February 17, 1999
NAMB putting money on Vegas & Boston
___ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Boston and Las Vegas will be the focus of large-scale evangelism and church-planting efforts in 2001 as part of the North American Mission Board's Strategic Focus Cities initiative, agency trustees were told Feb. 3.
___The cities are among 17 to be targeted for the efforts, which will include a coordinated influx of resources--volunteers, funding and prayers--from Southern Baptists across the country. Leaders in Chicago and Phoenix are currently gearing up for Strategic Focus Cities efforts in 2000.
___"This is thrilling news," said David Meacham, executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention. "I've been serving the Lord here for 18 years in this state, and this has been one of the happiest moments in our missionary lives.
___"Sometimes the Lord does unusual things in unusual places to prove that he is the Lord. In a desert place, we are looking for a revival, a river of God's movement in that city," Meacham said. "We've known for a long time that Las Vegas is not only the fastest-growing city in America, but it is a fantastic place to do evangelism. It is a ripe harvest field."
___Ken Lyle, executive director of the Baptist Convention of New England, said some of the great spiritual awakenings of the past have started in their area, and their dream is to see similar revival and renewal through the Boston effort.
___"There are prayer networks all over New England praying for exactly that, that we would be able to create an atmosphere in which God could do this renewing work that could impact New England and hopefully the rest of the world," he said. "That's a God-sized dream for this particular part of the nation, but we are already seeing it being energized."
___Lyle and Meacham mentioned the need for partnering with other evangelical groups.
___"We really won't do this job by ourselves," Lyle said. "But the networks are pretty well laid out and in place. ... We are positioned by relationships already for Southern Baptists to take some leadership roles."Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!