it up.
“We work through our Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries on the field,” the evangelism director said. “This year we worked with missionaries who have a Louisiana connection: Dennis and Aleta Blackmand, John and Leyet Johnson, and John and Pam Weaver.”
Plans are already underway for next summer’s mission project. IMB missionaries have already requested the location and many of the projects for the third week of July, 2007.
For more information contact Syd Smith: Syd.Smith@LBC.org or Wayne Jenkins: Wayne.Jenkins@LBC.org. or call 318.448.3402 or 800.622.6549.