January 1, 2001

Jacob's Well draws youth to faith
with Abilene church's innovation
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___ABILENE--More than 1,100 Abilene-area teenagers in the last six months accepted the invitation to "Come to the Well," and about one-third had their first taste of the "living water" spoken of by Jesus.
___Jacob's Well is an interdenominational youth ministry coordinated by Abilene's Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, a Texas Baptist Key Church. While facilitated by Baptists, the ministry involves churches of several denominations.
___Randy Perkins, minister of missions at Pioneer Drive, started last February meeting with youth ministers at churches throughout the Abilene area. Together, the ministers explored the possibility of a ministry to the young people who spend their evenings cruising the city's North First Street drag.
___With help from Ron Nolen, a consultant with the Church Starting Center at the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Jacob's Well opened its doors in June.
___The Tuesday evening "Main Event" started with 11 teens. By late fall, it was attracting an average of 68 youth for Bible study, praise and worship, with a one-time high attendance of 103.
___On Friday and Saturday evenings, Jacob's Well offers a come and go, coffee house-style teen church that attracts anywhere from 250 to 500 youth each weekend.
___"Sometimes we'll have low-riders who come park on our lot," Perkins said. "We are confident that 30 to 40 percent of kids we are reaching are unchurched."
___The Christian youth who frequent "The Well" are encouraged to invite non-Christian schoolmates and acquaintances to free concerts and other special events. At least 17 have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ as a result of the ministry.
___"We want kids to know Jesus Christ," Perkins said. "We're using kids in the kingdom to bring other kids into the kingdom."
___In addition to reaching kids "on the street," Pioneer Drive also has taken church to where some of the least affluent youth live. Around Christmas 1999, the church responded to a call from a woman needing food for her family and shoes for her children. Grateful for the care the church provided to her, the woman offered to do anything she could to help.
___"She volunteered to let us use her trailer, and that became the base for the Chapel Hill Mobile Home Ministry," Perkins said.
___"We started with 15 kids. We've had as many as 65, and we have 45 to 50 kids, kindergarten through high school age, who are a regular part of the mobile home ministry."
___In December, Pioneer Drive launched a new ministry at the Jacob's Well facility. Led by an African-American minister and his Hispanic wife, the Shining Star Fellowship will focus on reaching other young couples in mixed race marriages.
___

Get printer-friendly version of this story


Send this story to a friend

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!