Gospel in Action event in Mayfield big success By CHIP HUTCHESON, Kentucky Today

MAYFIELD, Ky. (KT) -- Numerous churches in the Graves County Baptist Association joined forces last Saturday to providing an array of free resources as well as engage people with the gospel.

"To God be the glory for all that He did at the 'Gospel in Action' event hosted by Bro. Marcus Burnett and the fine folks at High Point Baptist Church," said Mike Jones, associational mission strategist. This is the second year for the annual event.

"It was fantastic," said Burnett in expressing his appreciation for the opportunity provided by Jones and the local association. "The idea he brought forward, to me as a pastor, it was so beautiful to see all the churches come together, with one unified mission, offering simple things. One group changed oil, some ladies were painting fingernails, one church gave away food boxes and clothing, another church gave away hot dogs and chips. We got to serve so many people -- it was an honor for our church to host and have an opportunity for folks to come out and be served."

Jones said the crowd numbered around 200, with "at least 90 families being ministered to and at least 85 people helping with the event. There were so many others who dropped by but did not sign in." Numerous giveaways were featured during the day.

"We (association) were not out a lot of expense -- our main expense was oil changes. We did 17 oil changes, mostly for single moms, so other than some promotional expense, the oil filters and oil were the bulk of our expenses." He added that most every church involved not only brought people but also resources.

Participating churches included High Point, Enon Baptist, New Concord Baptist, Hickory Baptist, Mayfield First Baptist, Sharon Baptist, Rhodes Chapel Baptist, Trace Creek Baptist and Chief Cornerstone Baptist.

Also involved were Jaime Masso, pastor of Primera Iglesias Mayfield, who served as translator; Drs. Andrew and Tim Cude of Twin Teeth Dentistry in Paducah (Andrew is a member of Trace Creek while Tim is a member of Rosebower Baptist in Paducah); Shanna Burgess and Murray State University nursing students; Gideons, who gave away 65 English and 25 Spanish Bibles; Rick and Shirleen Pilcher with Child Evangelism Fellowship, who did five-day Bible clubs at several churches and a one-day event at New Concord.

Returning for a second year was an Iowa mission team, which worked on two homes and helped Hickory Baptist with its Vacation Bible School as well as doing some work at the association. About 20-plus people were on the team -- six adults and the rest teenagers.

Also involved were Baptist Bikers, a ministry of the association and New Concord, where Gary Cruse is pastor. That organization spent Saturday "ministering, witnessing and sharing -- making people aware of the ministry they have," Jones said.

Another service offered was free blood pressure checks.

The association is now working with churches to debrief and begin planning for next year. That work includes following up with about 15 people or families that signed registration cards.

Burnett, who will observe his second anniversary as High Point's pastor in December, said the follow-up process is important because "many people said they were not involved in a church at all, but indicated they would like to be involved somewhere. It is sweet to be involved in the follow-up team."

Burnett noted that "for our church this was a big event -- having this many people on our grounds at one time. It was encouraging; it was truly phenomenal. It was the biggest event we have had since we have been here. It was good for us to see what the Lord will do when we come together."