HOUSTON—As 10 men and women dressed in brightly colored robes performed a traditional Korean dance to rhythmic drumbeats, more than 500 people participated in an international festival at Houston’s Lansdale Park sponsored by 19 Baptist churches representing the Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian and Vietnamese population in the area.

A Korean dance troupe prepares to perform at an international festival held as part of City Reach, prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Houston. (PHOTO/Kaitlin Chapman/Texas Baptist Communications)

The day was a celebration of Asian culture and a chance for the international churches to minister to their own people. They sought to show God’s love for all people and cultures and to build relationships, preparing for more ministry opportunities in the future.

“We are excited that we can come together and work for one cause and that is to share the gospel, to make known the claims of Christ here in Houston,” said Ernest Dagohoy, pastor of First Phillipine Baptist Church in Houston. “It’s just amazing that when we work together that we can do more things together. And the seeds that we plant will come out of this to reach the city of Houston.”

The festival was part of City Reach, a series of more than 20 evangelistic events in the greater Houston area designed to share the gospel with the hurting and hopeless before the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting Nov. 16-17. More than 1,900 people made professions of faith through City Reach efforts. At least 25 people began relationships with Christ during the festival.

“Thirty percent of Houstonians were born outside of the United States,” said Scott Willingham, Texas Baptists’ director of church evangelism and project leader for City Reach Houston.

“These churches are reaching the lost in their community as they came together for the first time to work cooperatively as internationals.”

At an international festival held as part of City Reach, a child attempts to break open a piñata filled with candy.

The event included ethnic food tasting, cultural activities like Chinese calligraphy, artistic displays through colorful native dress and traditional music and dancing by several church groups.

Star Family Ministries offered children’s activities, complete with music and puppet shows, hula-hoop contests, face painting and caricatures by a local artist.

Each person who attended the festival was asked to complete a registration card requesting contact information and ethnicity. The cards were sorted, and the prospects were given to the appropriate international church for follow-up efforts.

Each participant was entered into a drawing for prizes such as a volleyball, bicycle, calculator, vacuum cleaner and a grand prize of a 32-inch flat-screen television.

“We came together because the Bible included all the diversity of different races,” said Ricky Leung, pastor of Chinese Baptist Church in Houston and an organizer for the event.

“I think it is a blessing to come together and serve and show the power of the gospel. It is one body and one people of God. It’s a blessing to be one body.”

The group of churches began planning more than four months ago, asking Willingham and Jason Kym, the coordinator for multi-ethnic people at the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, to help arrange the endeavor.

“There are many ways to share the gospel with the lost world,” Kym said. “The reason we have international festivals here together (with people) coming from many different ethnic groups is to let other people know who we are and where we come from, rather than just seeing people as different from you and me.”

The effort also was a part of Texas Hope 2010, an effort by Texas Baptists to share the hope of Christ with every Texan by Easter 2010 in ways where each can respond in his or her own way or language.

As one part of the emphasis, Texas Baptists are attempting to place Scripture in all 8.8 million homes in Texas. Volunteers distributed more than 500 multimedia CDs containing the Gospel of John and a downloadable New Testament in more than 300 languages.

“We are just trying to share the gospel through expressing the cultural backgrounds of these churches, presenting the gospel through the Texas Hope CDs and other gospel tracts that are in the appropriate languages and expressing the love of Jesus Christ in this neighborhood,” Willingham said.

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