by Norm Miller

FRESNO - Southern Baptists' efforts in the pre-Easter GPS evangelism outreach helped spread the gospel across California, and contributed to an estimated 15 million pieces of evangelism-focused literature distributed in neighborhoods throughout the United States and Canada.

Unveiled by the North American Mission Board in 2008, GPS (God's Plan for Sharing) launched this April as the start of a 10-year evangelism strategy with the goal of every believer sharing the gospel so everyone across the continent can hear it by 2020.

Representing six language groups and 29 Baptist associations statewide, members of more than 500 California Southern Baptist Convention churches fanned out across their communities the week before Easter, distributing evangelistic literature to more than 1 million homes, and potentially reaching 4 million people with the gospel, said Randy McWhorter, CSBC healthy church group leader. In previous weeks, congregations prayer-walked neighborhoods around their churches.

The national GPS emphasis also included more than 24,000 airings of a NAMB-produced television ad, 7,000 radio spots, print ads, yard signs and banners. CSBC's media emphasis included more than 2,200 30-second commercials statewide.

The GPS literature included information about a NAMB-sponsored Website, www.findithere.com, which presents the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a "church search" feature. The site garnered more than 5,000 hits from California as a result of the blitz.

Bill Logan, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Ridgecrest, reported six Convention-related churches blanketed his city of 30,000 residents with more than 20,000 pieces of literature.

"Our church saw 50 new people on Easter Sunday morning, and we have continued to see new faces in the ensuing weeks," Logan said. "It was well worth the effort."

He noted church members were "enthusiastic about participating and getting this literature to their neighbors."

"I appreciate the investment that NAMB made in getting the Southern Baptist name out into our community and across California," said Logan, who also expressed appreciation for CSBC: "The Convention helped offset some of our costs. And Randy McWhorter was very supportive of what we were trying to accomplish here."

McWhorter noted, "Numerous pastors and church leaders were overwhelmed by the response of members who were willing to go outside church walls and pray for neighbors and friends.

"Most churches report an increased awareness of the lostness of their communities and they also reported that, after the prayer-walking, members have a renewed passion and burden for reaching their communities for Christ," McWhorter said.

For at least one person, the evangelism blitz proved to be a life-and-death matter. That recipient was considering suicide when he read the GPS information. Using the literature, he contacted a local pastor who led him to Christ.

"With as many as three out of four Californians dying without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, an alarming number of CSBC churches are plateaued or declining and are becoming less effective at reaching the lost," McWhorter said. "GPS is a 10-year evangelism emphasis that could serve to encourage and help our churches focus on reaching more people with the gospel than ever before."

One such church is Trinity Southern Baptist in Fresno.

"The GPS effort woke us up," said Ken Hinman, Trinity's youth and ministry administrator. "It made us step back and take a look at where we are and where we need to go, and it made us aware of not only the need to invite guests into our church, but the need to get ready for them."

Hinman noted it is "too easy to get comfortable in our full Sunday school classes - but we have no room for guests. What will we do if they all show up? Do we need new teachers and new classes? Who is heading up our outreach efforts, anyway?"

GPS helped Trinity focus on "preparedness," said Hinman, who cited Greg Roper, Trinity's senior pastor, as saying, "It's no more business-as-usual. We've got to step up."

With more than 33 million people in California who don't have a relationship with Christ, and less than 25 percent of all Convention churches participating in GPS, McWhorter agrees with Roper.

"Now, more than ever before in the history of creation, believers need to share the Good News.

"I urge all CSBC pastors and church leaders to pray with me, work together and courageously assault the lostness in California by leading their church to develop, implement and constantly evaluate an effective evangelism strategy.

"GPS can help any church focus on the right things to do - pray, equip, sow and harvest," McWhorter declared.

(For more information visit www.csbc.com/gps or www.gps2020.net.)