The Master's Mission

The Mission Born

In late November of 2002 at a prayer retreat in South Mississippi, Bro. Greg Clemts; pastor of Southside Baptist Church, Vicksburg, MS; shared a vision for a practical outreach strategy. The vision he articulated (detailed below) was one of like-minded churches coming together to assist one another with their outreach. Leaders from the Southern Baptists of Mississippi were present at this retreat and joined in Bro. Greg's excitement for this vision God had given to him. A flame was lit that night that has spread across our state. Instead of only praying for missions, studying about missions, and supporting missions; our participant churches are now doing missions in their own communities. Read here how your church could be part of this Holy Fire and can share in the blessings that have come from this work.

The Mission Explained

The MASTER'S MISSION is actually a cooperative effort between churches to reach lost people in your community, your mission field. The idea for the MASTER'S MISSION is a very simple one. On a given weekend churches send volunteers to help your church blanket the neighborhood in a 3 hour door knocking blitz. You, in turn, send teams to those churches to assist them in their door knocking blitz. If 10 churches could each assemble 10 teams of volunteers (2 people in each team) that would be 100 teams going through your neighborhood. If each team reached 10 homes in the three-hour period, your church could reach out to 1,000 homes!

The Mission In Action

Antioch Baptist Church in Columbus, MS was the site of the first field test of this mission plan. On February 15, 2003 volunteers from eight other churches joined with Antioch. Thirty-five teams of volunteers (in pairs) and several pastors individually went throughout the community in a pre-planned, methodical approach going to specifically assigned homes. The teams were looking for opportunities to share a verbal witness and lead people to surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord. In the process of doing this they also invited the visited homes to a revival to start the next day. Information packets describing the ministries of the church were left at each home. Response cards, filled out by the teams were returned to the church staff for processing.

The Mission Results

Each of the teams reached an average of 17 to 18 homes. Altogether the teams knocked on the doors of over 600 homes. More than 60 homes gave a positive response indicating they were open to attend services or receive a follow up visit from the church. There were two professions of faith the weekend of the mission endeavor. In the weeks following the MASTER'S MISSION, Antioch Baptist Church has seen some of the families touched by the February 15 outreach visit the worship services and Sunday School. There has been one baptism. Individuals who received visits from our teams have contacted church members requesting specific information or help with spiritual issues. One man who has battled an addiction to alcohol made a profession of faith after requesting a follow-up visit from one of our members. He is now in a rehabilitation program.

Bro. Jerry Lowery, pastor of Glenfield Baptist Church in New Albany, MS reports that one of his teenagers who participated in MASTER'S MISSION: Antioch, "...has gone wild!" The young man has joined with friends at school to begin a process of evangelizing the entire high school. Other pastors who participated have reported a new excitement in their worship services and a renewed interest in reaching their home communities for the Lord.

The Mission Challenge

The MASTER'S MISSION is not a quick and easy fix for your church problems. It is not a way for a denomination or a religious publishing house to make money on the Gospel. It is simply like-minded, Bible Believing Churches coming together in your community to reach the State of Mississippi for Jesus. For more information contact the leadership of the Southern Baptists of Mississippi by clicking here or by calling Bro. Greg Clemts at 601-631-0047. Check our calendar here at Southern Baptist of Mississippi (http://www.sbom.org) for upcoming MASTER'S MISSION field projects.