Rescue Baptist Church Pilot Mountain, NC
"In an effort to connect with and reach our Jerusalem, we have been using the outreach of a community dinner. The idea was something that another church had done in our town and we thought it would be a good way to build relationships with the people in Pilot Mt and the area.
"We have been blessed to have a man and his wife that have the burden and the talent to use in this area. This dear man has cooked a main dish for each of these. Some others in the church then help out with desserts or side items. This brother loves to grill and smoke all varieties of meats and is excellent at cooking all kinds of dishes. However, this is not necessary to accomplish a dinner. It can certainly be a joint effort of people in the church or even be catered if finances are available. It can be something very simple like hot dogs and chips or a nice dinner of spaghetti or Barbecue ribs. We have served all of those and some others in between.
"In my opinion and experience the key to the success of this outreach is prayer and advertising. We understand doing the ministry in the power and presence of the Lord and before anything happens we must pray. It takes some effort in visitation and handing out flyers to draw interest. The most successful is the personal invitation of the church people to others that they know. Those connections of the church folks to others is by far the best attendance that we see in church and in outreach ministries like this.
"When we begin, we open with a word of prayer and welcome everyone. Because it is an open-door invitation for the space of two hours, it is a great time to fellowship and build personal relationships with folks. This is also a great opportunity to share a gospel presentation. A short devotion or gospel video could be utilized.
"I would recommend that churches utilize an outreach such as this to further the gospel to their city."